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 ?

It does take a long time when tribunals are involved. I'm glad it worked out, anyway. None of us have got crystal balls!

If you appealed, have you had the hearing yet?

BTW for future reference or anyone else reading, you don’t have to actively partake (or try to partake) in mediation. You only have to consider it so you can just request the certificate from the off.

He doesn’t game he has other hobbies (Lego, coding, model making)

His mum. She's said. The LA asked for an an annual update (which tbh is more than some do).

Like many parents of autistic kids she was forced into non elective home education. There was a report on this recently. I'll try to find it.

We have been and the LA

Look for one year GCSE college courses - hopefully there are some in your area. If not, maths & English alongside a vocational course is likely to be available at most FE colleges.
You need to be aware that school sixth-forms are only funded for 16-19 year olds, so if he might want to do A-levels, that can also be an issue if he is in the wrong year.

He may end up taking a different route to those who took GCSEs, but there's usually an alternative path that will get there.

I'm afraid after 3 years I was so ground down by the whole thing I didn't take things any further. My absolute priority was getting tutoring arranged and DD back on track so she sat this year's GCSE's with her cohort. The whole experience has been utterly horrific. Fortunately DD is my only child so I've been able to concentrate fully on her.

I wouldn't wish having an SEN child and navigating the education system on my worst enemy.

If you change your mind, it is worth requesting another EHCNA then appealing if refused. EHCPs can last until 25, or 26 in some circumstances, if necessary.

Hi op,

I have a child who dropped out of schooling due to medical issues.

(LA did precisely zip although she was prioritised for nhs support as was neet).

if you can pay for private school there are places that would take him.

state schools are very very unlikely to take him especially as he is 16 and doesn’t have an EHCP.

previous posters are also correct - even in big schools (the school I most recently taught at had 1200 kids) they all know each other by year 8 and any newcomer is asked who they are where they come from, etc etc.

most colleges (FE colleges) have some kind of gcse offer for teens who for medical/whatever reasons have not sat GCSEs. Eg this one:

https://www.nottinghamcollege.ac.uk/course-areas/gcses

it’s not school but it is college.

I see where I’m getting confused.
So most sixth form colleges don’t offer catch-up/ resit GCSEs but just A levels. And most further education colleges do offer catch-up/ resit GCSEs but probably not a large range and most students would be doing just the essentials or just the essential subject they failed alongside a vocational course. And then most further education colleges don’t offer A levels? Except some further education colleges do both a decent range of GCSEs and A levels but not necessarily any that are local to OP. And everyone calls sixth form colleges that aren’t attached to a secondary school ´colleges’ and everyone also calls dither education colleges ´colleges’.
Is that about right?
So what OP needs to be looking for is probably a futher education college that offers a range of GCSEs as part of some kind of foundation year or level 2 course plus either A levels or something else that her son is interested in!

Yes, that's right. I'm sure pretty much everywhere trying to attract students says what the requirements are for admissions to their courses on their websites, however. If the OP looks at the post 16 page and the "local offer" on her local authority website, it should give some ideas. It's a good time of year to ring up for information and advice, too, with the secondary offer day having happened and the main GCSE and A-level exams a month off.

Thankyou for all the understanding and helpful advice on here I will research it all and look at colleges and EHCP application. I appreciate the kind and helpful posts a lot

If this was my child, I would help him to achieve English and Maths Functional Skills Level 2. These are equivalent to grade 4 GCSE. Look on Pass Functional Skills website, you can pay to do the exams. Then at what would be the end of year 11, I would enrol him at a local FE college an a Level 3 qualification.or apply for Apprenticeships.
He could perhaps do GCSEs, if he wanted to go on to do A levels.
The coIlege I work at has lots of young ppl starting new courses in September, from lots of different schools, no-one would bat an eye that he had been home schooled. Hopefully he will be happy going forward. 😊

Due to the way funding works, colleges often only accept functional skills level 2 instead of a gcse if the gcse has been sat and failed. Otherwise they require a (foundation) gcse to be worked for and sat alongside a course.

@Pinkladyapplepie the OP says he has followed the curriculum and syllabus for GCSEs and that he's bright so he should be taking GCSEs not the Functional Skills Certificate.

I believe it's still possible to take GCSE maths and English in the autumn. @Repeatingschool your son might be able to enrol in a FE college on a course in something he's interested in and take those GCSEs in the autumn.

It is true there is a sitting in November for English Language and Maths but that is usually resits, so tuition may not amount to much more than revision. @Repeatingschoolhas he entered for any exams this summer, I assumed not. Might be worth finding a tutor to get him exam ready for November.

Hi, I understand that he is bright, getting the functional skills can be done on line anytime and potentially save him doing the GCSE maths and English in November, this would enable him to get onto a course in September that he would like to do rather than a low level course. It's just my opinion 🤷. The website I recommended has full revision and past papers, he wouldn't wait long for results. Doing resits potentially could mean missing another year till he starts a course he chooses to do.

You would need to check with the college as many do not accept functional skills as a GCSE alternative.

Most colleges wouldn’t admit on to a level 3 course with just level 2 FS. Some colleges offer flexibility in entry requirements for EHE DC, but even with that flexibility, it is unusual for them to accept just level 2 FS.

Does he want school? Or education?

where does he see himself in 5, 10 years?

getting him into a school environment would be contact local FE colleges.

an education has more options. Does he want uni? There are access courses and online learning to facilitate that.

does he want a job? An apprenticeship where he can do his qualifications as he goes?

at this point I think it’s less about school and more about future options. He needs to be looking at where he wants to be and how to get there.