DD isn't academic enough for uni but just won't accept this.

[Lillians]

DD is 19 and got 1 A, 4 Bs and 3 Cs at GCSE. She went on to sixth form where she didn't pass the 1st year and had to leave, she went to another college to retake the first year (it was only maths as the other 2 subjects were 2 years) and failed again. She didn't get a chance to do any exams in the other subjects.

She works part time now and volunteers for childline. She says her volunteering has made her realise how much she wants to be a mental health nurse specifically to do with eating disorders.

I have said to her there are sooo many different ways you could get involved with that without being a nurse and she doesn't want to hear it, gets upset saying that she wishes I had faith in her etc. when I do!! She just isn't academic enough for uni.

I don't know how to offer her advice any more.

Perhaps she lacked direction at A level. Now she knows what she wants to do with her life, maybe she will step up and suitably academic. I know a few people who left school after GCSE's or A levels, but later went on to achieve degrees as they needed to for their desired career.

I would recommend an Access course and she how she goes from there.

My O level results are worse than that

Nearly finished a PhD. Had zero problems with my nursing course or the many diplomas and certificates I've got. Even taught in FE and a university.

I'm 'not academic'. There are other routes into nursing as people have talked about. Access courses are aimed at her.

I have 5 O'levels, never even did maths. I have a degree and am doing my masters. I have never been classed as academic. Funnily enough I've excelled when it was a subject that truly meant something to me. I can't tell you how being labelled as 'not academic' made me feel about it.

You should still support her to do whatever she wants. If she fails then at least she will know she tried and will never hold it against you and wonder what if.

Honestly your DD does sound clever enough. It sounds like her A levels were brutal though.
She can do an access course, and she can go to uni. She could be an RMN but she could also look at Doing a health and social care access course and the a social work degree. With the social work degree she could become an SMHP (senior mental health practitioner) or AMHP (advanced mental health professional) - mental health social work is more theory and person based but at most unis the first year of any nursing degree is general and that can be quite scientific and very demanding.
All the best for your DD
She's only got the same grades as me, I got thrown off ALevels and I've got a degree and a postgrad!

Don't please don't set her up to fail!

Maths A Level is very challenging, I wouldn't base an assessment of her academic potential on her performance in that. I have degrees and I wouldn't be able to do Maths A Level. Nurses need 5 GCSEs at C or above (don't know whether they will need to be 4 and above or 5 and above in the new grading) and 2 A levels or an Access course or equivalent. She definitely sounds suited to nursing.

I left school after my GCSE's as I was burnt out and hated the social minefield. I had 5 years working before going on to do an access course, then undergraduate, then masters.

A level maths has got to be the hardest subject to do. My husband did it and got an A but he is very gifted and even he said it was absolute nails!

Your daughter wants to do nursing and whilst there may well be a mathematical element to the course, it won't be anywhere near the difficulty of A level maths. I would say, based on her GCSE's that she is definitely capable. It just sounds like she has picked the wrong A levels.

I would suggest access course route (I think you have to be 19)

Sometimes half the battle is wanting to do it. Seeing the point and wanting to succeed. If she's sure now I'd guess she will do well at it. I'd support her in her applications. Saying she's just not academic enough is shit. With the right application and subjects she finds interesting, I see no reason why she can't do it and do it well.

And maths a level is a bastard. Everyone knows that and it's a huge leap from gcse. Many kids who excel at math at gcse struggle hard with a level.

Good for her in wanting to follow her dreams. Help her succeed.

She's got better GCSEs than I have. I started A-Levels and also got kicked out for failing the first year. I then went to do a BTEC at college, passed with merit and headed off to University where I got a 2:1 degree.

Struggling with A-Levels does not make your daughter less academically able or make her unsuitable to attend University. It just means she struggles with A-Levels and instead needs to find a alternative route to her goal that suits her talents and ways of learning.

You don't need A levels to do nursing. DS2 has them and he's in the minority on his course tbh.

She could do a Btech in health and social care instead. 2 of DS1's friends failed their first year of A levels then did the Btech, one graduates as a nurse next month, the other in the Spring.

Stop putting her down. There are ways she can do nursing. You should be encouraging her.

Her grades look fine to me

And it's up to the college to decide whether she is academic enough not you.

Besides lots of people flunk A levels then do brilliantly later. My friend got Us and Es on the first go and now has first in biomedical science. Another friend got pregnant and got no GCSEs or A levels and now she is training to be a midwife.

Your daughter sounds like a fighter and you should encourage her, she could be an amazing nurse.

You could get her to look at access courses for nursing, available at lots of colleges, universities and speak to a local connections career adviser.
I have no GCSEs, no ALevels, and now i'm a fully qualified in a profession i mostly love.

