School removed GCSE for yr 11 student?

[LolaLouise]

Posting here for traffic as i really need advice.

My daughter is in year 11, she is very strong in maths and science so picked the triple award science in her year 9 options as this would give her 3 strong GCSE grades. Today she has gone into school and we have been informed the school have withdrawn triple science as an option, and all year 11 students will be entered in to the double award instead. This means my daughter is now doing 1 less subject at GCSE than her peers, and now potentially cant get on to the college course she wanted as she was counting on the 3 sciences for the 5 grades 5+ she needs to be accepted.

Is there anything we can do? where do we stand? How can a school take away a GCSE from students 6 months before they finish?

Or the specialist isn’t there? (Bet it’s physics)

Yes physics is particularly hard hit for good teachers. It is the only subject now that all three of my dc have had a tutor for. Not an actual teacher mainly but a uni student. I have MN children at leafy MN schools where generally there is good continuity of staff so I can only imagine how dire it might be in other schools.

I know that some of the decisions in terms of higher / foundation papers were taken at this time of year so it is probably that they all had lower marks and hence the decision to switch. I would though be checking that they have covered the right material for the combined at this late stage.

Is your dd getting as much help in terms of exam concessions for the English? Is she able to use a laptop? Does she have a reader for the sections she can have one? Have you watched the relevant film versions of the Eng lit books?

It makes no sense to prevent students doing three sciences because they struggle with art/humanities subjects. It should be the other way around.

This.

They only let 30 take triple at DC school but all mine have taken it - (they could have done double and got onto A-level courses). They thankfully can't do that at my dc school -wales - despite struggling for staff - as they sat one of the exams for each science in Y10.

I'd ask for a meeting with head - and talk to the college - as the exams are May it's getting rid of an option 5 months out for entire group is just not on.

If you are prepared to look at the syllabus in art and help her gather all her art work together to put into a portfolio, I think you may be able to pull up her gcse grade. DS was so disorganised but his drawings and paintings were ok. He mucked about in class as there was no direction from the teacher - she didn’t tell them what to do. She was going through something in her personal life I think as she just put a PowerPoint on and sat at her desk. She left soon after. It was a big shock when he was predicted a 5.
I read the syllabus and worked out DS hadn’t connected his work into coherent products or included progression (initial drawings, thoughts, ideas) in written explanations. I showed him what to do in the syllabus. He spent a solid weekend cutting out bits of printed out inspiration, quotes, and drawing some other bits that linked his pictures together. He got a 9 in the final thing.

That’s terrible. If this is truly their reasoning, they could have made that the option moving forwards, not for the students who have already started studying for the triple.

If all else fails, I'd ask for her to be provided with the materials/curriculum abd entered for exam privately.
I'd get her a tutor also.

The headteacher of the school I was at 40 years ago said the same thing but it wasn't true. I needed all three GCSEs (or O levels then) for the subject I did at university. My DC went to grammar schools and they only do triple science.

In our school the children would study all 3 sciences and only the top few would make the grade to be entered into single subject GCSEs.
I can see that if she's only getting g a 5, it's not top marks so wouldn't really meet the criteria for 3 separate subjects as doing 3 covers more material. Students getting a high 7's and above would meet the criteria to be entered into single subjects.
I would concentrate on getting her English at a level where she can pass and not have to resit, and talk to the school about how they are planning on supporting the art students through their GCSEs without a teacher.

What grades is she aiming for. Are you really saying she did the course in yr 10 and now they have dropped it 6 months from the exams?

Surely that decision is made in Y9 - when options are chosen and accepted.

Also think DC school tends to look at science scores over time rather than all subjects - but they may factor that in.

You don't surely decide 18 months into a two year course with your presumable better science kids to change the exam - and leave presumably your better students with one less GCSE - and after many ay have already applied for college courses for next year.

Even if they don't have a physics teacher - they'll still need to coved the physics section of double award - so they'd still need someone for that.

