Can a home educated child return to school in a lower year?

[Repeatingschool]

Can a child ever return to school from being home educated in a lower year than they should be ?

DS is 16 and was home educated from year 5 as couldn’t cope at all. Initially it went well and we had tutors but at age 12 he started to refuse totally much as he had school refused prior to deregistering. What followed was years of him being in burnout. He’s now coming out of that but is devastated and wishes he had gone to school. Is there any way of managing this ? Would a school take a child and put them back a year or two ?

He’s been seen by CAMHS too, it’s just they were reluctant to prescribe antidepressants for a long time and I think he needed them sooner as that’s what seems to have got him out of the burnout

You said he refused from age 12 then spent years being ‘burnt out’ whatever this means. Assuming MH issues and doing nowt or almost nowt!
He’s been educationally neglected and I was just wondering how. Did council not support? There should have been support available and it’s a failing there wasn’t. I’d be tempted to contact the council, of course they can’t do anything now he is 16. But I do think they ought to make sure this doesn’t happen again and look at how to provide support.
But good luck looking into colleges. Hope he finds a nice level 1 course to start in September.

burnt out and couldn’t go out , didn’t want to talk or see friends or family. Struggled with ED and SH But he did his work at home every single day

They would potentially do it in Scotland but from what I have read of the English/Welsh system it is far less flexible. You may get more joy in the independent sector, although there are obvious price implications.

To clarify he refused school then refused tutors but always worked at home and is very clever it was just he couldn’t manage to go out or do anything else and was suffering severe autistic burnout

Not at 16. Look at colleges.
Is he doing any gcses thru home ed?

Was there a plan for your DS to sit any exams or do any qualifications OP? Just if he has any qualifications it would make it easier to slot back into the system

Yes when he was feeling better we were going to look into him doing private gcses

I'm slightly surprised that the home education team didn't cease to recognise the home education, but again, this very much depends on the local authority and why the new bill coming in is putting the onus on local authorities to track home education better. My local authority would have 'ceased' the provision, made the child a 'child missing education' and expected an in year admission application to be made, with failure to do so meaning they would then seek a school attendance order with a named school.
Your son ceases to be statutory school age in June (that's if his birthdate makes him current year 11) so the local authority obligation to provide a place ends then and he would be referred to the NEET team (not in education, employment or training) so act quickly to find the information for him to start a course in September. If you are really desperate to try for a backclassed school place then you need quick advice as to which schools in your area have a policy for this (many have an automatic 'no' policy) you may find those with their own 6th form more open to the idea. Definitely contact local colleges as this isn't an unusual situation for them.

I don't think so.

My friend's DS was always homeschooled, and then decided he wanted to sit some GCSEs, so joined school for the 1st time part way through Year 10.
He achieved enough GCSEs to get on an art foundation course at college, so there is always hope!

If he has an EHCP then the LA might ‘place him’ in an online school. Many of these are quite flexible about age versus academic levels and some kids join due to thinks like time out of school for medical reasons.
I wouldn’t rule out a mainstream school taking him in a lower year either. It is possible if the LA agree.

Why ? He was doing work every day and we did a full report with work samples and showed progress every year?

Also we were told he continues to be home educated up till 19th birthday if doesn’t return to school or go to college?

I understand. I used to work in a sendiass team. It often fixes the immediate problem but ....

Anyway my advice would be to apply for an ehc ASAP. He might be turned down but the LA could come up with ideas and you can appeal and then he can be funded up to age 25 if necessary if you get it.

Unfortunately consultant gave incorrect advice as deregistering then alleviated lea.. is often best to remain on roll of a school and make lea provide tutors etc ....anyway, not to woiry about that now; you in a better position now.

Whydoes he want to goback to school?
What does he think it will be like? What does he want from "school"? As he has not been fior so long he may have unrealistic ideas....???
Explore what he wants from a school and ho from there.
Eg if to make friends he could join different clubs or meetups to his interests
For classes and lessons a college

@Repeatingschool contact local schools and ask them. First if they have space at all. And then if there's a possibility of dropping back a year.

So is the issue that he hasn't got any GCSEs rather than needing to go back to school, or that he wants to go back to school but probably won't be able to?
He can do GCSEs through either online or college, but as I say unless you can find a school willing to backclass won't be able to return to an actual school as he'll be beyond statutory school age. So, discounting the effectiveness of the home education, which has temporarily distracted us, the answer to your question is no, unless the schools allows backclassing into year 11

I think in all honesty that the antidepressants have just cleared a lot of the ‘interference’ in his mind and he has a lot of regret. Wants to get back lost time and opportunities? We begged for medication for a long time so this is why I feel bad for him and wanted to look into what is possible or not.

Got it - I think your best bet is to try and aim for some GCSE courses at college then. I think he'd find it very hard to go into a traditional school environment in the very unlikely event it was approved. Some good advice up thread to apply for an EHCP alongside this.

I have a kid who went to a big college that teaches GCSEs and A-levels (and loads of other courses like Btecs etc).

He will fit in in that sort of environment much more than trying to go to school. The other pupils have matured a bit more - they won't care what age he is. Colleges are generally a lot more flexible and lighter on the rules than schools (think no pointless uniform requirements, no one cares if they go to the loo during class etc). There are loads of quirky kids of all types in colleges.

He would need to start from year 10. That won't work due to his age. You cannot expect him.to lie about his age.
A local college may be more supportive.go speak to them first.
apply for ehcp

I haven’t said I would lie about his age.

Focus on moving forward not trying to retrack missed years.
So great he is ready to go to a college etc.can likely start with english maths gcse see how he gets on . Not the pressure of doing 9 or 10 gcses with lots of immature kids and having to be 9am to 3 pm in a school.
Does he have special interest subjects he wants to do ? Hobbies?

The unsupportive tone of this post is totally unnecessary other than stemming from clearly knowing FA about ASD burnout.

You said how would the other students know his date of birth ?
...
Kids ask questions