repeating year 12 at 6th form

[Ohdeargettingsaggy]

DS has mental health problems and has missed probably 40% of year 12.
Is it reasonable to expect to be able to start again in year 12 this year when he should be starting year 13?
6th form have basically said no it would be better to repeat year 13 if necessary and resit.
So much knowledge is missing from year 12 which is built on in year 13 so starting again seems better to me and he would get better results.
I'm not sure what flexibility there usually is
He would also like to change one subject which would suit him better and make it easier for him to be there instead of dreading it
Can I frame starting again as being a reasonable adjustment because of mental health?
Does anyone have any experience of this please?

There is absolutely no reason he can't do year 12 again. I did that, didn't get on with the content of the courses I was doing so started again. It's quite common. Tell them he won't be starting year 13 so they can either have him for year 12 again or lose his funding completely!

Resitting y13 would be a dangerous idea I think. If he sits A levels and gets say DEE then I don't think he would actually get funding for a third year...

OP,
If your son is willing to do a Y12 restart that would be the best option
We are in the same position with DD only attending school less thsn 40 percent in Y12 and missing mocks too.
However, DD is not willing to restart in the same school so we are looking to move.
Schools do get funding till 19 so they should not refuse.

A huge amount of pupils at our (state secondary with sixth form) are resitting Y12. Something like 20+ according to my YP. We’re in Wales so the AS exams taken at end of year 12 are especially important. I agree with other posters that if your DS is amenable I think it is better than having a very high stakes Y13 now. I think there’s also less of a FOMO element if you make the decision and repeat now than if you repeat Y13 when all your friends are heading off to uni and other ventures. Yes that’ll happen but by then he’ll have made friends with the new cohort.

thanks for the replies, does anyone know if it's possible to continue with 2 of the current subjects in yr13 and also start one new one in yr 13 so there will be year14 with only one subject? thanks

I thinkvfunding rules will get in the way.
You have to be 'full time' which would be 3 A levels.
(DD was caught, no college would take her for y14 just to do functional skills maths & English) due to 16-19 funding rules. If you are an adult yes, but not at 19).

It could be that their current year 12 intake is going to be full, if there are 30 seats in a classroom they could have filled those with their new cohort.

Funding is usually an issue with this but in your son's case you could argue his mental health and attendance rather than he messed around and why should he be given a second chance scenario. Try other sixth forms for the subjects he wants too.

I would refuse the year 13 resit suggestion, he is missing foundational blocks from year 12 on which to build. I would argue his mental health impacted and you as parents also support his year 12 restart. Fight hard for him. They get 3 years of funding 16-19, I wouldn't even consider the year 13 for 2 subjects.

Don't worry about the first few days if that's what it takes to get this sorted out, fight for him and get his year 12 resit. Focus on mental health and well being and look on their website for any policy documents they may have about supporting that and quote that back at them.

This is all down to the college's discretion.

We found an academic college sold flexibility before DD went, but once she was enrolled suddenly there were zero options. One college might let them mix and match or repeat, others might not at all, others it'll depend on your DD's subjects or individual timetable.

Anecdotally less oversubscribed colleges seem to be a bit more willing or able to accommodate. Trying a different college, if he's up to that, is a good shout.

He's not up to a different college unfortunately, I don't know how this will be resolved but i will fight for him. Hopefully they haven't already filled all of the places

I agree that a y12 repeat would ge better.However it is up to the school.Our school does not usually allow any years to be repeated because it is so oversubscribed.