Struggling DS

[sofakingcool]

Hi

I have a Ds who has totally lost his way with his A Levels and he/we don't really know where best to go from here

He's year 13 (aged 18), currently doing his Maths, Economics and Geography A Levels. Maths has always been his strength , he left school last year with an 8 - although obviously he was a Covid year so no exams (was very much on track for an 8)

He's finding Maths so tough. Was planning to go to Uni to study something economics related.

College report today - Math's has pretty much gone down the pan. He's struggling to keep up, failing to hand in homework. I wasn't aware until today how bad it had got.

He's admitted he's struggling and has given up, not willing to give up on the idea of Uni though - even though it relies on a semi decent Maths grade. Is very resistant to discuss other ideas ie getting a job.

Is retaking year 13 an option? I wonder what the point would be though, as surely he'll still struggle with his Maths.

Is it too late to turn this around if he could change his mindset? He seems so downbeat , I'd say almost depressed but he's adamant he isn't. I will keep an eye on him.

Any tips or ideas?

Hey OP, would getting him a maths tutor help get him back on track (if you can afford it of course).

Hi @Tiger2018 , yes we could afford it. I wondered about one myself, my worry though is it's too late.

We'll do whatever it takes, I just don't want him to look back and say he didn't give it his all

What's his career plan? If he wants to do accountancy etc would he be better looking for an apprenticeship? Or if A levels aren't working for him what about a BTEC in business or engineering - could still do the university route with that.

@mads2750

What's his career plan? If he wants to do accountancy etc would he be better looking for an apprenticeship? Or if A levels aren't working for him what about a BTEC in business or engineering - could still do the university route with that.

Hi @mads2750 ,

He lives in a world of wanting the most high powered, biggest salary possible career. Always been a dreamer but rarely the worker that comes with it

He's a bright but lazy lad. Seems to think exam results will just fall at his feet. This is the first time I've seen him looking really crestfallen though, I think it's dawned on him that it isn't great. Still very reluctant to consider other options though

I've looked into apprenticeships, he briefly looked too. He wants the Uni life

Pressed send too early!

He would like to do something finance/business/economics

We had the same issue and got DS tutors for all 3 A levels. Their year like many other years have been badly affected with missing GCSEs and then remote learning for the first year of A levels. It would demotivate me for sure. The tutors do seem to help with his focus and motivation.

My son got A* for GCSE Maths scoring 100 percent on one paper and about 95 on other paper. I thought he would find A level Maths ok but he struggled. He only got a D. It was a shock and we got him a tutor for Year 14. He resat the year. He went up to a C grade but only 2 marks off from a B. He has to want to redo year though and be prepared to work harder. Also he found it hard when his friends went off to Uni and he had no friends to hang out with at weekends

Could he perhaps do maths as a modular A-level so he only has to deal with one part of the syllabus at a time and can then forget about it and concentrate on the other?
The EdExcel exam board looks like a modular course and usually allow their exams to be sat by private candidates (like homeschoolers etc) at certain exam centres if the college wasn't teaching one.

Also handhold this is not uncommon for bright children who could do all their earlier maths by intuition but stumble when they finally hit something they need to work out "using maths" because they only have a relatively shaky grasp of the fundamentals (never having had to really rely on understanding the mechanics of why things work when they "just know" the answer/how to do it).

@noblegiraffe is a maths teacher and may be able to give advice? I'm not sure me tagging her will work though if she isn't in this thread? Might be worth looking for her in the secondary education threads.

Is it too late to turn this around if he could change his mindset?

It depends on how long he has been slacking for and how poor his results are.

As for his dream of uni - he should have applied by now. What are his predicted grades? Has he written his personal statement and got his references?

Hi OP

How is your DS doing now? I am writing to say that if Maths is still a problem (a) I second the suggestion of tutoring and (b) you might want to check out which Schools will accept a resit mark in case he needs to sit Maths again next year. You can email the Admissions administrator.

Many intelligent but somewhat lazy young people flounder in the first year of university. It can be hard to recover from that. While I hope things work out for your son this year, it would not be the worst thing in the world if he has his wake up call now and starts uni knowing he will need to work. Even if a year later.

Late to the party, but just in case anyone else looks back at this thread for similar advice. I'm an economist who started a business studies degree and switched it over to economics and economic history by year 3. I'm also a tutor.

Business studies is an umbrella to include modules such as accounting, sociology of work, as well as economics. A bit like saying business studies is "bread" and economics is "flour" (one of the ingredients). Economics is the study of scarce resources, often this is about thinking about how money is distributed, sometimes the scarce resource of study is energy, water, or people!

University is unfortunately very mathsy (and as a career economist I can tell you unless you are creating models, often you just need to know how to write excel formulas correctly, so why all the maths!?) But you don't need a degree in economics to be an economist (although it helps).

An excellent alternative would be Geography, which crosses economics (human geography) exceedingly well. History (including economic history modules) is another excellent non maths option.