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 have done some research and most colleges in the UK are asking 4 GCSEs but Ireland is just 2 GCSEs.
I looked at the level 1 courses he is currently on. If he completes them he can progress onto the level 2 BTEC next year.

I am grateful for the posters who have given me useful information, as a side note to do with his behaviour i am not excusing what he has done, but people make mistakes! I have no idea why other non muslim students are even allowed in the prayer room in the first place.
To everyone else on their high horses, how does it feel calling a 16 year old child horrible names for fucking up once?
Must be nice to be so god damn perfect.

Most people in his year group failed their GCSEs?! I’d think that is a pretty unusual situation for any school?

You must be pretty thick yourself not to realise that everyone has different academic abilities
Some of the replies on this thread are pretty awful and very narrow minded.

Blimey... now it sounds like you're victim blaming " why are non Muslim students even allowed in the prayer room" 😂.
Take some responsibility will you, he hasn't fucked up once, he must have been fucking up for years and years to leave school with no GCSEs. Did you not notice he was failing?

2 GCSEs is a very low bar and there won’t be many opportunities available. Has he thought about retaking them?

Indeed they are
My son had a terrible time in year11 , he missed an entire half term prior to Easter due to being critically ill intensive care, whilst he was never academic this had a massive impact on his grades and he did a lot worse than predicted, three years on his still playing catch ,he s just passed his functional skills English and i am over the moon for him
Its the equivalent to a GCSE regardless of what some posters think

OP I am sorry because this has been a pile on but your son doesn’t have a hope of turning this around until you and his dad stop minimising this and face up to hpw badly he’s fucked up.

He can totally redeem himself but not if you keep making excuses for him.

And themselves. The parents need to take responsibility for their failures. This boy has not failed in a vacuum.

'if' he completes the course. Really.

So he's mucked around for years, got expelled, failed all his exams (which is entirely his own doing), managed elsewhere to get to incredibly low-level qualifications, and has been given another chance at education through this course. Then he says it's 'too easy' and you aren't even sure he'll stick the one-year course out and tell what June or July.

Aren't you concerned about his lack of motivation and commitment to anything?

Functional skills at level 2 are not 'incredibly low level' 🙄

THEY ARE !

They are not ,they are level 2 qualifications wether you like that or not 🙄🙄🙄🙄

But it wasn't once. You don't get expelled fir doing something once.

Come òn! Would you be happy if your 16 year old had these....after all those years at school?

I think if he has a change of mind set now, and also you do OP, and also the father, he could move on from the episode of stupidity and immaturity.

If both of you still fail to acknowlege your own shortcomings and blame shift, then he's going to need endless bailouts throughout his adult life.

If you read my above post im over the moon my 19 year old has passed his Functional skills English ,after a terrible year 11
I dont why you think they are not GCSE equivalent, but you cant just decide they are not.

He hasn't fucked up once. You simply don't get expelled a couple of months before your GCSEs for fucking up once.

You as bus parent are responsible for him and you have seriously let him down. But instead of taking responsibility and making steps to change this shit show you're just focusing on minimising it

Well we had great celebration in our household when DD passed her English FS Level 2. You have no idea how much effort she put into achieving it.

You have to reset your expectations dependent on the circumstances and child in front of you.

And whatever you may care to think Level 2 Functional Skills English is on the same level as a GCSE grade 4 (as they are both level 2 qualifications) and for lots of purposes the FS English is sufficient.

Not all children are destined to be academic high fliers, but getting those level 2s in English and Maths can enable them to progress in their chosen area.

Absolutely, your son has done amazingly well, applied himself
, worked hard , put in the time and is catching up.
A far cry from the boy in question.

To be honest, a kid who has achieved GCSEs only at levels 1 and 2 is not in a position to complain that a qualification isn't challenging enough.

Did you or your ex use your rights to challenge the exclusion? Did you encourage your son to use his time out of school productively by really getting his head down and revising?

His dad went to a meeting with the school and appealed it. They basically said it was more about the lateness and backchat to the teachers, the incident was the perfect excuse to play the racist card to get rid of him.
I spoke to the head of year myself who was actually really nice, he did not sit the first 3 exams due to anxiety about returning to school after the incident with the other boy.
He sat all the others but he was actually devastated and cried to me for the first time in years.
He has enjoyed college much more than school so far.

Your situation is not really comparable to the OP’s.
In the OP’s situation (based on her posts), there is a combination of lack of parenting, entitlement and unrealistic expectations.

My goodness, what a horrendous time you’ve all had (and I know through your posts over the years about your younger son’s situation too). The celebrations when your older boy passed FS must have been wonderful. Well done him and you.

For the posters continuing to dispute that level 2 FS is counted as the equivalent of a grade 4 pass at GCSE, well, I guess I must have imagined my son’s college accepting his two FS passes as GCSE equivalents and not requesting that he re-takes the GCSEs.

Yes x2boys situation is different to the OP, as is our situation.

However there have been too many posters saying roughly that:
. the FS Level 2 is lower level than GCSE (it isn't they are both level 2s),
. it is pointless (it isn't, it acts as a gateway for many students to next level education or employment),
. and anyone would be disappointed if that was all their child got (no we aren't, we are delighted, this is child specific.)

It is the incorrect statements and mass generalisations that are wrong and a bit upsetting to those of us whose DC have overcome adversity to achieve FS or the odd GCSE.