Intermediate 2 and Int 1 geography in Scottish Secondary school

[Mojom20]

My son has been in an Int2 Geography class. He sat his prelim in December and his result was a D. I received a letter from his teacher saying she would advise he goes down from doing the Int 2 to now doing Int 1 as he most probably would not pass his Int 2 exam in the summer. He could sit the Int 1 exam and then in 5th year sit the Int 2 exam.
I was just wondering if anyone else's child has experienced this?
Thanks for listening.

I havent got children of secondary age but I have had a similar experience myself, although the other way around.

When I was in 5th year I took int2 Italian as a crash course (had never done it before but had done french since age 5) but got excellent marks for my prelim and was advised to try the higher that year instead of in 6th. I did and got an A, so it was obviously the right thing to do.

Its about being in the right class for your abilities, so if he has been trying hard and studying and is achieving a D at int 2 then yes, he should move down a level so he can achieve the best grade he can. If he has been coasting and not putting in the work then moving him down wont help and will probably just encourage him to carry on coasting.

If its not a subject he is particularly keen on he may not want to carry it on after this year anyway in which case it wont matter which level he does it at. Saying that, if he does move down and wants to carry on to higher he still can as he will have the chance to do it in 6th year if he gets good enough grades.

If he is working hard and he is still getting a low grade then it is in his interests to move down a level as 1) he will feel more comfortable with the work and probably enjoy the class more as a result and 2) he will find a good grade more achievable and will be able to progress to a higher level at his own pace.

As a teacher I would say that if he has a d in the prelim at int 2 he probably would be better to do the int 1 this year. Especially if be is in 4 th year as it is a good stepping stone for int 2 in 5th year. I've actually taught kids who have done int 1 fourth year, int 2 5th year and gone onto do higher in 6th year and passed. If his teacher is recommending this path it probsbrky is the right one. It depends on your son really. He could turn it around and work really hard for the int 2 this year. With lots of extra work he could maybe go for a c/b or he may crash it and end up retaking next year. If he did the int 1 he has a chance of an A still as a boost to carry him to int 2 next year!?

Sorry rambled hth

Thank you both sooo much for your replies. I really appreciate them. I had been the nagging mother before his prelim regarding studying and know he just didn't study enough for his geography. He was disappointed with his result. Without going on about it too much I reinforced the importance of revising for exams and his result reflected this. He had been doing ok in his class work and the teacher has told me that they soon have a NAB to sit. If he doesn't get a result with this he will then go to the Int 1 class. After reading your replies I feel happy that this would probably be the best option. It is then up to him to work hard and possibly work his way up.
Thank you again.

A good pass at Int 1 is obviously better than a fail at Int 2. However I don't think a decision needs to be made as to the presentation level quite yet. If he knows he didn't do very well due to lack of study/effort etc and is willing to work harder between now and May then a pass at Int 2 is possibly still achievable.

This time last year DD did Int 2 prelims, failed 4 (!!) got 2 Ds and 2 Cs (or approximate equivalents). She passed all 8 in May with 4As 2Bs and 2 Cs. But she did put in a huge amount of work between Jan and May. The teachers all knew that she was capable of the work if she put the effort in, although it was briefly discussed about presenting for Int 1 in History due to style of paper.