Son has depression and cannot sit A levels, college not being helpful

[andlipsticktoo]

I'm in a bit of a fragile state at the moment and could do with some advice please.

My son has been studying A levels in Biology, Classics and Chemistry. He has been flying in Biology and classics with predicted grades of A* and A, but since Christmas really struggling with Chemistry. He became more and more withdrawn in lessons and his tutor became very concerned for his mental health.

I booked him an appointment with our GP, and she diagnosed depression, for which she prescribed sleeping tablets and he is now seeing a counsellor. As he doesn't want me to attend sessions, I don't know what has been discussed, but his GP has suggested he does not sit his A levels and has provided a sick note.

I notified college, and at first they were understanding and said he could do the A2 year again, and sit the exams next June. They have now changed their minds, and said he cannot re=do the year, but will have to self study and we can enter him privately for the exams. They have also suggested we pay for him to attend a tutorial college, at a cost of £10,000 for the year!

Is this correct? Can they do this? Obviously we cannot afford to send him to tutorial college.

I am meeting with them on Friday, but would be glad of any advice.

TIA

[TheThirdOfHerName]

Hi MetalFi68
Sorry to hear that your daughter has been so unwell. I think you will get more responses if you start a new thread.

[MetalFi68]

Hi. My daughter is nearly 17. She had been at college doing A levels but had to leave due to severe social anxiety. She has been seen by a psychiatrists and on meds.
She has decided that she would like to do her A levels at home. Is this an option? Would I be able to get funding to help pay for them as I am a lone parent on a low wage.
I would be very grateful for any advice!

[Eleanor111]

Oh, only saw your good news post after I posted the above!

Delighted with your news! What a relief! Take heart, if you will, from the fact that my DS (things had really plummeted) and a good number of others at his school, had a new lease of life by starting their courses/year again. And so did their parents, no doubt!

Now, have a good Summer!

[Eleanor111]

I hope things look up soon.

My DS was in a not disimilar situation regarding his school - wouldn't take him back after a difficult AS year. I suspect funding issues were at the bottom of it but this was never mentioned. Anyway, after a few trials and errors, he got into another sixth form and was strongly encouraged to start again, with a fresh outlook. And he wasn't the only one. There are quite a number or 19 year olds in year 13. You may find somewhere else like this. There can a certain amount of discretion in these matters.

It sounds as though your DS would need/want the routine of going into classes rather than studying on his own. If that is the case, I think that Charis' advice is great here - making the case that she outlines. But, if it comes to it, you may find another school or college. I was surprised when we did (had plenty of rebuffs, too) but we did.

I understand that his university offers were declined but, especially in such circumstances, could you phone the universities and even UCAS (I find they can be very helpful at times) and see if there's any room for bringing them up again? If you don't have it in place already, it might be an idea for your son to identify you as someone they will talk to (though I find universities quite willing, at least at these early stages). But, of course, if he's not going to take the exams, that's another matter for this year.

Absolutely agree with boatshore - your DS is at home with you. That's certainly a blessing for now.

Good luck to you and your DS. He's certainly not alone - and neither are you!

[Lotsofplans]

That's really good news, I'm so glad the school changed their mind. I hope your DS recovers soon and is able to continue his studies.

[anotherdayanothersquabble]

Fantastic news. I hope your son is Ok and finds what he need to recover. Well done for taking the stress away and supporting him.

[bruffin]

Thats really good news

[KittiesInsane]

Oh that's brilliant, Lipstick. Very best to him for a good recovery.

[KPlunk]

That's good news. Best of luck for the future. Hopefully your DS won't be too badly effected. It's not unusual at my DCs college for kids to take three years - it's not the end of the world in the grand scheme of things.

[titchy]

Fantastic - what a relief!

[Charis1]

That is good news.

[andlipsticktoo]

Following my meeting today with the college, they have now done a complete U turn, and said that DS can return in September provided he is well enough!!!!!

The will do a 'fit to study' assessment on him, a careers interview to determine whether or not he wants to continue with the same 3 A levels or tweak it to see if he would prefer to study something else. And they will make sure he has a network of support!

Couldn't be more relieved. :) :)

Thank you so much for all of your very helpful advice. Especially Kitties thank you.

[andlipsticktoo]

Nicky Morgan even!

[andlipsticktoo]

He sat the very first Biology exam, and the following day had to be removed from this first chemistry exam due to a panic attack. Do you think this will count as finishing his learning programme? They have now withdrawn him from the chemistry exams though, and he hasn't taken any of the classics exams. Maybe this is why they are pushing him so hard to 'try' to sit them?

I have emailed Nicky Moran and our local MP now too.

Doc is being v supportive and has written sick note and letter, and told ds they are discriminating against him.

Fingers crossed for meeting on Friday.

