My DD failed her GCSE miserably

[bassmonsteruk]

Hi all,

My DD didn't get a single pass in her GCSE exams. She got all 3s which caught us off guard and now we're not sure which way to turn. She's not academic but she got 5 when doing past papers in maths, English and science. She's had private tuition for all 3 subjects for the past year and a half. Her school does not allow resits.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Agree. You can be very bright but not academic. Some students are lazy and don’t put in the studying, which is why they fail. Not necessarily due to not being bright.

I don’t think a levels were a good idea the amount of independent study required is massive. She should do an FE course or apprenticeship in something she’s interested in.

Common sense is another one

Very easy if there is SEN in the mix - and/or a particular interest that means everything else is of no interest.

DD has very high CAT scores, has been taking degree modules at university since she was 14 in her specialism, and her GCSE results range from a 3 to an 8. Also very severely dyslexic and didn't learn to read until she was 8.

She would be miserable doing academics, but give her a musical instrument...

You can fix car engines, build beautiful furniture and cabinets, be an amazibg performer, a fabulous chef, an awesome designer….. you’re very limited if you think the only kind of brilliance is academic learning

Hi OP. I haven't read all the replies but I saw the one where you said your daughter hoped to do A levels in history, business and sociology. Does she have a career aim at the moment- if it is one that requires A levels or a degree, she will have to resit GCSEs (probably five, but it depends on what the career aim is) and they must include English and Maths, ideally a second language, and history and another factual subject.

If she wishes to do A levels in those subjects, and then a degree, the grades she needs to attain are Bs in English and history at least, and at least in a 5 in Maths and the remaining subjects. Many sixth forms of schools would even insist on an A in the subject/s she hopes to do A levels in. I can only think of private tutorial colleges to retake the 5 GCSEs. They don't come cheap as they are effectively private schools but if that is your daughter's dream, a year or two years might be worth it to turn her confidence and study skills around. Do look carefully and check the grades of their students. Like private schools there are reputable ones, ones that aren't, successful ones, and ineffective ones. Good ones I know have helped some students sit A levels at an accelerated pace and get A grades, ineffective ones just collect money and don't care if their staff can't teach.

If your daughter isn't dead set on a university degree or a career that requires one, it is worth going to the further education colleges near you to see what BTEC and other courses they offer or apprenticeship, etc. Not all careers and businesses require degrees or A levels. She might find something that she turns out to be brilliant at which she enjoys more than academic studies. I would however recommend getting teaching in GCSE English Language and GCSE Maths, and retaking those. There are a lot of jobs or careers nowadays where you can't be employed without at least grade 4 (C) in English and in Maths.

@bassmonsteruk get your daughter to look at BTEC courses, they are often a far better fit and there are some really exciting looking options out there. When we were looking at colleges for DD, there were loads of subjects that I would have far rather have done than my A levels!

And BTECs are perfectly respectable for universities as well. Friend of mine's DD has 5 offers for RG unis with her L3 BTEC.

Plus you get the results before A levels so slightly less trauma in 2 years time!

.

People like Richard Branson & Jeremy Clarkson are examples of very bright people who are not academic - both failed miserably at school.

Many kids with dyslexia, autism & ADHD can be exceptionally bright but fail academically.

Do you seriously need this broken down for you to understand? 🙄

It’s really disappointing that offering informed advice is considered ‘harsh’. I‘d counter that it’s downright cruel to push a young person onto a course which is completely unsuitable for them out of ignorance of the range of post-16 options available.

Guiding OP’s DD away from A levels isn’t ‘writing her off’ and it’s frankly offensive to suggest as much. She cannot enter a level 3 course without passes in English and Maths. Once she has these she will have multiple options, but her GCSE outcomes suggest that she would be better off choosing a course which doesn’t heavily rely on terminal assessment, ie not A levels. She will still have a path to university if this is what she wants.

I would apply for remarking.
My son's GCSE results 3 years ago were quite below the mock results and private tutor's predictions. It turned out, that that year they had hired lots of unprofessional markers and there was complete chaos. It emerged later and it was too.late to do anything. I asked my boy to take the papers and discuss with the teachers, but he didn't know how to do it and wasn't bothered.
I regretted being not proactive enough.
So glad it's all over.
In 2016, I applied for remarking for my eldest DS. They gave him.a much higher grade which was enough for his A Level.

