GCSE Results resits agin for 3rd bloody time

[Wow2806]

Hi all

Posting here for feedback..

Son left school last year and got a D&D in both Maths & English.

Fast forward he has spent the last year in college doing Plumbing (with a very good result) I might add

However his grades are now worse with a E & F

He has messed about alot and skipped alot of these classes.

If it was a plumbing class he was there with bells on.

After spending the summer being rejected for Interviews for Plumbing Apprenticeships for not having C's in English & Maths.

He I think has now "woke up and smelt the coffee so to speak"

I have just phoned college to see about resiting 1 of them in November and I will find a tutor and he can get his head down and crack on.

Just so he doesnt have to do the whole 2 subjects again over another year

College say he cant they used a different exam board and wont be using it again.

When I questioned further was told by the exams officer "they dont know" I need to speak to "head of Dept". Obviously they arn't in.

This must mean he will have sat 2 subjects 3 years on the trot with 3 different exam boards.

AIBU unreasonable in thinking no bloody wonder he has been so demotivated as surely they where all different in respect of test papers and teachings etc.

His Y10 year he started English GCSE in Y11 thinking his class were going to fail. They changed the Exam to CambridgeIGCSE.

Most of them still failed.

IS there something not right or is it me...

Sorry op but he needs to work harder. Skipping lessons and messing about is pathetic at his age

AIBU unreasonable in thinking no bloody wonder he has been so demotivated as surely they where all different in respect of test papers and teachings etc. Surely maths is maths. It's not like English where you could have three sets of books.

Is he paying for the resit and the tutor? Because it's a psychological trick; when you pay for something you value it.

It is his own fault for not working and skipping lessons. As a teacher of GCSE resits this infuriates me- how do students ever think they are going to do better than before if hey skip all their lessons and do no work! Of course they'll do worse as they forget stuff without regular practice.

New GCSEs are now longer on a C/D etc. grade system. Syllabuses completely changed and now given a number from 1 to 9. A grade 4 is the equivalent of a C under the old system.
Last year was the absolute last time he could sit the old syllabus, he will have to do the new syllabus now. I'd recommend he does Foundation in maths, which allows you to get up to a grade 5.
If he does not put in a whole lot of hard work he will fail.

English and Maths are not taught differently according to the exam board used. Set texts, etc. may be different, but the concepts will be the same.

So I think you're being quite misguided to blame his failure on a change of exam board. By his own admission he didn't study. .

I have always thought the same - However doing a quick scout of Google shows me conflicting information.

No he aint paying for a tutur I am -nice early 18th Birthday Present-he was a -complete pain in the arse- for a while. However does seem to be turning a corner.

And he will need a decent job for the future. If I can help along the way I will.

Judging by my spelling errors think I might need to join him for English at least.

He could be a private candidate, have a tutor at home, and pay for the exams separately. x

Unfortunately this would have been the last year he could resit the old school GCSEs, he will need to do the new style going forward where grades are 1-9. IMO these are much harder than the old GCSES. Does he actually need the GCSEs or will the apprenticeship accept a level 2 qualification in English and Maths? If so, I would enquire about Functional Skills English and Maths. Edexcel do an on demand exam for these on a computer, and you get the results in a couple of weeks rather than having to do a national exam on a prescribed day of the year. It might be worth investigating. It does go without saying though that if he doesn't attend classes etc his grades will not improve.

*old style of course!!
The Edexcel exam will still need to be conducted at an exam centre I should mention. It would be worth asking the college. We enter all our students in for this qualification as a back up in case they have a "bad day" on the actual day of the GCSE (I work at an SEMH school) I know some students who have missed the GCSE C but managed to get on the college course they want with their Level 2 Functional Skills.

AIBU unreasonable1 in thinking no bloody wonder he has been so demotivated as surely they where all different in respect of test papers and teachings etc

YABU, the reason for his failing is

He has messed about alot and skipped alot of these classes.

stop deflecting the blame.

Oh and make him pay for the exams this year. it might just make him focus.

If he wants to be a plumber he needs to stop being demotivated, turn up to class and do some bloody work. Stop making excuses for him and maybe he'll stop making them for himself.

And YY to making him pay the entry fee for the resits. And maybe something towards the cost of a tutor too (maybe through chores if he doesn't have much cash).

Your post suggests it's someone else fault. It isn't.

Your son needs to do the work. That means turning up to class, paying attention and revising. That's how you pass exams.

If he wants to get an apprenticeship he needs to take on board the requirement to pass GCSE maths and English because there are plenty of suitable candidates in front of him.

Time to get tough and ask him what he's planning to do about it rather than doing all the running for him. He is old enough to make his own decisions and sort this out himself.

My brother in virtually identical situation Wow. He failed them at 16, took again at 17 and 18 while he undertook a joinery course that he's done well at, but seemed to get worse rather than better at Maths and English.

Today, at 19, HE PASSED THEM BOTH on the third time!
I think he got a shock last year when he didn't pass and just knuckled down, but he's also done a lot of maturing the last 12 months. Personally, I think if his grades are worse, your DS does need to do another full taught year of both, where he properly attends the lessons and really nails whatever aspect of these courses it is that's causing him problems.

I know you have both now taken on board the importance of him passing English and Maths but you need to stop making excuses for why he hasn't passed. It is not the college's problem that he left school with poor grades and the college was not using the same exam board as his school. Also, schools/colleges do sometimes change exam boards from one year to the next. However, as Eemamc explained very succinctly above, GCSEs are in a period of transition so regardless of what exam board he followed, next year he will have to do the new syllabus so it will be different anyway.

Sometimes our kids just don't listen to what they are told as facts and it takes the cold, hard reality of missing out on potential jobs and the resulting effect on their lives, finances, socialising etc before they realise we were actually telling the truth!

Op. My DD narrowly missed her English Language last year, and again in November.

She fortunately has passed today (after a lot of hard work, including having a tutor and re-doing all 4 pieces of coursework again in Jan/Feb) to the detriment somewhat of her Business BTEC, but at least now she has her English, she can put 200% into her Business this coming Year.

My understanding (from college and what I was told on MN this time last year) is that the resit in June 2017 was the last on the syllabus that our kids did, with coursework and letter grades.

So anyone taking Maths and English GCSE going forward will have to take the exams based on new syllabus and numerical grades. Whether that can be in Nov, I dont know, but the new syllabus is very different to the old syllabus, so he will need to be taught the new syllabus anyway. And harder I believe.

This is maybe what his college means when they say that they are not doing that board again.

Hence I have had stress levels through the roof this week, hoping my DD got it this time. I knew she had a good chance with much improved coursework and so it proved.

Oops, cross post with others regarding the new syllabus!

Oh dear - the generation that expect prizes for turning up and it appears he can't even manage that!
Just enrolling without working will not lead to a pass even if he carries on doing this for 20 years.