To think that 4 G.C.S.E's needed to do business studies is ridiculous

[magicalmadmadamim]

My eldest DS is 16 and been at college since September. He has 2 G.C.S.E equivalent certificates in English and Maths.
I'm sure back when I was in college business studies was always a foundation course?
He really wanted to do business studies and they have put him on some really rubbish courses that he is super bored with.
Is it me or is education getting much harder now?
Hardly any of his school friends passed any g.c.s.e's :(

Did he get grade 4? I don’t think he did but happy to be corrected.

It’s an ok grade in that it is a pass and the minimum for many apprenticeships so gives rise to other opportunities. Whether it’s a good grade depends on the individual.
I used SEN as an example but, of course there are many circumstances where grade 4 is a high achievement and equally many SEN children achieve very high grades.

Sounds like a school leaver apprenticeship in tech would suit him well.

Well that’s good. He really needs to decide what he is good at, or potentially good at and make a plan around that. Realistically, how would he manage in Business at college if his peers there all passed the minimum requirements (and beyond). It could be as miserable as if I was put in a chemistry degree course (I absolutely failed terribly my then ‘O’ level).

They also need at least 4 GCSE passes to do Level 2 courses in construction, it's not just 'academic' courses. My DS has 4 passes and is doing Level 2 Plumbing alongside retaking English GCSE/taking functional skills. And plenty of his classmates have more than 4 passes. It's not an easy course, and the Level 3 apprenticeship is significantly more challenging again. So all those people saying to go for a trade instead are underestimating what you need to qualify into those areas as well.

As someone else has pointed out, I should have expanded my comment to include that he will need to re-do his GCSEs. He’s not going to get far without them unfortunately.

Very competitive

Having got to pg9 of the thread, I think this is the most likely outcome. It sounds like neither OP, nor her ex have had their eye on the ball and the DS has paid the price. It's not the fault of the school, or the college, or even really DS. He's done what a 15yo with no boundaries will do.

The 'teenage horseplay' that ended up on tiktok and led to permanent exclusion from school.

Most colleges ime only allow students to resit maths and English these days.

Around here apprenticeships are like gold dust, so he will need a lot of parental assistance if he wants to attempt to get one!

Even more millions are sat on the dole or in dead end jobs without a hint of a GCSE - for every "I left school at 16 with no qualifications and now I'm a millionaire" there are five thousand who aren't...

Do you think that your ex is/was keeping track of Ds’ education? Usually mock grades in year 11 help parents understand how their child is performing on a national level so their GCSE grades aren’t a massive surprise. You say that you’re not disadvantaged so could have invested in tutors for subjects like Maths so he could start his college course last September. My kids weren’t fans of English but studied for their GCSE to avoid the retake hassle. Do you think your ex was telling ds stuff like that so he at least made an effort in those subjects?

(You say that ex works long hours but it’s hard to tell if it’s something like healthcare which includes nights but there should be an understanding of the importance of education or he needs to work long hours because life is expensive and night shift means more money) Either way it sounds like ds was pretty neglected and that’s a massive gamble with teens that can easily go wrong.

My kids went to a comp and their school had qualifications for kids who are unlikely to pass GCSEs but had a good chance at passing those. When choosing GCSE options in year 9, our school would have steered kids towards those sorts of qualifications and they wouldn’t take the 9ish that other students took. (I say 9ish because some kids do triple science, further maths etc that can bump up that number)

Can you clarify this please OP?

Are you saying that he took a full set of GCSEs and failed them all? You say that he only missed the last few weeks of school with the expulsion and was allowed back to sit his exams but didn’t pass?

And then he sat Functional Skills exams through a different school (a PRU??) and that’s what he passed?

Setting aside the reasons for his permanent exclusion, there’s no way most of his year group didn’t lass their GCSEs. I think he’s spinning you a yarn there.

It’s Maths and English that he’ll need.

It would help to know more about what constitutes "horseplay" in this instance

They’ll probably ask for GCSEs though. If he’s capable he’s probably better off resitting them.

You always needed at least 4 O'Levels to get onto the BTEC OND (Ordinary National Diploma) in Business and Finance. There was a one year foundation course before that you could get onto with no qualifications. It sounds like your Son has been put onto the modern equivalent of that course which is about right if he doesn't have the correct qualifications for the more advanced course. If he didn't do his exams due to being expelled but you think he could pass them he could apply to sit the exams as an outside student (you should have done this for him at the time last year really) so he can take the exams he worked towards for 2 years.

I don't think he'll get an apprenticeship in tech without a GCSE to his name.

I'd suggest it's probably always both things. The vast majority of children, even the ones not very academic, can pass at least some GSCEs with enough work. And quite a few can pass without any work, just turning up to lessons and mostly paying attention. I think you have to really, really struggle academically (to the extent you're more likely to be at a specialist provision) or be completely uncommitted throughout Y10 and 11 to fail EVERYTHING.

If it's tech he's interested in OP did he do relevant GCSE's? Has he learnt a programming language or 2?

I'd lean in to his interest in tech, does he make his own games? Has he set up a Java Minecraft server? Has he taught himself/learnt Java? If so and he's into programming I'd also recommend the free Unity Junior programmer course - it's C# rather than Java but there are similarities so he'll have a head start and it's another language and course to add to his CV. I'd also get him learning Python and get him making some simple games in that. Has he got a GitHub account? Get him to put his stuff on there.

Then I'd have him looking for level 3 Dev OPs or Software development apprenticeships - they may ask for 5 GCSEs though so if he can get some more GCSE's at college he'll be in a better position. If his programming skills are great though he might be able to talk his way in despite not having the GCSE's, I don't know. Apprenticeships are competitive though so he will need to stand out and have something to put on a CV. They're not just something you can do because you did badly in everything else.

But English and Maths Functional Skills at the highest level - which is Level 2 - is equivalent to a C/D borderline pass (old grades) or a Grade 4 in today’s system. So it’s quite a weak pass. And Level 2 Functional Skills in English bypasses English Lit altogether. He should really try to get some GCSEs.

Before I make a real tit of myself I'm assuming there is no SEN? His father is just doing a bad job right?

If it helps. Business studies at the school I went to required 4 GCSEs. As did all A Level or collage courses 15 years ago

I also know no one my age or younger with fewer than 12 GCSEs hence this being a little baffling. Even my parents got 6 O Levels each in the stone age!

30% of children who complete state education don't achieve 5 GCSEs A*-C.

And most of them didn't just fail their GSCEs because they were busy arsing around- they had a talent for something early on and saw school as a distraction from their end goal, which they were absolutely focused on from childhood.

Alan Sugar was already buying and selling at 11. Richard Branson left school to start a magazine.

They didn't just drop out to do nothing.

Why?