12 year old taking GCSE - advice opinions

[Rustygecko]

My child is exceptionally able, and wants to sit their GCSEs or at least some of them this summer. We went to see their school, (a grammar school) and to my surprise, not only were they aghast at such a thought, but they refused point blank to help.
(I have a sneaking feeling though that once they have got a handful of GCSEs aged 12 they will be at the front of the queue wanting to make publicity off their success).
Any opinions / advice.

@fairywhale do you have anything of value to add to this thread?

How do they expect the school to facilitate them doing subjects that the school don’t teach? The school would need to build a food tech room and buy in a food tech teacher just for your child. If they want to do these subjects you will have to arrange for them to be taught separately from school and pay for them to sit the GCSEs privately.

There are private exam centers where your child can take the exams for a fee. Perhaps home schooling or online schooling might be a better option if it works for your family. They obviously already study plenty outside of school.
I know several home schooled children who took multiple GCSEs at around that age, usually maths, English and a language. I know others that don't do GCSEs at all though do cover material and build portfolios, and get into uni using those.

I suppose the best option is to get in touch with higher education institutions that she would hope to go to in the future. They may have a careers advisor willing to speak with you both on what the expectations are and you can plan accordingly.

What would be the benefit for doing GCSEs earlier? Then what?

@Rustygecko how did you solve the problem of where to send your ds age 4 before he got to his grammar?

early exams sere very little purpose - what would he do in Y8/Y9/Y10/Y11 if starts the exams this year? It's not odd that they are saying no, it's odd that you're surprised they're saying no.

Doing the GCSE earlier could be a good test to see if the child has grasped knowledge needed for further maths/ geometry/ stats etc. it's wrong to assume GCSE is the end of the maths learning

The most important developmental areas to get right are emotional and social. We all interact with others our whole life; relationship smarts is key. Your child is super bright and will do well as long as you don't stuff up these two areas. Have the child sit the exams a year early, if you must; but do relax and round out your child's life by introducing new and varied hobbies and skills like music, dance, church band, outdoor education, camping, scouts etc. Your child is very lucky to be able to cope with learning wonderful, enjoyable things that will increase their happiness and chance of meeting new friends while still achieving a high accademic mark.

We are deliberately dumbing the nation by not allowing kids to take gcses early. The point of taking them early isn't just to get them out of the way, which ofsted/schools assume it's why parents want to do it. The think it will leave a hole in the kids' education after achieving an early result. They don't seem able to comprehend that the hole is there to be filled with extra gcses. Since making gcses progressively easier since their introduction, A levels have had to be reduced in syllabus as the kids don't have the prep for them anymore. I was told that by my A level geography teacher the year after sitting what was only the 2nd year of gcses back in the late 80s. My dad left primary school with 3 O levels including maths and Latin. He went on to take extra O levels and A levels early, achieved 2 degrees and no he wasn't missing out on mixing with others. He was captain of the rugby team and had very strong grounded outlook on life. He wasn't pressured to achieve, he was very bright and bored if he wasn't mentally challenged. His school let him try, rather than hold him back like schools do nowadays.

The UK no longer wants high achievers and thinkers. My 10 year old did the 2022 foundation maths paper one evening just for fun (in 40minutes) and without ever seeing any of the syllabus, scored 90%. Given a year of teaching the further concepts I have no doubt he could pass the higher paper with an A. So how is it a disadvantage for him to take the full exam early and then do something extra? He will be so bored waiting 3 years to sit what he can already pass, that he will suffer mentally and pastorally. This is quite the opposite of the teachers' and ofsted's small minded assumptions that kids will suffer if challenged! Active minds seek extra work. They need it to remain focused and engaged. It's tragic that it is ofsted policy to actively hold back bright kids from achieving not just high grades, but from becoming the next generation of innovators, engineers, doctors etc. and even teachers.

All these people who say it is not in the kids' interest... Have you actually asked a bright kid what is in their interest? Is it in their interest to be so bored they look for stimulation elsewhere? Bunk off school and drop out and don't achieve anything at all because there's no point turning up to school?

