End of A level 1st year - poor grades - carry on??

[Jungfraujoch]

So DS started 3 A levels, flunked one of them and has now dropped it. The other 2 he got an E and U in the mocks - resitting the U tomorrow.

He wants to start another A level in September plus carry on with the current 2. He is adamant that he wants to do A levels and go to uni but clearly this won’t happen at this level! He admits he is lazy and tutors say he doesn’t apply himself in class.

We are soooo frustrated with him- do we just let him carry on and hope he pulls his finger out or just fail?!

My kids know that the day they start lazing around at school and failing is the day they leave - but I admit my stance is pretty extreme.

In your position I guess I would say he can stay on but from now on you want regular feedback and he needs to be on a constant upward trajectory. And I wouldn't wait until September. Lots of new responsibilities around the house - washing, cooking, cleaning gardening, plus a summer job if he can get one, plus some remedial A level work. If he wants to turn over a new leaf he needs a lot less time to get sucked into being lazy in. Work can also be good for his self esteem which may have taken a bit of a battering.

Thanks Barbarian. It’s a tough one, although if he fails the resit we’ll. e looking at a whole different scenario for next year.

He has just started a job - 8 hours a week in 2 shifts - but training is 2 months so doubt they’ll offer extra hours at the moment. Im biding my time re suggesting he gets something else too to occupy the holidays!!

If it were me, I'd be talking to the school about the possibility of reassessing and starting Year 12 afresh in September.

Sue, I guess that could be an option but even if possible I can’t see him going for that.

I'd be looking at whether he could just start new A levels as well, seems pointless carrying on with those grades 😬 even if he pulls his finger out it's unlikely he'll be able to increase them to a decent grade.

Spam that’s we keep telling him but he’s adamant! Will see what happens with the resit and then go from there. Am also waiting for a reply from the careers adviser, see what they suggest in these situations.

Does he/you have any ideas of what his predicted gradeso might be? Only asking because DD1 is yr12 and looking ahead to uni applications and so much is dependant on what predictions she will be given at the start of yr13. Also is he hoping to start and finish a new A level in yr13? That sounds a bit pie in the sky realistically.
I would echo pp who mentioned redoing yr12, it seems to be a thing nowadays and no shame in it if he is very determined to go to uni.
DD's BFF is going through something similar, he's even considering leaving sixth form and pursuing an apprenticeship as a pathway to uni. Hard to see how he might apply for uni in October /November with only 2 A levels on the go.

I would have a look at the local college for Level 3 BTECs and see what might be the most suitable.
If your DS does another year of not really working then gets D-U grades he will have blown the opportunity to do a 2 year L3 BTEC.

So maybe the choice should be
Either

• prove this summer you mean it by doing X hours a week academic work to 'catch up' on y12 and show he really has turned over a new leaf

Or

• abandon A levels and switch to a BTEC which to some extent enforces steady working across the 2 years.

After all, it's not like he needs the summer off to recover from all his hard work over the last 9 months is it?

What were his GCSE grades like? If he's just not that academically inclined he might be better off doing a work based qualification. If he gets mediocre A'Levels followed by a mediocre degree then he's going to be wasting his time (& your money!) as he'll unlikely get a high flying well paid job out of it when the market has already been saturated by much better candidates. If he does something like joinery, plumbing, electrical, cooking, mechanics etc at the local college he might be a bit better off when he comes to looking for a job.

He hasn't done any work at all if the ones he didn't flunk were E and U grades!

If he says he wants to continue with them, then he has to show you more than lip service. He has the summer to catch up. He should get hold of the relevant course books for the exam boards he's taking - if school won;t loan them would he pay for them out of his job money? How much does he want to invest in his own future in time and cost?

Over the holidays he could work through them chapter by chapter, making notes, doing extended reading, watching relevant revision videos etc and catch up. At least it's just mocks these days not AS levels which used to matter for uni. But if he can't be bothered to use the long summer to catch up then he needs to rethink whether they suit him or whether he'd prefer a practical apprenticeship somewhere.

What is he wanting to do at University that he thinks will admit him with an E and a U?!

Would the school even let him start a different A level next year?

You are all saying exactly what I’m thinking but he just seems unable to make the connection between working hard in order to get good grades and on to Uni!! I just don’t know what will make him realise!

He was predicted better grades at GCSE it due to probably not enough revision/work he was disappointed. Ironically, the one he got an A for is the A level he failed the mock and has dropped it!!

The new A level he wants to start next year is 2 years so in the 2nd year he will have to take 2 AS levels too to remain a full time student.

DS has just repeated Y12, after flunking his AS Levels (another one who doesn't apply himself!). In his case, the school gave him the choice of repeating the year, or dropping out (they wouldn't let him progress to A2 without the right grades), and he chose to repeat.

I was surprised, as I didn't think he'd be able to deal with staying down a year, but the school were very supportive.

A year on - has he pulled his socks up and done better? The jury is out, and I'm waiting with bated breath for his AS results in August. One thing he said to me recently - he is actually quite glad he has had an extra year to decide what he wants to do with his life. He doesn't want to go to university, and he definitely isn't ready yet to join the big wide world.

