I'm at screaming point with ours (quietly to myself of course!)
DD2 (13) got her IGCSE results back and they were very good. She got an A in Biology and decided rather suddenly that she would like to keep going now to A level if possible. She is unsure if she will cope with college but we decided to try.
It all started well at the local college. They were very impressed with her results and said yes, they would provisionally take her. But have been told by our LA there is no funding any more. It transpires that West Sussex (I'm naming and shaming here!!) have told local colleges there is no funding now for 14-16s - and have been telling their home educators this too! They told us and I put them right but still they perpetuate the myth.
Anyway, I sent a lot of funding links and then the poor 14-16 lady seemed utterly overwhelmed by the whole thing even though they have apparently accepted some 14s already for next year. She has now passed it to someone else who is not answering my emails.
I then spoke to the A level coordinator. She was querying whether DD2 has 5 GCSEs including English and Maths. No she has 3, I said. That's not enough, apparently. SHE'S GODDAMED 13!! How many 13 year olds do they know with 3 good IGCSEs, taking a 4th in the autumn? I told her DD2 got the Physics at 11 and she said she was obviously gifted "but we need 5". (Head against brick wall moment) She also said part time was impossible (I assured her it wasn't) and funding wasn't there (I assured her it was). Sadly she seemed very hug up on their rules and had trouble seeing past that. In they end she decided that if DD2 took a functional skills maths and english test at level 2 online (this despite the fact she has an A in Sociology which required writing 8 essays on one paper) they might consider it. She said "There is maths in Biology A level, you know". Yes, I'm well aware of that, she's just done IGCSE. How did she think she got the IGCSE in Physics with no maths?
Anyway, deep sigh and I will brace myself tomorrow to phone again and try and get somewhere. Term starts in a week and we probably should have tried to organise it before this. If it doesn't come off we will try for next year. But I think this year would be better because the kind of child DD2 is, the big age gap between her and her classmates will work in her favour. She won't feel there is an expectation to make them her best buddies.
I think one of the problems seems to be that it is an A level. People in our home ed group have secured places there for their 14s so it shouldn't be an issue, but on more vocational courses.
Thank you for all the links. I will keep trying. If she doesn't do it it really isn't the end of the world as there will be other routes in the future. But the head against a brick wall thing is frustrating! Home educators should not have to fight this hard. Wish me luck, I'm going to keep going even if only so I can post on here that there's a college that will take 14-16s for those near me in the South.