Entry Level Qualifications

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Anyone with an understanding of Entry Level Qualifications? Can anyone explain where Entry Levels 1,2 and 3 would fit with national curriculum levels please? More specifically, I suppose, how far below a level 7 GCSE would they be? Would they be more on par with KS2 SATS? Reason for asking is that LA have proposed a placement for my high achieving Y11 dd where the highest attainers at ks 4/5 secure Entry Level Qualifications. Obviously it's ludicrous but I want some idea of how ludicrous.

www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels

Entry level are below Level 1, Level 1 includes GCSE grades 3, 2, 1 (grades D, E, F, G in the old GCSEs)

It would be hard to map to KS2 tests now the levels are gone but they are a long way below GCSE Grade 7.

Thank you,the majority gain level 1, a few level 2 and there was one level 3,and a few below level 1 last year so hugely disparate from my daughter's ability added to which I'm not sure there would be the teachers there to teach a full range of GCSE's and of course there is no peer group. I know it's the LA clutching at straws but I need to know the facts if we ever get to Tribunal (LA don't seem to be engaging so hoping they concede).

What is the reasoning behind the placement and does your dd have a disability? I am not asking to be nosy, just to see if there might be more expert help available for you/your dd.

The 1,2 and 3 are sub-levels within the Entry level qualifications and are all below the lower Foundation grade GCSEs.
In FE students with no GCSEs (or equivalents) at all would take Entry level and then progress to level 1 after one year which would be grades 1,2 and 3 GCSE(grades D and below) and then a year later than that they would be able to start level 2 which would be equivalent to the full GCSE passes (grade 4+/old grade C).
So from Entry level to GCSE 4+(old grade C+) would take approx 3 years which would roughly be the equivalent of a Y11 pupil doing Y8 work if that makes sense.

If your DD is a high achieving year 11 (presumably 9/8 at gcse) then what reason is there not to apply to a local sixth form school or college.

Is there a disability that needs adjustments that cannot be catered for in mainstream?

Yes she has autism and an EHCP. Her predicted grades are 7 to 9 at GCSE. She used to attend the local mainstream secondary school in top sets until her anxiety got too great. She has been receiving home tuition since May supplied by LA.
Her previous school have admitted they can't meet needs and this has forced the LA to propose an alternative. The alternative is a generic special school where I have now learned that the majority are learning at Primary level. (I copied and pasted their results to a teacher in a special school)
I will be asking that they place her in a specialist school where she can receive asd specialist support alongside a peer group of similar abilities and the opportunity to study at GCSE level.
Of course it is all down to cost. Their own ed psych supports the view that mainstream is no longer appropriate not even in an enhanced resource but our LA have no maintained special schools catering for academically able students and they want to avoid funding independent specialist.

It sounds like it might be a stressful time in a short time frame given how close the exams are. It sounds very wrong that your child will be offered an education so far removed from their abilities. There must be options even if it means travelling further.

I wish I knew exactly where to direct you for advice, there seem to be lots of services out there both free and paid for but I don't know which is best.

[https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/SEND%20Orgs%20Info%20Sheet%20FINAL_0.pdf this list has quite a few free services.

I would strongly advise you posting on the SEN board here if you haven't done so before, there are some really well informed parents there.

councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/SEND%20Orgs%20Info%20Sheet%20FINAL_0.pdf

You could try SOSSEN for advice. Sometimes hard to get through to but worth persevering.

www.sossen.org.uk

Is there any independent specialist provision in the LA? I ask, because I had a boy in mainstream school, who needed specialist provision. Aside from the fact that the process took more than a year, it was difficult because the nearest specialist provision was some distance away and would have required a 50 minute taxi ride (in good traffic conditions) and it was problematic for a boy with ASD, anxiety etc.

I would get on to your MP asap for assistance. There is no way that as a high achiever she should be placed there. There should be a case for her to have a place at an independent 6th Form college

I will be appealing for an out of County placement because it can meet needs. Fortunately we are close to County borders so travel will be about 45 minutes. I knew a special school was wrong for her (ed psych tests show IQ in superior range) but it's difficult to interpret results when you have no experience of the qualifications being reported. Hopefully the proposed placement is so obviously wrong that the appeal will be straightforward.