If he had scraped through his exams last year and continued to A2, I don't believe his A level results would have been very good at all.

No point at all in continuing to year 13 with an E and a U, and adding in a full A level in a year. Sorry but no chance. He leaves and gets a job, goes elsewhere (college to do BTEC?) or repeats year 12. There are no other realistic options sorry.

So he admits he's lazy and the teachers say he doesn't apply himself . His current 'grades' reflect this . What does he want to do at university ? If he has an idea then he can look at university courses and grades required and consider if he applied himself and ditched lazy whether he would get the grades . Given he'd be applying in October this year how on earth is a teachers predicted grades going to be able to support his application .
Likely a BTECH , assuming he's still prepared to change his ways because it's not a soft option either , will be more achievable . Good luck he needs to give
Himself an almighty kick up the arse and get his head out of the sand . That said , consider his emotional / mental wellbeing ( which I know you do ) .

I'm the Head of Sixth Form in my school. I wouldn't let him continue into Y13 as we require a minimum of three D grades to progress from Year Twelve.

Unfortunately your son is not going to get predictions that give him many university options at present. We sometimes allow students, for a variety of reasons, to be predicted up to two grades higher than their Year Twelve prediction, but this would still put him on C,D,X.

It is only in very rare circumstances that we allow students to pick up a new subject at the end of Year Twelve, and that's because it is so hard to catch up.

We might offer him a re-take year, but this would be dependent on two things. 1) His conduct during the year. Lazy is not great (clearly) but if he's been rude/disruptive/poor attendance I wouldn't let him retake. Also, his GSCE grades. I'd want to know whether he was potentially a good A Level student who has made mistakes and can do better, or did he barely meet the criteria for A Levels and then is lazy, which suggests he'd be more appropriately suited for a different type of course.

Good luck - it is a tricky time of year.

Hello again- not really an update as we are basically still in the same stalemate situation! He is at sixth form college just to clarify, not school. So he ended up with EE for his 2 remaining A levels. His report didn’t say give up - more on the lines of work hard over the summer and come back in September ready to knuckle down. He can start his new A level then too (2 year course), which means he won’t apply for uni until the following year so has time to up his grades if he really tries.

He’s still adamant this is what he wants to do, despite us pointing out the difficulties ahead. I’ve tasked him with doing some thorough research into degree courses at uni. We’ve discussed starting again in September with a BTEC Level 3 but says he doesn’t want to go that route because half the kids at his college doing it just mess about in class. Given that his tutors talk about him being distracted and unfocused I wonder where he thinks he fits in!

I’ve also suggested looking into apprenticeships - but given he wants to do something in Media - these are few and far between- unless anyone know different?

I also want him to write out a proper revision plan for the summer - he has been going back over his notes but a bit half heartedly probably.

So, I’ve given him till the end of the week to report back/make a decision. Bloody teenagers!

Something in media? That’s a long shot too. It’s all very unrealistic. I live that the BTec people mess about - he’s not exactly covered himself with glory. I think life might get very tough next year.

I feel your pain. Mine did a bit better CCD... but no real drive, ambition, aspiration. School have said UCAS gardes will be based on this wth some 'negotiation'. He isn't massively able but full amrks in Spanish GCSE ought to translate into better than a low C. Trouble is, if he deosn't like something, he does not try at all. Grr

Just wanted to offer a solidarity fist bump really.

I am a teacher. So many boys are like this in year 12, especially now AS levels have gone...

Mine is upstairs 'researching' unis, too. Although I feel like I am the one doing all the research!!

Thanks for the fist bump piggy - I’ve just had a little cry - he frustrates the hell out of me! It’s like he’s missing the connection between what he says he wants to do and what he’s actually doing ie. nothing. 🙄. I just keep telling myself it’ll work out in the end, must be even worse for you being a teacher - onwards and upwards!

Bubbles - I know re the BTEC - he just doesn’t see the irony!

Apart from the media thing, ours could be twins! same attitude towards BTec, same unfocused attention in class. Mine likes his politics A Level. And not that much tbh...

It is quite hard being a teacher and a mother at the same time, that's for sure!!

Also OP, I looked into apprenticeships, and had a number of students I teach apply for post A level ones. They had to go through far more of a rigorous process than the ones who applied to uni (especially since over half of them got blooming unconditional offers!) inclusing interviews.

he needs to give
Himself an almighty kick up the arse and get his head out of the sand

That made me . What an image!

Very similar situation with DD. Had a meeting with her head of 6th form last week.

I expected him to say leave or repeat year 12 but he agreed to let her go up to Year 13. Said if she buckles down she's still capable of reasonable grades ..... which I find very hard to believe as her attendance for year 12 was about 55%!! She's missed so much, how can she possibly do well.

Like you I'd prefer she went down the apprenticeships route or left and went to college, but she's adamant she wants to stay and she's promising to buckle down .... I'm not so sure. Hope she proves me wrong!

Welcome to the club bigsandyballs! I think we need our own thread!!!