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 :(

At least he has the initiative to earn some decent money online which he is saving.
Christ when i was 16 i was working 4 hours a week at the local ice rink earning a pittance!
what did you do at 16? or did mummy and daddy pay for everything?

Wow.

Agree. Around a third have to fail because that is what is baked in to the system. Once the exam scores are in, the grades are distributed around a bell curve.
I live in an area where we get a greater share of the 1-3 grades than more affluent areas. Around 40% of children here don't get at least a 4 in English and maths. In more affluent areas this can be around 25%. The difference is quite stark!

In the COVID years, exams were simplified with some material taken out and the grade boundaries were quite low. They have gradually crept back up.
We're doing past papers at the moment and focussing on 2024 onwards and 2019 and earlier because of those.

I certainly wasn't abusing my 'friends' at prayer and filming it for the Internet which I think is the main problem here.

I can picture my mother rolling her eyes and muttering "I can see where he gets it from..".

You really won't have it that you've failed your son will you?
If you really must know..at 16 I had a part time job whilst doing my GCSE'S, THEN with those GCSE'S I did my A levels ,THEN I did my degree....because that's how it works....did you not know that? You have to get the qualifications before ýou move up.
My son is now doing his A levels after getting 11 GCSE'S, ALL 8'S AND 9'S. Because I was there making sure he did not spunk his time away making himself the class clown/ bully.

Weirdly, when teachers tell kids that they need GCSEs if they want to have options in the future they aren't just being boring and wasting their breath. It's a fact that GCSEs are, rightly or wrongly, the pathway to next steps and opportunties. OP you seem very ready to make excuses for your child's lack of attainment but I'd suggest this isn't really helping them. Unfortunately their road through post 16 education is going to take a little longer but it is still possible if they are willing to do the work and attend college.

And yes, as others have said apprenticeships are very competitive and employers very much get their pick of candidates - it's best to be over qualified than under.

Great so you are academic. Not everyone is and university degrees are not the be all and end all of life.
Why is mumsnet so narrow minded?

But if he's saving all the money he's earning online then he must be having everything paid for him too? Look, in itself it's no bad thing that he's squeezing a few quid from pissing around on his computer, but you are clearly aware that it's no substitute for an actual career plan. The poster you quoted did use intemperate language but the very valid point is that, unlike the old days, an apprenticeship is no longer a two-a-penny, widely available option that any old muppet can walk into. A quick Google indicates that IT apprenticeships are typically oversubscribed by 10 to 1, so employers can be choosy. You may as well try and I could be wrong, but I suspect if you go down that route you will very quickly find that not getting any GCSEs is not normal, and that employers have a choice of plenty of applicants who do have a demonstrable track record of actually applying themselves, and who haven't been very recently excluded from school in dodgy circumstances.

Who knows you and your son may get very lucky, but the base case here has to be that he puts his big boy pants on, does a few years of hard yards educationally (even though it may be boring and he thinks it's beneath him), with a view to being able to demonstrate at the end of it that he's changed from who he is right now. Because who he is now is not somebody that employers are going to want.

OP you keep coming back to this self pity. Its not helping your son at all.

This isn’t about not being academic, you don’t need to be academic to make a success of yourself. But you need to apply yourself. Which thus far he hasn’t done.

Why are some posters so aggressive? You asked a question and got answers you didn't like - so went on the attack.

Rather than hating the system, you could get your act together.

So are you saying that people who work online are all 'pissing about on their computers'? Or are you just judgemental because it is a game?
He does need to do the hard yards yes. Even if he doesn't pass college i would be grateful for him trying.

You're the one asking why he cannot get on the course he wants, ffs.

Because you refuse to see that you have failed your son. He is a racist bully and when he finally faces the consequences you down play it as school playing the race card. Vile attitude.

Your ds won't get an apprentiship because he has not shown one ounce of accountability or motivation. That is down to you as a parent.

@magicalmadmadamim I have no idea why other non muslim students are even allowed in the prayer room in the first place.

It's normal for prayer rooms in schools and other public areas to be multi-faith.

It wouldn't be practical to lock them up. If they were locked, the school would need to issue a key to each student who might possibly want to pray in there.

I should imagine that the school didn't expect people to enter the room unless they actually wanted to pray or to find a quiet place to collect their thoughts.

I wonder where your son got his shitty attitude from. It's a real thinker.

No! Obviously not! But like I said it's not a substitute for an actual career is it? By the same token, if you are now saying that your son's lack of attainment is OK because he's 'not academic', what exactly do you think an IT apprenticeship or Business Studies entails? Hint: they're not just bashing stuff with hammers all day, you do need to be fairly proficient with numbers and words and all that academic stuff.

It's nothing to do with being academic or not.

Your son pissed about, disrespected teachers, was filmed mocking a Muslim boy at prayer and blew his exams. His attitude and lack of work ethic is the problem. You keep minimising that.

I don't think it's necessarily fair to say the op failed her son, my daughter got all 5's and 6's in her mocks and was on track for 6's and 7's in her final exams. In the end she barely scraped three level 4's. It came totally out of the blue and I still don't quite know what happened.

But he should pass college because it's too easy for him?

He should fly, then once he gets through it he will have more options.

Don't most kids get 9 or more?

I quite agree, but I assume he talked a good game in his interview???? He is not the sort of person I'd want defending my country. Not a team player and not fond of effort unless he thinks it matters.

Perhaps they will keep him in training until he gets the right attitude???

What is his business plan for making a living from gaming?

I do work (mostly) online, as do most of my DC and several of their partners. One of my DCiL actually makes their living from content creation in this exact space.

So what’s his business plan from turning his hobby into a business rather than a displacement activity or excuse for not working at school/college?

Another suggestion. Will any of his online work be useful to form a portfolio.

If he is able to demonstrate his analytical skills, problem solving, coding, creativity etc by means of portfolio then that may help with this apprenticeship.

I would imagine so although as a millennial it is mostly completely alien to me. He has to moderate users on there and has started paying to outsource advertising on social media platforms.