The proposed placement may have been made for other reasons. I have seen students who have found mainstream education too stressful coaxed back into education via Entry courses.

A year doing Entry may well restore confidence, build classroom skills, secure a friendship group and introduce your daughter to college life so she can build on those skills the following year.

Or they might be throwing her at Entry because she is 'special'.

Don't assume no thought has gone into the placement it might have value as part of a long term plan.

Parents can often obsess about GCSE classes when adjusting to being at college might be a more valuable life skill especially in her first post 16 year.

I used to teach at FE. Example of work at entry level 3 in childcare. Find pictures of a foods to make a nutritious meal and stick them to a plate. Typically the group had a wide range of students with language and or cognitivr issues.
Not a suitable environment for your daughter.
Have you found somewhere suitable?

Mousse the only consideration the LA have done is to propose the cheapest possible option once their own ed psych vetoed mainstream. Dd has plenty of classroom skills and a small group of friends, it's going to be difficult making friends when placed with a group who don't share her intellect or her interests. Pretty sure she's unlikely to have someone to discuss with how she is learning Japanese, how she plays piano or her desire to pursue graphic design as a career.
She's hardly going to manage a mainstream college when she has crashed spectacularly at mainstream secondary is she? She should have the opportunity to reach her potential and that potential is far more than being dumped in a special school with no academic challenges. I don't want her babysitting I want her educating.
AJP Yes, I've found an autism specialist school. She could stay until y14 they have a therapeutic approach, she'd have a peer group, sit GCSE's (including Japanese) and later A levels. Some then go to uni others go to the specialist FE college on a different site. Of course this is all independent and costs money which the LA hope to avoid and so there is the need for Tribunal.

OP I do understand your concerns about intellectual challenge. I have seen plenty of students who could not cope with mainstream schools thrive in a college environment.

I have seen Entry courses used as a way students can access mainstream without the concerns of curriculum because they focus on the social challenges.

This may well not be the case. The LA may well be shafting you.

The best colleges use Entry to support students with social issues and allow them to enter mainstream and then they go on to higher level courses and eventually university. I know students who started at Entry who are now at uni.

I'm not saying this is the case I'm just saying it might be worth asking the questions.

The LA are totally in the wrong here. Entry levels are below GCSE. Our bottom set take them on the off chance they don't get a GCSE grade. Your son should not be going to a school with that level of curriculum if he has predicted grade 7+. You may also find that teaching staff at a special school may not have the subject knowledge to allow him to get to grade 7.

Actually you can download the specifications for entrt level quals from the Pearson website which will give you the ammo you need.

"Hopefully the proposed placement is so obviously wrong that the appeal will be straightforward."

Don't assume this at all. Your DD is exactly in the situation where it is most expensive for the LA to fund a suitable placement. She has emotional and MH problems so needs specialist therapeutic provision, can't cope with mainstream, has high ability so needs GCSEs. I have somewhat similar situation with my DD and it is the hardest SEN challenge you will ever face. The placements that are really suitable probably cost eye watering amounts. The LA will fight tooth and nail and place your DD in the cheapest place, however unsuitable. A backdoor to mainstream could be the plan B option that you might not want to exclude. However, to get your desired placement you will need all the best support you can find.SOSSEN and SN board here are good places to start.

This is absolutely appalling and underlines exactly what Cake was stating on another thread. This being that when a child does not exactly confirm as 'neurotypical' and has significant academic/social challenges and cannot function in a mainstream school. The assumption is GCSE grades 1-3 are the absolute ceiling for any child considered for 'special education' within the state sector or funding by.

I was ridiculed by the 'blob' on the thread when I suggested academic 'special schools' for such children as the OPs. This because I called them 'grammar' schools for academically able children , who cannot cope in mainstream state provision due to significant special needs.

Instead we have an LA confirming to stereotype, that once a child cannot function in 'mainstream', a special school that offers below level 1@ GCSE grades is appropriate .