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 :(

I work in 6th form with 16-18 year olds. Business requires maths skills at level 3, and level 3 content is very challenging in terms of quantity. It is not for the faint hearted. It requires dedication. Level 2 will be essential in getting a student with barely any GCSEs ready to access the higher level content.

It’s not as easy as people think just get a job or apprenticeship-it’s so competitive and they are looking at qualifications AND skills. Students have to do work experience on top of academics just to ensure they can make themselves stand out against others. Ours are even struggling to get part time jobs. I would say your son really needs to think about doing more L2 qualifications through the college-that will show dedication to his career and will be looked on better. He can’t just skip onto the higher level courses with no relevant experience-that’s setting him up to fail. He also needs to take accountability for his actions that got him suspended!

But your son goes to a school where apparently “nobody in the year” passed any GCSEs, you think that is normal, and that expecting 4 GCSEs is an outrageous ask. Which suggests he either has significant SEN, or your family and wider social circle generally have very low educational attainment such that you think this is normal, when it really isn’t normal at all, and will cut your son off from most employment and training opportunities (as he is now finding).

Your attitude to education would be quite unusual in a middle class parent. Sending your child to a school where nobody passes any GCSEs would be unusual in a MC parent with any choice at all in the matter. Your attitude to him being expelled would be unusual in a MC parent. This is why people are assuming you aren’t MC (it would also be unusual in my working class family, but there is a wider spread of attitudes to education).

I teach Business Studies at GCSE and A Level. I can't comment on his suitability for the college course but if its equivalent to GCSE then my students are still expected to do a fair bit of maths and essay writing. For A Level at my school you would need 5 GCSEs at grade 5 or above and for my subject, need 6 in English and 5 in Maths. It doesn't sound like he is anywhere near ready to do a higher level course. I'd suggest he continues with the one he is on (as already halfway through the year) so he gets some qualifications that will help him move to the next level. Its been a long time since I taught a vocational course but back then students still needed to have good maths skills and English comprehension and writing skills. Also, if he was not in school for the 2 months prior to exams starting, he would already have been taught the majority of the curriculum which he could have revised from.

I'm retraining, software development, on a bootcamp that's been v intense and left me with reams more learning to do before I can realistically be employed - most ppl have some experience before starting, which I haven't had, it's not a course issue. Someone else on my course completed an unrelated degree, got a masters in comp studies, has done this and now has a place on a sofdev apprenticeship. My son is techy, he was home ed, has spent a lot of free time coding as well as gaming, is now in secondary so he can get quals to eventually do something similar. A lot of people want tech careers - from my perspective it seems to take a lot to get into it. Not always, but the right combo of self driven, comms skills and problem solving, jumping from one zone to the next and picking up new things quickly, requires a range of solid skills - especially if the quals are thin.

Apprenticeships I've looked at I believe want more than 2 GCSEs - I can't find the ones I was browsing this morning, and can't remember - my sticking point is my tech knowledge and experience, not GCSEs, so I didn't retain the number required. However, I think there are probably different types of apprenticeships too - there are agencies who do this on behalf of businesses. If he's not already coding, get him on Scratch and Khan Academy. If he really gets into it, freeCodeCamp is great, and The Odin Project will take him far if he's willing to go steady and in-depth. All free.

I think people who don't respond well in an academic environment often do better if they have an idea of what they want to do eventually, then work backwards to the steps they need to take and courses to study to get there.
That way, rather than being stuck in a school or college because its the law, and picking the least worst course you can put up with, you at least know that what you're studying (even if it's boring) has a point because it's towards your goal.
If I were you I'd chat with him about where he sees himself in ten years, what would he want from a job (get him to think about activities and environment he might enjoy, not just say lots of money!) then help him identify some realistic jobs based on that. Then work out the best courses or training to get there.

So your ds failed most of his gcse's and was expelled. There is no way a secondary school would expel for 'horseplay' as you call it so close to exams. I don't know if you're in denial or not being told everything. But it doesn't add up.
With that small number of GCSE's he needs to retake to do the course he wants.

That's all very well, but teenagers often have an idea of what they want to do that's unattainable. I was a teacher for over 30 years and mentored may students on their next steps. One that sticks with me is a bit who was adamant he was going to go and work for Pixar as an animator; his art teacher said he'd be lucky to pass art GCSE.

Like everything else there are levels of business studies you probably can still take it at foundation level , GCSE level but also at higher levels you can also do a Degrees in Business Studies and a higher degree
4 GCSEs isn't an unreasonable requirement for a post 16 business studies course at all.

That's why I said help him to chose something realistic, based on activities he'd enjoy and the sort of environment he prefers.

I had a friend who was determined she'd be a vet but had no chance. She was extremely stubborn, wouldn't hear anyone who tried to talk to her about possible alternatives. She'd have been brilliant at something like practical special effects, or any practical trades - if she'd been born on a farm she would have been set for life. I agree with pp who said it's too soon for some people to decide what they want. It was for me, and I had academic ability behind me.

I probably should have added more detail to the original post but i didn't think the expulsion reason would be so relevant.
Over the last couple years during years 10 and 11 he had persistant lateness, as well as generally being a bit of a backchat to the teachers, disagreeing with what they say etc, mainly because he enjoyed making other students laugh.
We had both spoken to him about these things many times and i told him to just keep his head down and get on with it rather than rocking the boat.
Anyway he has never got into serious trouble before this but the thing that got him expelled was that him and a few other friends (not close friends), took the mickey out of their other muslim friend, while he was praying in the prayer room.

Now i understand he was disrespectful, and call me naive, but to me expelling is for seriously bad behaviour when chairs get thrown at teachers or drugs are found, abusive behaviour etc.
It's obviously far too late now but i feel that suspension should have been enough for this.

With only four GCSEs and a poor school record (not many students are expelled!), I think he should be grateful for what he has been offered by the college.

Not a great start to his career, but hopefully he'll now learn to himself better and realise that four GCSEs is exceptionally low.

Level 2 is literally scraping a C and much more like a D, in English Language only.

Big difference between that and not getting a single one though. OP says that her son got 1s and 2s in all of them, and supposedly so did everyone else in his year.

(Which cannot be true, or the school would be in special measures).

So islamophobic bullying, basically? It is hardly surprising that he got expelled. The fact that you're so eager to minimise it doesn't mean that it wasn't a serious issue.

Honestly, you and his father don't sound like you have parented him well at all. You have let him down.

How did you find out the reasons for the exclusion? Did you or your ex attend the exclusion meeting with the school/LA?

And when you say he and his friends “took the mickey” what exactly did they do?

I was a school governor for 5+ years and led many meetings for permanent exclusions. None of this stacks up.

He wasn't being disrespectful.

He was religiously harassing another student.

You are minimising massively.

What on earth did he do to get expelled just prior to GCSES? Get him a tutor and pay privately, presumably he was ready to go last year.

Bullying is a bit steep, they were friends.

Of course it was bullying.

You said it was all over tiktok

thats not horseplay. Racist bullying & you are playing it down like its nothing

Jeez

Having read all of the responses, what do you think is his best way forward and how will you handle it?

Doesn’t sound like it. You are massively minimising this.

Racism. Yep. That'll get you expelled.

Of someone in prayer?

Bloody hell.

I think he should stick at what he is doing and commit to finishing this year of college. I am not sure if there is somebody within the college i can talk to about it?
I will be visiting soon and i am in regular contact with him and his dad.