English GCSE round 3???!!

[HookedOnHooking]

D2 has English GCSE today. For the third time. Has missed passing by 4 or 5 marks twice already. As a last resort she's had some tutoring over the last 6 weeks (£50 an hour). She has AS and really does not cope with exams at all well but she needs to get a C to stay on at college next term.
If anyone has a few good vibes to spare could you send them her way please.

Forever?

tied not necessarily. Students with certain SN are exempt. Any school/college SENCO will have the definitive list.

Any students taking Entry level would be encouraged to continue but would have personally set goals. The Foundation Study framework (and similar) all include Entry Level and L1/2 Functional Skills as standard. The student takes them according to ability and progress as they go.

And yes, that includes maths and English. I think ICT has been reconsidered and removed for Entry level, but haven't looked at that specifically, yet.

Hooked it was mooted until 24 and that claiming any benefit would be dependent upon them still being studied until C grade is achieved. But that is something I have not looked at in detail yet. That will be my summer homework. The ruling will be 'out there' already, I just haven't confirmed its details yet (still trying to assess our September provision and recruiting for it).

Draconian and Nanny State don''t really cover it!

Sweet jesus no. 24! No. Really. No. There is no way anyone in a family like ours could do that for another 7 years.

LearnDirect, FE Colleges, maybe night school type things, and other indie operators, 2 - 4 hours a week, for your JSA.

Not full time, or you couldn't claim JSA. But as I said, because I don't do exit interviews/advice I am not sure how this ended up. But it was in a white paper and I heard The Goviot and La Morgan both refer to it in speeches.

Thanks Lazy I would be interested in whether the rules about benefits are about JSA or if they include ESA as well - DS would probably get ESA as would most of his fellow students. I haven't looked too deeply into exemptions to the GCSE rules as I just hope DS will make enough progress, but I hoped he would be able to achieve functional skills if he couldn't manage GCSE Maths.

I would doubt it as the prior exemption would preclude any claim.

F Skills would be fine for him and fellow students as a certified equivalent. As I said they are the named requirement in the framework he would be working under, so please don't worry about it.

We regularly remove a number of students from any formal exam if their SN dictates this would be in their best interest, there is a lot of wriggle room for students who have specific SENs.

Lazylou, could you just confirm where my DS will stand? He is dyslexic, grade D at GCSE.

Has done a level 2 course this year, and was told he could do Level 2 Functional Skills English, and that as long as he passed he could progress on to Level 3 course in September.

He has passed (don't ask how, the exam was a real cock up but thats a story), so as long as he has passed his Level 2 course, which he should, he is on Level 3 in September.

I am aware he will have to retake his GCSE alongside his level 3 course. However, if he doesn't pass, does that mean they will kick him off his Level 3 course after a year, or will he be allowed to continue and try for GCSE grade C yet again? I feel its highly unlikely he will ever get it to be honest, his dyslexia is severe and he has a reader and scribe.

Ah! He has fallen between the cracks, Ilove...

His L2 course is a 1 year course. If he has passed his L2 functional skills then he can pass on to the L3, as that meets their entry requirements. Yes, he will have to do the GCSE but as the course could/should follow the pattern/length of his main course he could/should get 2 years to pass it.

We are planning on putting all new L3 students on a 2 year GCSE programme, with 1 sitting at the end of year 2 (mocks in year 1). Your college may have a different plan of attack... but we don't want to scare them, put extra pressure on them or give them lots of opportunities to fail, again (for their sakes and for our results).

Phone and ask to speak to the subject leader/manager of English GCSE and see what they are planning, just to put your mind at rest.

Good luck.

Thank you for the information Lazy

He might just scrape a C if he is very lucky. He shocked us all by getting a B in the speaking and listening part but he is predicted a D overall.

He has LD and was predicted all E's at the start of last year. He is now predicted B and C in most subjects. He has done extremely well and has managed to get a few A grades in some course work but I think English will be his stumbling block. He is such a hard worker and extremely determined and he managed to achieve this while grieving the loss of his father so we are all very proud, but he does worry that he might never pass his English no matter how hard he tries.

He is allowed to use a computer for the exam which should help a bit.

So what is the general opinion about them having to achieve C grades? is the new system going down well with parents?

Please don't.

I am currently spending about 80% of my time talking to parents about this. It started just before the GCSE exams and I expect it will continue for a while longer. I plan on being in on GCSE results day to field questions from parents and colleagues.

It isn't going down well with some - mainly where schools have not done their homework, presumably don't have VI Forms, and aren't all that clear themselves.

It will be OK in about 2 years, when everyone is used to it...

Thanks Lazy. Will be interesting to see if they put him on the one year or two year GCSE course in September. I'm just very grateful that he passed his functional skills and that they are allowing him to proceed onto Level 3 with that, I suspect if he had been a year later they perhaps wouldn't.

He is doing childcare, is desperate to work in the kids clubs on cruise ships when he has his qualification. I have no doubt he will pass Level 3, he has done really well with his Level 2, and he gets fantastic reports from his placements. It does worry me though if he can't get a GSCE in English because of his dyslexia that he might struggle to get a job in this area.

It shouldn't be a problem, to be honest. At the moment Apprenticeships (and theoretically employers) are fighting to retain F Skills. They don't see the need for the full on GCSE for many of the vocational courses - mainly the non-science based courses.

My best advice, one I give all of our really disaffected students, is go to the class almost every week (one in four will not affect funding ) and just pay lip service to the exam. We are not unusual in giving this advice to students who come to us with 3 sits under their belts and still no grade C. The GCSE was not and will not be fit for purpose for a large number of students.

The stats to date are terrifying: 45% (ish) leave school without C in English and/or maths. 2 years later about 7% of those students will have achieved C grade - officially.

www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/15/college-tutors-teachers-ofsted-english-maths-teaching