Because there are many different forms of intelligence. Just off the top of my head - dancers, actors, gymnasts and sportspeople, skilled technicians, artists, plumbers, interior designers, farmers, carers, singers, chefs...none of these activities necessarily require the sort of aptitudes that are measured by school exams. Also some people only discover what really interests them when they leave school, and then pick up any vital qualifications later, when they have the motivation.

Some college courses accept grade threes, and then you resit maths and English alongside your main course. As others have said, A levels aren’t going to work out for her if she’s struggling to pass GCSEs I’m afraid. Try your local technical college instead. Long term it won’t matter, if she’s a hard worker and can get her foot in the door she can work her way up, plenty of people do. I have a friend who ended up not sitting the exams at all. She took a job stacking shelves in a supermarket and is climbing the ladder pretty rapidly. Plenty of people struggle with exams and do well in jobs. Being really, the skills you need for exams aren’t really the ones you need in the work place.

'Academic" is not the only measure of intelligence or 'being bright'. That is one of the major problems of our education system - only valuing one kind of brain. Society needs a variety of intelligences: creativity, empathy, visual-spacial awareness,
problem solving ability ... not just A level history or GCSE English Literature.

There is so much pressure on grades and academics, but not enough value placed on vocational subjects. I hope he enjoys his course and goes far with his chosen trade.

It’s worrying that people still equate intelligence with exam results. They are not the same.

Suggesting that a levels might not be the best option for her isn't writing her off...there are various routes a d it's about finding out what would suit her. She could look at vocational courses? There are so many interesting subjects and options she could look at. When I was this age, a levels and uni were the only routes presented to me. It was a revelation to me when my ds was wondering what to do after GCSEs how many amazing subjects and courses there are. I felt quite disappointed I wasn't aware of them at that age.

Because he is practical and solves problems quickly and is a hands on troubleshoot the situation type of person. Being academic can mean that you are totally impractical and have poor motor skills and dexterity. There are people with Masters and Phds and they can't boil an egg yet they can tell you all about the meaning of life and the secrets of the universe.

Bless her. What does she want to do in the future? What was the plan after a levels?

This won’t necessarily stop her, it just means that she may have to be more creative to achieve her goal.

All is not lost.

She will be absolutely fine! As others have said Colleges and Further Ed staff are really helpful and your daughter will be able to enroll on a Level 1 or 2 course and pursue her interests and have options. However, Level 3 courses are VERY competitive and need 4/5+ - especially for trades such as electrician. These courses are increasingly more popular and competitive than many A levels - as they lead to the apprenticeships and everyone knows now that trades pay a lot and can set up one business etc so if your daughter has a have practical skill set it’s the way forward - but not easy to get into by any stretch of the imagination these days.

I know it must have been a shock and a big disappointment that she didn't manage to get any 4s or 5s, but you know, I think you may all have dodged a bullet here. Far better for her to rethink her plans now and start on a course that really suits her interests and aptitudes rather than struggle through an A level course where (realistically) she would never have had a good chance of passing, certainly not passing comfortably. Wishing you all the best.

And to broaden on this, because there are loads of careers out there which are neither vocational nor academic: Can you motivate a team of people, bring out the best in them, and make them want to do their best for you and the company? Can you walk into a branch of shop or restaurant that’s not succeeding and identify what the problems are, and how they can be resolved? Can you look at qualitative data, see patterns, and use your knowledge of how procedures work in practice to amend policies? Are you somebody who can empathise with customers and service users, be interested in their complaints and concerns, and how to address them, and actively problem solve and then implement that learning into how the business or service changes to operate more effectively for those who use it? Can you sit in a room of very senior people who all have differing priorities and present different challenges, and effectively manage those challenges while confidently explaining why you think A is the better path than B based on your working knowledge and experience?

All of those things are done in workplaces all over the world by bright, clever, insightful people, many of whom do not consider themselves academic or have lots of formal qualifications.

That’s what I thought as well, if she needed extra tuition for her GCSE and still didn’t pass ye need to think about viable routes for her in the future as ( and you said yourself) she isn’t academic

What did her private tutor predict? If the tutor and school were both predicting her 5s I would want to discuss with them both why they think her actual results were much lower.

How did her peers do? Not to compare but when I was at school an English paper was ridiculously harder than the kids had been prepared for which had a knock on result of a whole year group being way off their predicted grades. There were a lot of parental complaints.