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'm a business teacher. It isn't a foundation course it's robust A level with high standards as any other A level is. If he isn't very bright he will certainly struggle with the course and the depth of analysis required in the essay questions

“The one he complains about is called Technical skills, which he says isn't challenging enough.”
You both need to view education as a ladder only when you have successfully climbed one rung can you move on to the next.
Because he hasn’t completed the level 2 rung ( getting 4 GCSEs or a level2 qualification) he can’t move on to the next rung level 3 or apprenticeship.

Yep, lots of OFSTED outstanding schools are churning out kids with barely any qualifications. Education needs such a huge injection of cash and there isn’t a way to fund it. I reckon they should put a charge on state education. Schools need money and those who access them should pay. Otherwise parents are going to find it awfully hard to shift grown up children from their homes, who don’t have what they need to parlay into a successful career, thus pay their own bills.

Do you live in the same country as your son @magicalmadmadamim ?

This doesn't make sense you say your daughter was very academic and ended up with only " 5,and 6' which are still equivalent to Bs and C,s ,
But you must be aware not all kids are very academic,?
My son missed a whole half term of year 11 due to being critically ill in intensive he isn't academic and it had a detrimental affect on his already not highly predicted GCSE grades.

Hardly any of his school friends passed any g.c.s.e's :(

This is not normal, unless there's a drip feed that he and all his friends have learning difficulties? What the hell.

English and maths functional skills are what students do (generally) when they have either repeatedly failed their GCSEs, or have no chance of passing them at all.

Unfortunately this has probably had a detrimental effect on him, even if not intentional.

A bit of teenage horseplay? Yeah ok. So he's immature, violent, didn't even put in the bare minimum effort to pass his exams and you're wondering why they won't let him onto a college course...

OP, even I passed all my subjects at GCSE and I handed in a grand total of 3 pieces of coursework. Scraping a pass isn't that hard. You don't end up with no GCSEs through not being academic, it's a lack of effort.

They call it uniformed services preparation these days I believe,

Agree with others that four GCSE’s is very low indeed, especially if you’re just talking about getting a pass. No criticism of kids who can’t manage that, but to expect to go onto further academic study without meeting this baseline is odd.

Suggest DS either resits his GCSEs so that he gets the required four, or looks for something less academic instead.

No, a post at 12.4? confirms that the DS lives in the UK and OP hasn't for some time.

It can be caused by both things, to be fair.

Probably just bullshit that the OP was all too ready to believe.

Yes i think this will be the next option if he doesn't want to continue with the college.

No he is not at all violent where did you get that from?

Off topic, but it’s quite scary that there are so many teenage boys who are now under the impression that they are going to “start their own business” and make a fortune because of Andrew Tate. Several of my 19 year old’s school contemporaries have said to him that this is their plan in life, with no apparent thought about what business they are actually going to create.

Or they spend all their time loitering on street corners and parks late at night.

I think you are in denial OP. Your ds has obviously put in minimal effort regardless of expulsion (if he was expelled so close to exams surely he would have had most of his study and revision under his belt anyway. It also sounds like he is not keeping good company if all his friends pretty much failed their exams too.

Thank you.

This is a conversation you both need to have with the college to get a better understanding. My son did Business Studies BTEC alongside his GCSEs at level 2 and is now doing level 3 alongside his A Levels. He is a bright boy who was in a challenging school for GCSE years but did well despite not having teachers for every subject. I'd imagine that the college doesn't have the evidence to support any confidence in the level 3 BTEC being realistically achievable for your son. If he's genuinely passionate about the subject, and he's willing to put the energy, effort, time and attitude into his college experience, he needs to make that clear to the college.

Could it be an option for him to do the lower level BTEC to prove his capabilities and commitment?

If he's thriving in his own entrepreneurial enterprises, that's brilliant. Academia isn't for everyone. One of my children will be pursuing a degree apprenticeship in business which will mean he's earning alongside getting the next level of qualifications, contacts and experience. Another left 6th form college because she wasn't happy with the course. She went straight into working full time and she's doing amazingly, she's dedicated, well paid, and has been given responsibilities and training development.

So I recognise the power and importance of practical experience, and when A Levels aren't the right fit for some young people. My fear for your son is that his future options will be limited with the qualifications he's got under his belt.

You say his mates didn't get GCSEs either? Are they still a big group of friends? What else do they get up to? What are their and his ambitions? Where does he see himself in a year? 2? 5? What are his values? What matters to him? What sports does he play? What volunteering has he done? What work experience does he have? What's his part time job? He's going to be competing with kids with all of that. In his part time job, what does his employer say about him? Is he reliable? Curious? Hardworking? A team player? A quick learn? What's he doing when he's not in college?

Sounds to me like the kid is suffering from a distinct lack of parenting. This is likely to hold him back.

You've got the wrong end of the stick.

I was referring to the end of the post I quoted.

You don't end up with no GCSEs through not being academic, it's a lack of effort.

Lack of GCSE attainment can be a result of both things.

Either OP's son is lying to her to try and normalise his results, or he's hanging out with the wrong crowd. I didn't know anyone who failed any of their GCSEs and everyone I was close to got all As and Bs. Failing all your GCSEs in my social circle would have been considered completely shocking and peer pressure meant that no-one would have been OK with risking that. Added to that, no-one was socialising beyond the odd get together for a revision session from about April onwards in Y11. Even if you hadn't been at home studying there was no-one to go out with.

I guess that's irrelevant now since you can connect with the whole world from an XBox in your bedroom.

Don't worry love, he's doing really well on his video game 🙄

Your attitude is the problem so it seems.

My eldest is also an Sumer born baby! Came out with 9 GCSEs 4/6s. (Had 3 yrs of disruption with COVID!) Did level 3 Btec business and 2x A levels. The step up from gcse to A level is massive! She hardly has any time to herself, they need to be organised and dedicated to their study! Sounds like he just dicked at school, the college are going to need to see a change in his attitude or they won’t offer him a higher level course. Like in life , sometimes you have to suck it up, to prove your true potential xx