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?

I know it's not a legal requirement. But many post 16 courses will ask for passes.

It should only be a small monitory that fail (due to health issues or severe LD). I don't think not getting grade 4 in maths and English should be normalised.

Which is a concern in itself really

Absolutely I think it's shocking how the school system gets away with so many children being failed.

Not exactly. It’s a requirement for those at state 6th form colleges and schools to resit them in years 12 and 13.

And yet still fail thousands of children annually!

The system is designed so that the bottom x% fail.

Ofqual: “There are no quotas for the number of students who must pass or fail a subject each year, and no cap on the number of students that can get each grade.”

This is so lovely to hear. Not every child follows the same path. I wish him all the best.

I think my son will be better at A/BTEC level too - fewer subjects, only things he is interested. I need my son to be able to demonstrate he has some work ethic at some point though.

There may be no quotas but it is expected that around 1/3rd fail Maths / Eng Language each year.

home schooling needs to be heavily regulated and the parents qualified to teach. Along with regular reviews

Agreed
and it is utterly insane (and worrying) that anyone would think otherwise.

Yes you have failed her. Enrol her in a college. She needs to resit the courses.

Insane amount of kick a poster while she is down posts here.

One big strength your daughter will have is that if she has trained to an elite/advanced level in an activity to this age, she will be schooled in a high level of discipline, commitment and resilience. This will serve her very well in her next steps.

If you think only people with severe learning disabillities cant pass maths and English at grade 4 then you reallly dont understsnd what severe learning disabillitues means.

This makes no sense. Grade boundaries change every year to keep numbers similar.

I wonder what people would say if they announced in August "everyone passed English this year".

It doesn’t sound as though you have been home educating at all. Foundation maths and a coupe of subjects at a very low expected grade… that’s not much work at all really. So, you didn’t home educate. You registered her as home educated and then didn’t do anything, so she could concentrate on something else and that hasn’t panned out. The back up was education but she doesn’t have that. You’re going to have to take it much more seriously is she can manage to get into any A levels or college or apprenticeship.

What are the chances of the waitlist moving? Could she still get in?

Somehow that year's cohort has better literacy.

While the number who fail might not be an exact quota, the exams were designed to be different from the “dumbed down” older style GCSEs. Politicians redesigned the new style GCSEs to counteract the old “dumbed down” qualification which means that fewer must get the top grades and more must fail to achieve that goal.

Only in a mainstream school environment, where you typically study 9 or 10. If you're home schooling/alternative provision, it is possible to do 4 or 5 in one year. Some would argue its easier, you learn the topics and sit the exams over a 10 month period, instead of being expected to revise and recall learning from 20 months prior.

Yes my ds could have certainly tried harder 😆 and still could

but he certainly is more engaged and works harder since studying subjects he enjoys

Do you just let him half arse things? He enjoys these subjects and is going to get BBC?

That’s not too bad at A level, especially for someone who got 3 GCSEs.

For someone who only has 3 GCSEs fair enough.

But in general if you enjoy the subject and are trying and motivated you should do better.

All my DC received at least A*AA (and they all did 4 A-levels)

Great for them, really not the norm though.

HRTFT but @Marshallstreet OP’s posts.

I’ve been an A level teacher and examiner for several years, and the step up from GCSE to A level for most people is huge.
We ask for a minimum L6 in specific subjects because the skills at A level are really much more advanced than at GCSE, and people who come in with a 5 tend to not do very well (including failing). Some colleges will take them with a lower grade, but it’s usually an uphill struggle and the young person may be better served by choosing a different path.

You also need 5 GCSEs to access A level course in settings in my area.

My subject is a social science that’s usually new to students post-16, and we ask for L6 in English, history, RE or similar to show aptitude for the skills needed to succeed at a level in this subject. Science A levels usually require L6 in the particular field plus in maths. Maths and Physics A level ask for L7 in maths. These requirements are from experience- it serves no-one to accept a student onto a course if they won’t get a positive result from it, and students with lower grades at GCSE tend not to end up with positive outcomes. It’s better for everyone (especially the young person) to get a good outcome from the right course, rather than flogging a dead horse and wasting their Time on an unsuitable course.

Without knowing your dc’s strengths it’s hard to advise but maybe look around at alternative options to A levels, or see what you can do in the next 12 months so that she can access the course she wants in 2027?