Repeating a year

[Whocouldthatbe]

I wonder if someone with more knowledge of how the school system works could advise ?

My daughter is 15 she will be 16 in August.
She attends an independent girls school in London, it's one of the top academically.
She is due to sit her GCSES this year. She has become very stressed in recent weeks and I am very worried about her mental health. It's not just the exams , we have been through a very tough time as a family recently. She has coped admirably but I want to help as much as possible.

I have not spoken to her school yet and I don't know how they will react.. Will it affect her future , particularly university etc , I know this will be the first question she asks me .

Thank you all in advance.

I don’t know anything about how things work in the independent sector, but my daughter missed/repeated a year due to a mental health issue. She sat her GCSEs at the start of her illness (before we were fully aware of what was going on really) and then was unable to take up her place at sixth form (different school, state grammar)
on the advice of CAMHS. A few months later once she was getting some proper treatment her team had me get back in touch with the grammar school. A plan was made for her to attend part time for social reasons, but with no intention of taking exams, she would restart year 12 with the next cohort assuming her health was better. Her health declined during the ‘gap’ year involving voluntary inpatient treatment, but she was discharged and well enough to start as planned with the new year 12 group.

She went on to do very well in her A levels. The school put an extenuating circumstances form onto her ucas form to explain the ‘missing’ year. She is now a happy year 3 medical student in London.

@HostessTrolley It's wonderful to hear how well your daughter is doing now. You must be so proud of her. May I ask were her GCSES good enough for her medical school application so it was just the year away from school you had to mention on the UCAS from?

Her gcses were below her predicted grades as she was in the early stages of her illness, but they were still good enough - she got four interviews. Some unis don’t pay much attention to gcses - imperial medicine they need a grade 5 (I think - it might be 6) in English but other than that they don’t score or consider gcses further. Other unis score gcse grades - each med school uses their own selection criteria.

I am very proud of her, she’s a warrior. Her issue was an eating disorder, it was the worst, most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with, I genuinely thought that we would lose her. But she’s embracing her course, is loved up, and is living her life to the full.

Good luck to your daughter - at their age a year out sounds like the end of the world, but in reality sometimes it’s for the best, and health comes before everything. There are a good number of people in my daughters cohort who are a year (or more!) older. Some didn’t get in at their first attempt, others needed to work for a year either for experience or for the money. And quite a few had mental or physical health issues or caring responsibilities. Once they’re at uni, that extra year doesn’t matter one bit.

She sounds wonderful. My daughter is extremely thin at the moment, she is eating but I really want to keep a close eye on her. I just want to take all the pressure off.

She has been through something no child should have to experience, she has coped remarkably well. Her life has changed forever though.

It was a tragedy for all our family , she has been my rock and I want to help her in any I can.
Your daughter's story has made my heart melt ,
Thank you xx