[KittiesInsane]

Oh, changes in syllabus are a blighter -- that was one of the factors in the end that led DS to grit his teeth and go for the exams last year, otherwise he might have had the AS from one board and the A2 from another, which Does Not Compute.

[bruffin]

I am pretty sure it was because he isnt doing a full timetable as he is only taking one A2 in class, and as they have changed from OCR to AQA for further maths he is having to teach himself, although he obviously has access to teachers. It is not actually costing us anything other than the £60 exam fees.

[KittiesInsane]

Thanks, and I hope it gives you some ammo. Couple of things you might want to check:

• If he does take some or all of the exams this year, my understanding is that he has then 'finished his learning programme' according to the rules above. I think he would have to take all of them next year, not split them up, but I'm not quite sure of this.
  
• This might be why Bruffin's son didn't get funding, either because he'd already 'had an outcome' (dontcha love this sort of official-speak?) or because you have to be full-time.
  

All the best to him! Sick note, official regulations and a hard hat are what you need.

[andlipsticktoo]

Kitties that is simply marvellous! Thank you.

So glad to hear your son is much better, wishing you all the best of luck this coming October. :)

[KPlunk]

That's good to hear Kitties. I hope he enjoys Uni.

[KittiesInsane]

Yes, thanks! Our school were quite quick to say that they'd clearly misinterpreted the guidelines they had been given and would of course have him back for a third year. But in fact, once DS knew that he didn't have to take the exams and that he could pull out at any point, it took the stress levels down hugely.

He did take the exams last year in the end and did well - not quite his original predictions but well enough to have a second shot at UCAS and get 5 new offers. He's off to uni this October, fingers crossed...

[KPlunk]

That's really interesting Kitties. I hope your DS is doing well now.

[bruffin]

I think ds didnt get funding because he wasnt timetabled enough hours.

[KittiesInsane]

here's the original [slightly anonymised!] email I sent to Gove's office to get that response, in case it helps:
"Dear Mr Gove,
I am writing on behalf of my son, who has a disability and is currently in his second year of Sixth Form. I wonder if I can ask for some advice on his behalf?

He was originally predicted AAA* for his three A-levels after getting 4A at AS level. He has good university offers on this basis.

However, he has had a lengthy spell of depression (diagnosed as moderate to severe clinical depression). He has missed a great deal of lesson time because of this, and his stress over this is, in the opinion of his doctor, worsening his current health.

The most practical solution would be for him to delay taking [A2 subjects] until next year, but his school say they are no longer allowed to accommodate this because of changes to funding.

What would you suggest should be done in the case of a disabled student who has been unable to complete their A2 course within two years because of mental or physical illness related to their disability? Do the current changes in funding rules apply in this case?

I will hope to hear from you."
Yours extremely snippily,
Kitties

[KittiesInsane]

Oh, I meant to say: I quoted that at the school and told them that nice Mr Gove said they were wrong...

[KittiesInsane]

I've only skimmed the other answers but just thought I would post you this, as it's the response I had from Michael Gove's office last year under very similar circumstances:
"As long as your son is 18 or under on 31st August 2014 and will be continuing on the same qualification as the previous year, I do not see any reason why he would not be eligible for funding, unless there is other information that I am not aware of.

The sixth form can check what I’ve written in the ‘Funding regulations’ guidance, which is available on the Department for Education’s website here: media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/pdf/f/funding%20regulations%202013-14%20-version%201%2001.pdf. The document refers to the current academic year [i.e. 2014-15], but we don’t plan to make any changes to these parts for the next year.

The parts they need to check are paragraphs 38, 39, and 40:

38. A 16- to 18-year-old student is any student who is aged 16, 17 or 18 on 31 August in the relevant funding year. Such students are normally eligible for EFA funding, subject to the other regulations in this guidance.

39. To maintain eligibility for funding for individual students during a learning programme, a wider definition has been agreed with the Skills Funding Agency. A student who was aged 16, 17 or 18 on 31 August at the start of the funding year when they began a learning programme, as recorded on their learning agreement, continues to be funded as a 16- to 18-year-old student. If they become 19 years old during their learning programme such students are funded at 16-18 rates to complete their learning programmes.

40. A learning programme comprises all of a student’s activities that lead to a set of outcomes agreed with the student as part of their IAG process. A learning programme may be composed of one or more learning aims and may span more than one funding year. A learning programme will generally be centred around learning aims at a single level, with a minority of, if any, learning aims at a different level being used to support the wider needs of the student (for example, a GCSE in mathematics maybe be appropriate for a student studying non-mathematical A levels). AS and A2 levels in the same subject taken in subsequent years are considered to constitute a single learning programme, whereas progression from GCSEs to A levels would usually constitute two separate learning programmes."

That was from [email protected]

Hope it might help?