I disagree with some of your basic statements.
The new grade 9-1 GCSEs are harder than the old GCSEs and from reading on MN are a better prep for A level.
If your child with 1 extra year could get an A, that still wouldn't be the top grade (even if doing iGCSE or Wales where letter grades still exist) so how would that help?
There is plenty to do by extending sideways without rushing through the exams. For example someone could look at topology, working in different bases, boolean algebra to name but 3.
State schools by definition are set to teach a great range. It isn't reasonable to expend extra money rushing a few in each school through an odd GCSE just because. If you want to push through things, then feel free to home ed.
I was accelerated at school and although I coped fine academically, socially it was hard, I know others who had a similar experience.
Being able to sit one GCSE early is not the same as being bored in all lessons. There is zero reason to suffer pastorally.
There will be plenty of kids who at 11 or so can pass maths at a foundation level, but there is loads more still to be covered in grades 5-9.

Since making gcses progressively easier since their introduction, A levels have had to be reduced in syllabus as the kids don't have the prep for them anymore.

How old are your children?

GCSEs and A levels are not easier now than they were ten years ago. They are no longer modular, and AS levels don't count towards A levels in England.

Are there any teachers on here who could repy to the above comment?

Cross posted with @TeenDivided

This is the first and only post this OP has ever made (11 months ago!!) so don't invest too much in your replies..

Today you have to do something extraordinary to get a place at a top university.

No you don't. And you certainly don't have to take pointless GCSEs at 12. You need a clutch A or A* A-level grades all taken at the same time and to be able to show passion and aptitude for your chosen subject as well as be the kind of student they want to teach. Not all "gifted" kids thrive at Oxbridge. Some think they know it all already and struggle when they realise they're not as clever as they thought.

Okay, so if they have their own plan of what they want to learn, school is doing nothing for them, and they're happy teaching themselves, then it's probably best to switch to home education and then they can just get on with it. I met someone who described themselves as an autodidact in their teens, and they got their place at Cambridge.

If they just want to do some extras on the side, then they can enter as a private candidate if necessary, but don't expect the school to making alternative timetable arrangements for them.

Why food tech? It's one it might be hard to do outside school because of the practical assessments, and if they're heading for an academic career, it's not particularly likely to be useful to them as a qualification. Why not just learn to cook, and perhaps do a food hygiene certificate?

ZOMBIE People should be aware this is a resurrected thread, the OP is long gone a year ago.
Resurrected Asifitellu · Today 12:18.

So what? The topic is still relevant and talked about among parents.

Absolutely do not do it, the worst possible thing for your child. Not only will none of those GCSEs count for anything when they apply for A levels or university, but they will not be able to continue in those subjects for A level after a break either.

If your child wants stretching then find alternatives outside of school, a new instrument, a language, a different skill, whatever.

The only GCSEs that count toward the total of GCSREs taken are all taken together within a 1 year window ( sometimes 18 months) and if they want to take a subject at A level then they will be expected to have been studying it continuously. Also, if she messes any up, she still has to declare them in future applications - worst of both worlds, does not count towards GCSE total passes, but poor grades are permanently on their record.

When you resurrect an old thread, many people will reply to the OP, rather than you. This isn't generally the 'done thing' on MN, it is better to start your own thread.

As the parent of a child who could undoubtedly have handled a few GCSES quite competently at 12 - and indeed, as someone who probably could have handled that as a child myself - I really don't see the point. What would you achieve by doing this?

Your 12 yo might think it's a good idea, but the point is, they are 12! For all that they may be academically gifted, it doesn't sound like their judgement is quite so advanced, and it's your job as a parent to help guide them towards a more sensible approach.

Just because a child can do GCSEs early doesn't mean that they should. There are so many other more appropriate ways of stretching and developing them. What do you (or they) think they would actually achieve by doing them early, other than bragging rights? What's the end goal exactly? University at 15? I can't think of anything worse from a social point of view....

Oh FFS, just seen that it's a zombie thread!

@Asifitellu . My point made I think.

Your child’s school aren’t going to be able to accommodate taking the GCSE’s that are part of their usual curriculum early, at least not earlier than other students. It’ll just be too much of a logistical headache, and they’ve no reason to. Your best bet is to study some other courses that are not part of the school curriculum, languages as you say would be a good starting point. There are online schools who should be able to offer this. Or you could try and find a private school that will be able to accommodate taking normal GCSEs early, but that’s not going to be particularly easy.