Daughter not being allowed to sit A-level?

[MellowSnail]

DD got 7s to 9s at GCSE at her current private school

Unfortunately in 6th form she got disrupted by boy issues.

She initially was doing maths, biology, and psychology, but maths was downgraded to AS, and finally dropped.

She is now due to sit biology and psychology, but the school don't think she should sit biology, having scored Es consistently in mocks. Her psychology is at C.

She has an offer of 32 pts for foundation psychology, so can do that with a C or two Es.

Her other offers are typically 2 Cs, so a C and an E or D wouldn't realistically help. (She has an AA non-foundation offer)

Her exams are

psych 1 16 May
Psych 2 21 may
Bio 1 5 June
Psych 3 9 June
Bio 2 13 June
Bio 3 18 June

She has been of the opinion that she will improve. However her attendance is very poor and reasonably this is in doubt.

The school have said:

Come into school (when others are on study leave) and the psych teacher will help you one to one until the end of exams.
Drop biology.

This makes some sense as she might therefore do better in psychology. However it might be she is lazy and doesn't want to go into school idk.

Anyway, can anyone advise:

1. Can we insist that she does biology? ultimately if she's informed of the consequences it is her decision to make
2. Is she likely to get anywhere with, say, 1 A in psychology, and no other A-levels, in clearing? I.e. is the school's suggestion/decision in her interests?

I would want my child to do both exams especially if I was funding the education. I’m not sure where you stand on demanding the school let her sit the exam- I think the school should let her and it should be up to you but I’m not sure if the school have the right to say no

OP the school probably want to keep their results high, league tables etc.

she’ll have been entered for biology already. If school are suggesting to drop it then it’s possible they think she will not even get an E in it. You can discuss it with the school certainly.

clearing with one a level - not good chances. Honestly to most universities it screams “this teen is not capable of study at this level”.

you may be better off planning a gap year so that you and she can work out what she wants to do.

university is very expensive and the loans still have to be repaid even if she drops out.

This. Schools are really worried about their stats.
Could you suggest she does the exam as a private candidate?
Or maybe look for an independent exam centre?
Either way you would have to pay.
Do you think she is likely to put the work in?
The other option might be to find a 6th form college that would be willing to take her to do a BTech or repeat the year and do the A levels next year.
Personally I would want her to repeat the year somewhere else, if I thought she would make the effort.

Well it's certainly possible that she doesn't get an E, as she got 2 marks above a U in her recent mock. However, there is consensus that she must go - she's not staying at home next year. If that means repaying another year of foundation loans so be it. (It does put things into perspective I guess - her Child Trust Fund is maturing with £15k and that won't cover the cost of her messing up her A levels and having to do foundation.)

Also the timetable is favourable for her improving, as two of the biology exams are after the last psychology

The schools grades are 99% D or better and 100% E or better.

Ultimately I think that foundation year is pretty silly - fine if you've just arrived from China as a non-native speaker perhaps, but I'm not really sure it's great for her: she's got into bad habits, and another year dossing at uni seems unlikely to help.

So from that perspective given that she herself wants to do both A levels, it does seem better that she does - who knows there might be a triumph of hope over expectation and she ends up with something half-reasonable.

However, there is consensus that she must go - she's not staying at home next year.

Consensus amongst who ?
It makes no sense whatsoever for someone with these predicted grades to go to university now.
I agree with @Octavia64 's post above.

It sounds like she needs to get herself a job and work out what she wants to do with her life. It would be an absolute waste of her funding to go to University currently, let alone waste of everyone's time.

> Consensus amongst who ?

Us as parents. I.e. she has two choices:

Leave home and go to uni or
Leave home and don't go to uni

She may as well sit at this point and reconsider her options on Results Day. However with those anticipated results it seems unlikely she would either get into a good uni course or do well in a degree without a complete change of mindset. A gap year might be an opportunity for reflection.

It doesn't seem like your DD is anywhere near ready for university.

I'd be looking for an FE college and see if they would take her on a BTEC course or something of that sort for next year.

