Post GCSE, any ideas re studying music/maths in London

[KatieBw]

My DS just finished GCSE, has all been a disaster apart from the fact he emerged as a musical talent alongside being pretty good at maths. He has a nightmare situation to contend with in his father, who has been largely absent and when present is always swimming in the opposite direction. He told my son to give up on GCSE, London, his life and come and live with him and his new GF in France, which kind of prevented me from making post GCSE plans because they had this whole new life planned. However, as predicted by everyone, my DS is a few days into his life there and is keen to come home and get on with his life in London. HOWEVER, I have no place for him anywhere and his GCSEs are likely to be pretty lacklustre aside from drama, maths and music. He has slight SEN (slow processing) and never wants to write another essay again in his life. Just thought, if anyone has any ideas re courses available from September...even if I have to wait a year to get him onto something proper, Id be happy with something part time alongside internships. Id also love to not spend any more money, having spent a fortune to get to this point and with the father refusing to pay anything (not new, but increasingly annoying). We are Holland Park/Notting Hill area and I would REALLY APPRECIATE any ideas

Sounds like a big mess. Do you mean you have no school place for him? Get on the local council website I guess, and any others with good transport links to where you live, and look up sixth form colleges and schools with sixth forms. Maths and music are good A levels to take, not everywhere offers music though. He would need a 3rd A level, maybe further maths, or something like Physics? Or if that’s no good, something like design tech, no essays at least.

What are his friends doing? You don’t really know what results he got on his GCSES and ime students often have no clue how they did, and teacher predictions were utterly wrong (way too low) for our dd.

Maybe City of Westminster college? Their campus in Paddington Green looks amazing

City and Westminster is good - if you want specifically music further education, have a look at The Rhythm Studio in Wornington Road and check out the Kensington and Chelsea College website for other courses there. Westminster Kingsway does A levels if you'd prefer that route - and if your DS has strong interests and ability in music, maths and drama he could do those! Maths is very useful and goes well with computer science, which may be another option.
FE colleges have strong SEN support and it's generally easier to sort out than at school. Just be aware that only a few do A levels and if exams are an issue for him look at the BTEC and other diploma courses, which include some coursework assessment.

My ds1 is at City and Islington 6th form college. He is doing Maths, Further Maths and CS A levels. We have found the Maths provision to be excellent. My ds2 is a muscisian and I want him to get to the same 6th form as they offer music A level. The college only require 5 GCSEs to get in (with specific requirements for each a level). It might be worth a look for your son.

You'll struggle a little to get him into a school based sixth form having not already applied, but Colleges will snap him up. Make sure you're looking for the right provision for him - if GCSEs are a mess are Alevels really the right path or is something vocational going to suit him better? What aspect of music did he enjoy - is Music Tech something to look at?