You don't need GCSEs to further your education, or to get a good job.
I am proof.

oh and do add... i am not 'academic'... only my grandad supported me. everyone else kept saying it was 'nice of me to try'... i proved them all wrong and i hope your daughter does too.
When your'e genuinely interested, you will learn.

If I were in your shoes, I would put down her end goal on a large sheet of paper, and then research ALL the routes into it, and what the barriers are for each.

So could she do:

• An apprenticeship (a quick Google suggests these are being developed pretty much as we type)
• An access course
• A distance learning course such as the OU
• BTECs
• Selected A-levels
• A related job - e.g. mental health support worker - and then progress from that point?

Once you both truly understand all the routes to the goal, and all the requirementsm, then you cvan help her to plot out her route. The 'main road' - A-levels, degree course - may not be the best route for her, but that doesn't mean she isn't very firtted to do the end job, she may just need to find a personalised route into it.

The most academically-qualified, 'cleverest' nurse I know has not 'made it' in nursing and has been unemployed for years. Meanwhile others with much lesser academic qualifications are thriving in the job. Your DD, with your support, just needs to find her route into the job she wants to do.

Those grades are not good.

I think this is an unpleasant thing to say. Many students in my school would work their socks off and be delighted by those results.

Totally agree with Fairy. Your DD can get into nursing via the BTEC route. An extended BTEC in Health and Social care would be a vocational course that would give her the skills to succeed on a Nursing degree at Uni. Just look on the UCAS site and you will see many unis accept the BTEC route.

Many students do not flourish on the traditional A level route but vocational courses allow the students to learn and achieve in a way that is more appropriate for them. As a college lecturer we see students flourish and do extremely well having done a BTEC course.

Enrol now in time for September and come back and tell use what you are going to wear for her graduation in a few years time.

I wish her Good Luck - we need more students who have a passion and commitment to nursing as she is showing

^^ Obviously I am quoting a pp in the first line. Couldn't get it in bold.......

Has she actually talked to any universities about how to get onto a mental health nursing course? That would be the first place to look - I doubt there's anywhere demanding A Level Maths for those courses.

Nursing degree are demanding in terms of time management and I would think she'd want a good grounding in sciences, probably Chemistry and Biology, but they're not the most grade-demanding courses and they always have people from a wide range of backgrounds.

I'd get on the phone and find out what actual nursing academics want from good candidates, not talk to my mum about it.

I assume her A at GCSE was Maths. If not, Maths was always going to be a struggle. You are correct that these results are not very academic for a traditional degree but nursing isn't traditional in that there is a lot of practical learning involved and there are other methods of entry as others have said. I would investigate what she can do instead of what she cannot do. Be realistic and show her alternatives that she can work towards. This means you are being supportive and not writing her off. I would talk to as many course providers as possible and get her involved. She must do some leg work herself and take responsibility for her own destination. Just saying you want something is not always the same as actually investigating how you do it and getting on with meeting the requirements. She will need to grow up a bit and do what is required if she is adamant this is her career goal.

It's clear people have different conceptions of what constitutes being academic. I really don't consider those GCSE grades to be good or a strong indicator of any real academic ability.

Too many students scrape into second or third rate universities with very mediocre grades and graduate with indifferent degrees that aren't marketable.

I'm not academic at all, just finishing second year at uni, nursing isn't about being academic, it's about having the right values and skills to work with people, also her volunteering will be could evidence on her application form.

Your DD sounds like an incredibly smart motivated young woman and you should support her fully. Mental health is rising at unprecedented levels (even Mrs May gets it) especially amongst young people

She will qualify to apply with an Access course and her volunteering experience will help too.

That she has an interest in young people with eating disorders is commendable. This mental health issue is also rising massively.

She will get there but please please support her.

I think mental health nursing still has a bursary but I am not sure, maybe other posters will know.

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I did a nursing degree and I'm not massively academic. The uni side of it is more about essay writing than anything else, and I felt that our lecturers guided us through all our assignments and were very supportive.

In fact it almost felt as though there was a recognition that a lot of the nursing students were likely to be more vocational than academic, and tailored accordingly.

That said, I did paediatric nursing, and so was in a cohort of only 15 at a small uni. It may be worth finding a place where she would be in a small cohort, to ensure there is enough support to go round.

My A-levels were BDE - but got a first at uni after going back a few years later as a mature student.

Support your daughter by helping her achieve what she wants to.

Lots of people go to uni because they think they should and have no better idea what to do with themselves. Your DD has a clear goal in mind and that's hugely important.

She knows what she wants to do and there are various ways to get there. If she is adamant that she wants A levels then she could always do biology and psychology rather than maths. Or, she could do an access course and go on to do an HND or degree in nursing. My dsis has worse gcse's than your dd and an unrelated to nursing BTECH. After a couple of years out of education she did an access course, an HND and an extra year for a nursing degree.