Or a gap year to work out what she actually wants to do with her life and mature a bit.

Trying to do a university course - especially with those grades - is just going to saddle her with £100k plus of debt to repay.

Why can't she go into school after other are on study leave and work on both Psychology and Biology? I'd be telling the school you have paid for Biology and you want her to sit it. I'd be having a stern word with your DD to pull her socks up and start working really hard. I have known students turn around an E to a C in 2 months with strong focus and determination. Could you get her a Biology tutor for a couple of hours a week? This would be cheaper than failing Biology or not even being able to sit it.

Also agree that a Biology tutor a couple of times a week 1:1 till the last exam, plus whatever extra school can provide might just make the difference for her.

Have I understood this correctly? She goes to university or has to leave home? Why not get an apprenticeship or job?

Why can’t she stay at home until she sorts herself out? She’s showing via her results that she’s not capable of that level of study. So there’s no point in uni. It sounds like you just want her out of the house and you don’t care what she’s doing.

lol I wondered if this might be the case.

sounds like she has been very difficult.

well, a foundation year would be expensive but it would get her out of your house. Ime they do grow up a bit at uni.

second year accommodation often requires a parental guarantor so if she drops out half way through you can wind up paying a lot of money.

most unis are quite keen to keep them going through once they’ve started the course so they do put quite a bit of support in but there is a minimum of effort they have to make.

Hiw do you expect her to fund moving out? Even if starting a job she would struggle to rent anywhere without money upfront and guarantors. What about uni holidays?

She’s obviously not capable of higher education. Why are you pushing this? University is a pipe dream with those grades.

Also she’s still a kid, why are you so fixated on her moving out?

Sounds pretty harsh. There's more to it than " boy issues" by the sounds of it.

Why are you so resistant to an alternative eg local FE college or year out to work?

No wonder the school’s grades are 100% E or above if they refuse to let anyone likely to fail sit the exam. What a crock.

She has nothing to lose by sitting the exam and everything to gain. It’s only the school that will see their headline figures reduce. You need to insist she sits the exam. At the worst as a private candidate and you pay the fees ( although considering how much you’ve paid already, this would stick in my throat).

It will give her options that one A level won’t.

It takes more than "boy issues" to go off a cliff like that. Has she had MH support?

Wow - there's a massive backstory missing here! What on earth are you throwing her out for? Going to university shouldn't be a punishment. To be honest, given everything you have said, she has consistently made no attempt to study for her A levels. She doesn't want to go to university - at least not right now - and she isn't fit to go to university. Maybe when she is older and more mature, she will want to go and won't waste the opportunity. But if she won't study for A levels with you standing over her (threatening her with dire consequences) then she isn't going to study at university, and she will be told to leave.

Really - Either way she leaves? How? To where?

it just sounds very dispassionate and cold - that plan is unrealistic and can make her fairly vulnerable.

genuinely, if she doesn’t go to uni (which honestly unlikely) how do you envision her leaving? Are you giving her any grace period? What do you see her doing three, six, twelve months to enable her to live independently?

I went to a private school and understand why they dont want her sitting (their scores)

The underlying issue clearly isn't resolved if she's getting 2 marks off a U.

She ideally needs 3 levels it will really effect her future if she doesnt. Presumably you know this too.
Whether they let her sit or not its clear she's going to bomb them. 2 x E or F at Alevel is basically worthless.

What i really don't get is how you give enough of a shit to spend £££ on her education but NOT enough of a shit to give her a stern sit down and support her for another 12m to retake amd set up for life as an adult.

I would seriously consider taking her out and doing a full reset and having her sit 3 a levels in full next year.

Also - What I dont get is why she isn't resitting her AS exams this year - i think i resat everything as it helps bump your final grade.

Why are you kicking her out?
Can you hire tutors to get her over the line?
What does she want to study at university?

Have you sat her down and told her that she is currently sat in the last chance salon?
She knuckles down works hard n both subjects and you will fight her corner to take both exams or she gets a job. She is a big girl now and needs to make big girl choices.