TO think that dd can study two GCSEs and two igcses and be ready for exams in June's

[Skyfullofstars1969]

Dd want to die three gcse/igcse course via distance learning and wants to take the exam in June of this year. She plans to order them next week. This would give her four months. She doesn't go out at all. So I'm thinking it's doable

Of course not

Considering it takes 2-3 years normally I think no.

What's the rush? Why now?

Is she at school doing other subjects?

Athough that's for more isn't it. I still think it would be a struggle though. One maybe.

Depends if they have elements of Controlled Assessments, and deadlines for this. How old is she? Is she likely to stick to studying - does she have support in the subjects if she gets stuck.

What other commitments does she have?

Also depends on the subjects - if its a language and she is already fluent can't see an issue!

So in school you usually do about 9 GCSEs in two years. 30 hours a week. 39 weeks per year. That's approx 260 hours per subject.

So for four subjects that would be just over 1000 hours. If you assume she studies 40 hours per week (i.e. Treats it like a full time job) she would need 25 weeks to complete the work at the same pace. There are 21 weeks until the middle of June.

So no!

Oh and some exams are in the early part of May - before half term.

Why does she not go out, what's the story here?

She's 18 and has spent years in and out of mh units. She has two gcse she and would like to gain s a dither three to allow her to study a levels from September.

It depends on the support she'll have.

As someone else said, it depends a lot on the subjects, and also to what level she has previously studied them. If her mh is not robust, putting herself under that kind of pressure doesn't seem a sensible idea. Could she not do just 1 or 2 subjects this summer and the extra gcse's alongside A levels next year? From the experience of my dds, I think IGCSEs are more like old "O" levels and tend not to have a coursework element.

She wants to do a law gcse and the double science igcse.

Given your most recent post, I think no. Also, just having 6 GCSEs may not be enough to allow her to do the A levels she wants. Does she need a certain number of A/A* to continue on to her chosen 6th form? And as others have said, many GCSEs still have CA work, much of which has already been completed.

Aw. She sounds really motivated but it's not a great idea. Could she do a levels from Sept 2018 instead? Does she have maths and English already?

Double science? That's 6 exams if she is doing all of them this summer. And there is CA work, DS has already finished most (if not all) of his. I don't know how that is handled for external candidates.

Aren't t there practical papers for science as well

It could be doable if she's academically capable and puts the hours in- GCSE's take so long because kids of all abilities have to be exam ready at the same time so lessons move far more slowly to accommodate those who find it harder to learn in a classroom environment and those 2 years allow for multiple re-do's of coursework and revision. My worry would be the mental health issue- if she has a relapse and doesn't manage to complete them, it would probably really set her back. Maybe two for now, the ones she will find easiest, then see how it goes.

x-post! I was assuming slightly less high-workload subjects. Law OR science maybe...

Won't the science ones need lab access?

She'd be much better off thinking of this as an 18 month plan. Four or five months will be massively stressful and tbh she's setting herself up to fail which won't do her MH any good at all.

I assume the two she has are Maths and English by the way? If she needs a short term plan would a one year level 2 humanities BTEC at college not be more suitable? Then a level 3 the following year with a view to uni after that?

Yes the two she has are maths and English. Igcses don't have coursework so therefore are suitable for distance learning.

She should give herself longer to prepare. DS1 did 8 GCSEs including Chemistry & Biology iGCSE last summer. He had covered about 50% of the material at school and missed the rest due to long term illness. He covered the remaining 50% between the beginning of Feb and the end of Apr (exams were in early May). It was bloody hard work and he came out with a B and a D.

If it's the CIE iGCSE science courses (the ones with an alternative to practical paper) they are really hard. They contain a lot of material that I didn't do until A-level science, and are harder than the new 9-1 AQA GCSEs that DS2 is studying.

No. Two to three GCSEs is generally the limit for mature students/teenagers doing retakes on courses scheduled to take NINE months.

Even the maths igcse which is all calculator is the demanding even for foundation paper

I think it is doable. So much time is wasted in school that it is a false comparison with self study at home. If the student is motivated and focuses, it is amazing what they can do. Obviously you know about her MH issues, but I would suggest she has a go. If she fails she can try it again over a longer period, but if she succeeds she will gain a year.