DD2 has an awful physics teacher - was predicted a C (Wales A*-G) but first exam sat end of year 10 she got A on that paper as we put the extra work in ie we taught her large swaths of the syllabus and made sure she did practise. So even less than stella mocks you'd think they'd be time to pull those up.

Shes also just had her mocks back that they did the week beofre last and she got 2 7's and a 6 in the sciences. Her grades may not be sky high but she is doing her absolute best in them.

Yes she has additional support in exams due to her dyslexia, however, realistically she is looking at the 4 in english language, which is enough for the pass but not enough for her college course, thats with the tutoring she has on Saturdays.

Trying to pull up some of her other grades is an option i know, but really she shouldnt have to do this. She should be allowed to sit the exams she opted for in year 9 since is not failing them.Triple may be for the "elite" in some cases, but she was accepted on to it regardless of her weaknesses in other subjects. Science, all 3, are her favourite subjects, she has put so much time already into revision notes and flash cards etc. Taking it away from her and her classmates at such a late stage is just unfair.

I think the best thing to do now is contact the college, explain the situation, give them her predicted grades. I bet they will likely be helpful.

I never said she was getting a 5, i said she needed 5+ in 5 subjects to get to college and the maths, 3 sciences, and geography were the subjects she is likely to get the 5+ in

Something to bear in mind...
Its slightly harder to get good grades in triple because the grade boundaries are higher. For example- last year a grade 5 was 64% on the combined but 67% on the single. You might find that 2 better grades is just as valuable as 3 less good ones. Especially as there will be less to revise.

I'd book an appointment with the school - argue your case for your DD - those are good grades - and talk to the college.

Obviously you can also try and raise other grades - but I don't think this is fair at all.

Surely you can't go on the marks to decide what is easier or harder. It depends on the questions (assuming they aren't exactly the same).

But thats irrelevent when she needs 5 to get to her college course not 4 and the school have reduced the likelyhood of that happening.

I'd be furious!
No advice really apart from saying you're right to be angry.
Science was my strongest subject too and I did all science A levels - so would have been at a disadvantage when I started A levels if I had done the double science option (or the equivalent of that in the 90s!)

Approach school and have a conversation. Plus I'd approach the college with dd and have a chat with them

You could pay for her to sit them at a private centre?

This.

sounds mad but for some they come out with higher double than they would for triple. My dds school swaps pupils around after mocks to play the system to get the better grades (with agreement though!).

this is terrible at this late stage for the school to do this though, they have 5 months left of school. Can you look at her sitting it in college instead? Some do this.

I do appreciate some courses you absolutely need triple (doctors /vets) so it really is awful for the school to pull that chance from the young people.
as completely anecdotal and useless information for you, I got accepted having done double on a science based animal degree (almost, vet level)

I could you're right. However i cant really afford that alongside tutoring for english. Im a single parent of 3 teens, i struggle most months, i have no savings, (dads been MIA for a decade before he is mentioned) and i shouldnt HAVE to pay when it was offered as an option 2 years ago nearly by the school and she was accepted on to the course.

Those going on about how only high flyers get to sit triple science - nobody from that school is sitting triple science due to the schools decision. It has nothing to do with whether the OP’s DD is good at English - nobody is getting the option and it’s very poor form from the school as it sounds like she’d do well in them.

2 7s and one 6 in her mocks is on track to do well in all three sciences - 5 months out those could go higher.

The OP issue is her DD needs 5 GCSE above grade 5 and with one less science GCSE she at higher risk of not meeting that.

So already doing well with the triple science - she doesn't need higher grades - she needs 5 GCSE above 5 - which this discussion puts her at risk of not getting.

I assume that the school logic - higher grades in double - but if you mess kids round like this they may decide other subjects take priority and those higher grades may not appear.

If all else fails can you ask the school to enter her for the triple exam anyway (or enter her privately), she could do science lessons in school and then get a private tutor to cover the extra material needed for triple science?