only three GCSEs?

[Marshallstreet]

Home educated dd is on a path to only gain three GCSE’s (if she is lucky).

She has been working extremely hard to get in to a selection of academies abroad for a certain activity (so sorry for being vague but it’s a small community so would potentially be outing). It turns out she has been waitlisted at all of them, against expectation, and it is overwhelmingly likely that she won’t have a place come September.

I know I have failed her by not making her take her academics more seriously but please understand it has been a very difficult situation, where she has this specific plan of what she wants to do, and enough aptitude to be seriously considered for places in these academies. She has had to be very focused on developing in this area and things have been incredibly intense, so we decided that she could go for it, as it couldn’t wait for later, while academics can always be caught up on.

Things are not great right now and we have to salvage what we can. She has one gcse from
last year which she took one year early, and is doing foundation maths and one additional subject now. I think the best she can hope for in her second subject is a 6 or 7 and she’d have to have luck on her side for that.

For September, could she go to school for a levels with only three GCSE’s? I am guessing no? Would she have to repeat year 11? we could home school a levels and provided she does well in those, what effect would her poor gcse outcomes have? Would employers and universities have an issue with it, if she does have good a levels?

If university is the goal then don’t be afraid of vocational qualifications that might suit her creative interests and skills. Level 2 means it’s GCSE difficulty, level 3 means it’s A-level difficulty. Both are accepted by universities.

I suspect that a college would expect her to do a level 2 course and maybe some GCSEs starting in September then she might be allowed to start a level 3 course in September 2027. Have a look at your local college website where it will have the entry requirements for various courses. Look out for details of open days so you and dd can explore her options.

She might be able to do a level 2 course at college and progress to a level 3 in a year. Alternatively you could do another year of home ed to get 2 or 3 more GCSEs which is doable in a year. Then do a levels or a level 3. Have a look at entry requirements and work backwards.

Why do you think she could do well in A levels if she only achieved 3 GCSEs? 🥴

Standard entry near us at several 6th forms/colleges is 5 grade 5 or above. English and maths gave to be resat if you haven’t achieved a 4. There’s no exception for home Ed. She’d have to look at grade 2 entry

What does she want to do, exactly?

Think you’ll have to defer for a year and send her to a local 6th form where she can do 5 O levels in a year or pay for her to go to a private college to do them?

Yes, to some extent you have failed her by not understanding what was required - the minimum to progress to A Levels/IB (ie Level 3 study) etc is usually 5 GCSEs. Sadly part of HE is that parents have to become slightly expert on the requirements. There is also online school like InterHigh, though they have a 2 year programme.

If she does another year and gets 5 more, together with her 3 GCSEs from this year, she would have 8 and be in strong starting point for Level. Lots of children, in private schools and state, are a year older having been held back or moved down due to being summer borns. At A Level and Uni no-one would notice the fact she is a year older than some or most of her peers. She does need to be motivated, though.

You could look at London Brookes and Rochester Independent College who do specific one year GCSE crammers.

We can’t really help if you don’t want to engage at all @Marshallstreet

Well, this is a prime example of "not putting all your eggs in one basket."

I assume the "academies abroad" thing is probably a sport... Unlikely to be music or drama schools, as we have world-class ones here... I'd guess tennis or gymnastics if I had to chose.
The thing is, all teenagers think they're the best in the world at something... Until the whole rest of the world is competing for the same spots. Of course her little local tennis coach (or equivalent) told her she had the makings of world class. But unfortunately, being the best at something in your age group, within say 200 miles, doesn't really get you very far on the international stage.

Personally, if it were my DD, I'd give her another year to try for whatever this thing is, but she also needs to get at least another 3 GCSEs during this time. If she isn't successful this time next year, then she needs to put it down and concentrate on reality.

This.

As far as I’m aware the absolute minimum is 4 (inc maths & English) to get onto level 3 courses (a levels, btecs, t-levels etc), more often 5. She could go to a local tech college to do extra GCSEs in a year before moving on. Or she could start a more basic level 1 course if there are any…. Engage with your local 6th form college and they’ll help you with what options are available.

I suggest a GCSE retake course at college. A lot do a selection of GCSEs which can be done in a year (full time) and which will then lead on to A levels. What's nice too is that retake courses often offer GCSEs in subjects commonly not studied at school, so Psychology, Sociology etc. Alternatively it's the Btec route. It depends if you'd daughter wants the academic v the vocational route.

It depends what her GCSEs are in. Will she have maths & English? If she got good enough grades and wanted to do A levels related to her GCSEs (as in not science if she has no science GCSE), then you might find a 6th form that will take her seeing as there are extenuating circumstances. You could contact a few to ask.
Once she has A levels universities and employers won’t care much about GCSEs as long as she has maths and English

College may be more realistic though, to do a level 3 course

What does she want to do in the future?

Which subjects and what are her predicted grades? 3 GCSEs is extremely poor and won’t get her into a school sixth form or level 3 college course but she may get into a level 1 or 2 college course

Sorry for being unclear. I’m the one who failed her, I don’t know how else to put it. I believed I was supporting the right thing for her but I now know I made a mistake

Did you do any of the home educating or was it online?

what has she been working hard at?

Sorry for being vague. I realise it is annoying. I don’t want to be specific as it could potentially be outing

Why is she home schooled? Isn’t school an option? Not being rude but if she can’t pass GCSE’s at home she’s not going to be able to pass A levels.

Would she expect to continue training, coaching, competing or whatever is required to develop her skills and enthusiasm further while studying? She might need to be realistic about how much time, motivation and commitment would be required for each and reassess her priorities. Are there entry points for academies next year and beyond or is it now or never. Are there any alternative routes to her dream?

Sorry to be brutal, but she doesn’t sound like the academic type. I think you need to look at her going into something more practical such as hairdressing etc, or some sort of apprenticeship.

I hope other Home Educators take note. The general measure should be "If my child does not come under SEN then they go to a mainstream school, either private or State". Young people learn not only about taught subjects, but how to mix, who to avoid, how to respect boundaries, follow rules, society in general, i.e. No man is an island unto himself.

This is absurd. And entirely misses the point of education! It’s there to ensure that she has the skills to follow her passions! That’s all! Success isn’t the number of GCSEs!

What’s weird is that this is very very far from the usual perspective on home edding. Is this a reverse?

I wouldn’t reccomend a levels for her if she hasn’t focused on her academics up to now. A levels require an awful lot of pre knowledge plus an enjoyment of independent study.

Having English Language and Maths at a grade 4+ will make all the difference.

What does she want to do? She could do btecs, possibly some t levels (although entry to these slightly higher) she could also look into apprenticeships? We’ve got a few girls from our 11s applying to be electricians this year which is amazing!

I don’t understand why you say you decided to go for it with the activity because academics could always be caught up on then are still stressing about her needing to do A levels next year? If it was always the plan to catch up with academics later why has that changed?

Generally I agree but child actors, elite sports people etc might also have a reason to be home schooled so that they can devote more time to that pursuit than mainstream education would permit?

Which GCSEs should she end up with? Are they PE / music / dance rather than core subjects?

When did she get pulled out of school and drop her core subjects?

What does SHE want to do? Reapply for her original dream, but at a lower level or at the standard she hoped for or take a different route such as following her dream in a less specialist setting?

It's very hard to advise if we don't know which pathway sparks her imagination