To ask what you would do for your teen here?

[Wherestheteenguide]

Sorry to put this in aibu not education but need swifter answers!
My son is bright but autistic. Verbally he's an A grade student but he just cannot seem to manage exams. He just goes to pieces even with extra time, solo room etc. he's also struggling with the overwhelm of college overall so his attendance hasn't been great either which isn't helping staying on top of work.

As a parent I don't know whether to push for him to get his A levels as he's bright or scrap the idea and find a better environment for him. We're not that bothered about a uni route anyway given the cost.

What would you do?!

Practice exams at home in similar conditions
If an exam is 3 hours and 4 essays, do a 45min essay in exam conditions a few times a week to help.

Im autistic and this is how I got over my anxiety in exams. It meant when the exam came, I was well prepared to sit and do it as I'd had so much practice.

My ds has ADHD and started Sixth Form for friendship reasons. I felt that it was the wrong decision but let him make the decision as it’s his life.

He left at the end of y12 and started a level 2 qualification in a completely different subject in September. For the first time ever he was really interested in the subject (would research topics on his own that are not even in the syllabus!) and found his “thing”

Level 2 qualifications are the equivalent of a GCSE and they are taught in a school year so if the new subject didn’t end up being interesting to him, he’d only have to persevere until June when the course ended. It was a massive gamble that paid off here.

IME school sixth forms are much more relaxed than GCSE and the teachers treat the pupils as more adult in preparation for uni/work/adulthood. This also helped ds enjoy college.

I don’t regret not pushing ds to go to college instead of sixth forms. He had to discover what path he should take even if it meant some dead ends. He wishes that he realised his passion in y11 but it’s not a big deal in the whole scheme of things and I am delighted that he’s found his path.

I don’t know if your Ds is aware but a level 3 BTEC is the equivalent of an A-level. I know that teens sometimes use “BTEC” to mean “crappy/inferior” but it’s a different kind of qualification . Unlike A-levels where there’s an exam at the end, there’s constant assessments throughout which can work well if you screw up a module or get anxious about a big test at the end as you know what grade you are on track for.