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 :(

He has mostly 1 and 2.

I think he has 2 passes now ,so maybe sit another 2 ? I think Business Studies is a fairly rigorous subject though ,so I would imagine the course to be quite hard work .

I think your son is being economical with the truth and you are in denial.

It is not that difficult for most children to get 4 GCSE’s. Obviously there are exceptions. However it sounds like your son spent most of his time messing about with his friends rather than doing any work. I imagine whilst the incident leading to the expulsion may not have hen that serious it was the final straw in a long line of poor behaviours from your son,

level 2 is gcse equivalent. If does well surely he can move on to level 3, A level equivalent.

he does need to take accountability for himself and you need to stop enabling it by making excuses for him

What courses is he currently doing? The ones he finds boring?

If he was allowed to sit the exams, and just missed a few weeks of class, then a don't think that would caurse an able student to then fail the exams, unless he also messed about a lot in the years before and didn't study.

Perhaps he would be better suited to a more vocational route. I'd encourage him to look into apprenticeship options.

The one he complains about is called Technical skills, which he says isn't challenging enough.

Why does he want to go down an academic route when it clearly isn’t for him? An apprenticeship in a trade could be the making of him.

I think the op is probably from the sort of social background where this may be the norm. Luckily college can be the way forwards for many underprivileged children who do pull their finger out as they get older, there’s much more support now ,our local college is really committed to offering all combos of gcse/ a level / b tech as well as many vocational qualifications. Hopefully he may get the mentoring he needs.

He’s doing a GCSE equivalent L2 course (I assume a BTEC?) Business studies, like lots of other subjects, can be level 2 (GCSE), level 3 (a level equivalent) up to degree and beyond.

Is he re-sitting his maths and English GCSE’s alongside this? I thought that was mandatory unless there is an SEN which means only functional skills is appropriate for him.

Rude!
You have no idea about my background and we are definitely not underprivileged.
Jesus 🙄

Ok, I think I know what has happened here.

OP's ds has presented to the college with a handful of GCSE's at Grade 1/2

Those grades are not high enough to get onto a Level 2 Btec (usually you need 4 GCSE's at Grade 3) so he has enrolled onto a 1 year Level 1 course which includes Functional Skills.

He has passed the L2 functional skills (presumably during the November exam session) but now needs to complete the rest of the Level 1 course which will give him the qualifications needed to progress onto the Level 2 Business Btec in September.

The college need to be sure he is capable of that level of work for the Btec as his current qualifications don't show that.

What kind of school has most of the year 11 year group failing GCSEs? Is this something that your son told you? Getting 4 is not difficult - especially if there’s no specific subject requirement.

Well done to him achieving Maths and English. Is he studying a level 1 business course? Is he retaking any GCSEs so he can start the course he wants in September? Level 1 courses are very basic but it sounds like that’s what you son needs. If he does this course this year (and behaves!) ca he do the course he wants in September ?

So basically he's spunked every opportunity given him.
Where were you when he was fucking around, not getting his GCSE's?
You are his parent , it was up to you to make sure he was not failing. And now you're whingeing that he cannot get on the course he wants...

Functional Skills is offered to anyone who only passed GCSE maths and English with Grade 1 or 2. Any student who got Grade 3 has to do GCSE re-sit.

Business studies is an academic course, requiring essay writing, ability to interpret trends and information. Students that haven't passed GCSEs would struggle with the level of work required.

Functional skills Level 1 are not equivalent to a GCSE pass unfortunately so unless he took Level 2, he doesn't have GCSE equivalents. Even Level 2 FS is only equal to a GCSE Grade 4, while most courses require GCSE Grade 5.

Okay so these are level one GCSE qualifications - so is he looking at level 2 courses or doing them now?

It sounds like he's not at the level needed for course he wants to do - but there often a way into them via prior courses and colleges usually direct the students to them.

Some of DD2 friends are re-taking GCSE maths and English and doing Btecs along side. Sound like he has the funcational maths and English qualifications- so now he needs some other courses to meet creteria to do this particular Bussiness course.

It sounds frustating but they probably know what is needed to succeed at that course and 4 GCSE at level 2 passes is actually lower than many courses look for post GCSE.

All I can suggest is tell him to go back and ask what the college suggests course wise to get on this course next time round and enocuage him to look at local careers services - as they may know local schemes and paths though and may get listened to more than a parent.

i suspect there’s a lot of denial going on from your posts! It’s nothing to be ashamed of but parental backgrounds can and do impact on their children’s education.

From what you've said, he seems to barely have the most basic of qualifications. No college is going to have much to offer him in the way of courses.

So he does n’t have gcse passes just FS, at what level?

What kind of 'horseplay'?

It was 5 GCSEs to do business studies when I left school. Are college aware of his circumstances? They should be able to make exceptions if there are extenuating circumstances but he is academically able. Maybe he needs to stick out the boring course to evidence to college that he is able to commit to a course and has the ability to achieve.

if i were his teachers i'd want evidence that my investment of teaching him is going to be repaid with him paying attention and putting in the work.

He thinks he's going to be some kind of Bill Gates with his investing and side hustle?

Based on working at a college, I would say these entry requirements sound about right for a level 2 business course. And also the reasoning for doing functional, not GCSE sounds correct.

There are very valid reasons colleges have these requirements, like retention, achievement, attendance etc. Even if you don't agree, those things can put a course at risk in the future, plus Ofsted etc. He'll most likely be able to get on the course he wants in September.

Is it accredited or just a way of building up his learning skills. Unfortunately by messing about at school, academic expectations of him are low and he needs to use this time to prove himself.