Yr 13 students retaking AS with Yr 12

[BluePeriwinkle]

My DD is in Yr 12 and has said that there are several Yr 13's in her A level classes who are resitting their AS and are therefore retaking the entire course again with her.

This seems to cause some tension especially in small classes as the Yr 12's are struggling to get up to speed with the increased rigours of A levels where as Yr 13s have covered it before and are therefore more dominant in the lessons.

I asked the school to explain their system and they were not that clear but did say that it was usual practice.

My question is - is it usual? and can teachers out there suggest tactics that DD can take to help her hold her own in the lessons? (She is going through a bit of a wobble at the moment with the step up in the work). Thank you!

I think I would raise it with the school. My DD resat both AS papers in one subject but did not join lessons until part way through the year and was largely left to revise herself. If they want them to resit the whole course they should organise a separate class. It is not "usual practice" in my opinion.

Thank you HP that's what I thought and agree that there should be a separate class. I will press the school for more info.

In the meantime, would appreciate any comments from teachers about this.

Agree that this shouldn't be usual practice. The lessons are for Y12 and the teacher should really be aiming the content and pace of these lessons for this group of pupils.
Recent changes in A level retakes have led to this situation but Y13s have different needs and perhaps some extra revision classes for the Y13 group would be better. In the past Y13 students have usually had to do revision and past paper practice themselves.
The situation you have described doesn't meet the needs of either group of pupils as it will be too slow for Y13s and too fast for Y12s.

That are lots this year in DD2's year 12 classes who have moved from other schools to retake from the beginning so admitted as year 12. I think there were a lot of poor AS results. DD2 has also said that these new retakers already know all the work. It wouldn't be feasible to have separate classes.

If there are a lot of them why can't they be in a separate class? Surely they must run more than one for popular subjects anyway.

They have to get C to carry on to A2 at DD's school. I can see the logic in repeating year 12 if there have been problems, but doing the whole of the year 12 work plus year 13 work in one year seems a mountain to climb.

In any event I don't think it is up to OP to find strategies to help her daughter - surely it is up to the school.

I agree it is up to the school to ensure the classes are all treated as starting year 12 from scratch.

Crazymum - I am assuming these are not year 13 students, but are students restarting year 12 (year 12.5s?) ?

Thanks for all for your thoughts.

crazymum you said 'Recent changes in A level retakes have led to this situation' - could you clarify what are the changes in the A level retake rules? Sorry, all this is new to me

hellsbells - sounds like my DD's situation is similar to your DD's. She says that quite a few of the Yr 13s are from another school that recently shut it's 6th form. Not sure if I agree though that it wouldn't be feasible to put on extra classes - or at least get the class teacher to somehow manage the different needs better in the class.

There probably isn't enough money to put on extra classes for them, sixth form funding has been cut drastically. If the Y13s knew all the work, they wouldn't be retaking!

My DS2 has just started Y12 and he has told me that several in all his classes are older students doing an extra year to retake. There are also some overseas students who seem to know the curriculum and are way ahead.
He doesn't seem to be struggling in any way so I didn't feel it mattered. I imagine the teacher needs to differentiate just as they would on any mixed ability group.

In previous years there have been AS and A2 exams in both January and May/June. 2014 was the first year when there were no January exams / retakes.
The implications for last years Y12s were that many obtained lower than expected grades, as this was the first time they had taken the exams. In the past Y12 students would often have taken the first module exams in Jan and Y13 students would be able to retake in Jan.
The OP has stated that the other students are Y13, I am not sure if the students are just retaking AS exams or taking A2 exams as well, but that's the sort of question the OP should be asking.
It should be possible for the teacher to differentiate the work better though so that the needs of both groups of students are met.

There are a lot of second years in DS1's English Lit AS class at Sixth Form College but not in his other classes. I'm not sure if it affects learning at all but DS is less happy with the dynamic and has found it less easy to make friends in this class. Apparently, everyone on his table has already been at the college for a year.

I don't know if they're necessarily all resitting. I've heard through a friend, of a couple of students at the college who struggled with their initial choice of ASs last year and who are taking new AS subjects this year.

It really is quite normal practice. I am assuming from the OP that the students are technically old enough to be y13 but are resitting the whole of their AS year. Bearing that in mind they are unlikely to be very highly achieving so it probable that the pace of the lessons isn't fast because of them but due to the fact that A level pace is a lot more intense and there is a lot to cover.
Even if you have several groups per subject they will run in different blocks so the logistics of distinct classes for resitters would not work unless they were all doing the exact same combination of subjects even if that was the case they need integrating into y12 as they will then all progress though to the final year together.

It is totally normal practice. DS2 has just gone into year 13. Last year he had students re-sitting Yr12 in his classes, and this year he has students re-sitting Yr13 in his classes. It has caused absolutely no tension, friction or problems whatsoever. In fact I would say it has enriched the whole thing, he has been able to draw on their experience, they have been able to advise where they have maybe gone wrong or done well and it has helped a lot, especially in practical science.

DS1 is coming up for 20, when he started AS he had retakers in his classes too.

DD says there are Y13 in some of her classes, I don't think they cause a problem.

A couple of girls resat their A levels with us (no AS back then), they were no problem. Quite the opposite, they had chemistry notes that made sense (having had the other teacher, who did a much better job of explains the mathematical section of our syllabus).

Thanks everyone for your input. I didn't realise that repeating Yr 12/retakes was so common! Will consult with the school to see how they are addressing differentiating between the different student's needs.

I think in most classes this would not make a difference but in one of her subjects it seems that of the three taking it, the other two are both retakes.

To be fair, it's possible the school wouldn't have been able to run the course if the 2 re-takers weren't in it.
But maybe your DD needs to have a quiet chat with the teacher and explain how she's feeling so that the teacher is aware, and can check that your dd is keeping pace with the other 2

I didn't realise that repeating Yr 12/retakes was so common! Sad but true. When you see threads about the jump from GCSE to A level this is the result. Made worse this year by Michael Gove removing the January modules and consequently the opportunity to retake within the year.
The first January AS modules used to serve as a big wake up call to students who underestimated the work required. In the past they could learn the lesson and re-take in June. Now they have to repeat the year.

we have a very few y13s in y12 classes if they are resitting the year so I wouldn't object per-se to the situation but if your DD feels that they are dominating and pushing the discussion / work too quickly then she needs to be able to speak up, ask questions, ask for clarification. She is a young adult and ought to be able to at least approach the situation herself. If after a few weeks things are not improving then contact her tutor or head of 6th.