Please can anyone help- dropping out of A levels.

[FloatingthroughSpace]

My DS is autistic and has an EHCP.
He has always loved his school. He did ok at GCSE (5 good passes) but needs to retake English. He writes well but is very slow and severe anxiety means he doesn't get enough written.

He started A levels but has found one of the courses (his best at GCSE) the workload is far too much. Teacher was slow to adapt workload (his GCSE teacher used to get him to do the hardest bit only). He has become very unwell mentally from the stress of not coping with his best subject and it's had a knock-on effect on his other two subjects as he has missed a lot of school.

We suggested he continue with the 2 he's doing ok with and abandon the one he's struggling with. He can understand it all, just not manage the work volume.

He has told me today he wants to stop completely, that he's getting a stress reaction just going into school and feels completely overwhelmed.

I don't care at this point about him carrying on, except that it's a shame for the 2 a levels he was doing ok at. However have been doing research and he's missed the application deadline for local colleges for Sept (our plan B was to look into a more specialised Btech). He really does badly when he has no routine.

What the heck do we do?

I can't call anyone as they are all on half term.

Adding: he is already on anti anxiety meds, has been for years.

Colleges are desperate for bums on seats so contact them even if you’ve missed the application deadline.

Poor you. You must be really worried about him and his future. Do you need to make a decision right away. It is half term so perhaps that will offer him some rest and time away. Then on Monday call to discuss when he is feeling less anxious.

It Feb wouldn’t he start a BTEC in Sept? He couldn’t start now anyway.

Colleges will take applicants right up to the October half term of the new academic year. They will interview him (they will also make it seem like they're doing you a massive favour- they're not). Colleges need bums on seats desperately and actually as a general blanket rule you can't say no without referring them somewhere else in the college. I'm an FE teacher in a college. Trust me

Sorry, posted too soon

...Trust me, they will take him for next year.

BTech sounds the right idea. There is no point in making himself ill where he is. Try and talk it up as a positive step rather than a "failure."

Really do not worry about missing that deadline! Approach the colleges, explain his needs/abilities, take it from there. Having an ehcp makes a huge difference.
Good luck!

May I ask what his A levels are and what his relevant GCSE scores were?

Does he have any strong thoughts about careers?

Colleges are desperate to fill places. It is not unusual for them to have enrolments after gcse results day so you are definitely not too late. There are courses online and through organisations such as Princes Trust he could do in the meantime and would also suggest he retakes Englsh gcse as planned as that will increase his options and give him something to work towards.

donquixote
Maths, physics, computing
He got 8 for maths and 6 for physics and computing. He got a 9 in the programming paper for computing but did poorly on the discussions and applications paper.
It's maths he struggles with workload (but got mid 60s percent in the progress exam, despite very low attendance).

I teach a related field and have some experience with teaching autistic kids. Struggling like this is not unusual, with those grades he may find the coursework demands of a BTEC style course far harder than A levels.

We're it me, I'd be tempted to try to the three a levels over 3 years. For example: continuing with maths but doing no homework and not sitting the exams, then restarting AS next year.

I would also be agreeing very clear arrangements to address his SEN with the college. It doesn't matter whether he does well in mocks or completes all homework- all that matters is the best strategy to achieve the best final grade.

Have him do the same manageable amount of work each night, whether he has homework or not. Start prep for final exams now, but do not increase the workload before his exams.

If you do decide to jump ship, there is no need to decide now. PPs are right about applications continuing to the start of September.

My DS2 with ASD did a level 3 BTEC in IT. Colleges are normally very relaxed about application dates. They take loads of students on after GCSE results day when many don’t get the results they needed for A levels at sixth form. They are quite poorly funded and need bums on seats. They are often pretty good at supporting SEN as they tend to get the lions share of these students who didn’t quite ‘fit’ in school. He had 16 hours on his EHCP.

The BTEC is really much less stressful than A levels. DS2 got his GCSEs, just scraped English and coped perfectly fine with the assignments. He wasn’t a stellar student, because he wouldn’t do any work at home, (college was for work, home was for doing his own stuff!) but still managed the equivalent of CCD at A level.

Post 16 further education is funded for 3 years so he can start again in September for 2 more years. I’d drop school for now. Which is his best subject? Maths? That was DSs. He could have taken it to AS level if he’d wanted but preferred to just do the BTEC.

Call the college, talk to someone. The websites don’t tell the whole story. My biggest concern was that you need to keep in touch with college as they did want to treat DS as a young adult and communication wasn’t particularly forthcoming unless I asked for it.

I disagree with donquixote. The coursework for the BTEC is much less stressful than A levels IME. I have 3 DSs, DS1 at uni doing maths, DS3 at sixth form doing maths, FM and computing A levels and DS2 could not have coped doing A levels.

If you are happy to get merits with the occasional distinctions, it’s nowhere near as hard as A level. Your DS’s mental health is more important than getting brilliant results.

My friend’s DS also with ASD worked harder on his BTEC than my DS, and got into Portsmouth university. His offer was for MMM, equivalent to CCC at A level. He actually did better than this but is really happy at Portsmouth. My DS isn’t up to living away from home but is happily doing an HNC in computing locally. (first year at uni equivalent) and should progress to the HND next year.

donquixote what about the coursework do you think is harder in a btec?

My son understands everything he has been taught. He just can't handle the volume of work being thrown at him.

What I don't want to do is move to a simpler course with just as much volume of work. He needs a reduction in volume, not conceptual complexity.

What to do?!

Floating, a BTEC has assignments which are marked at different levels. To get a pass, you need to answer and meet all the pass criteria. To get a merit, you need to answer and meet all the merit criteria and all the pass criteria, etc, so to get to the distinction* level you need to have included all the pass, merit, distinction criteria. It is more volume to get to the higher grades. Each assignment will have a variety of criteria which can be met. But if your DS will plod through it and work consistently it’s doable.

I don’t think there is anything like a slower paced but academically difficult equivalent qualification. D D D in BTEC is equivalent to A A A in UCAS points. Some Russell group unis don’t accept them but many other universities do.

It’s a difficult choice but you may have to accept that your DS can’t manage the stress of school sixth form A levels. Alternatively could he find a more relaxed sixth form to start A levels again? Some colleges of further ed do A levels as well.

Would he and the school accept him going back to lessons for the rest of the year but not doing the homework. Just being in lessons and taking notes might give him the mental break needed to start afresh next year with a bit of a head start?

He has an EHCP, the school could call it reasonable adjustments for his mental well-being?

what about the coursework do you think is harder in a btec?

I'm not saying this applies to all students with ASD. The advantage of the BTEC is that it spreads the workload over the year, rather than a single terminal assessment point. The intellectual challenge of the BTECs are certainly lower for the subjects you mention (though comparable in places). Many, many students find BTECs easier- IME usually the ones who are bright, practical and hardworking but have difficulty with very abstract ideas really shine on BTECs.

I'm thinking of a particular student I taught last year who had both ASD and real problems with written communication- he couldn't parse the complex questions but mathematically and conceptually he was outstanding. He'd have been great on A-level Maths and Physics, but didn't quite get the GCSE grades. He has really struggled on the BTECs because long independent prose is not his thing- he needs closed questions.

I would suggest that (in theory) the written load of BTECs is much larger than the A-level exams. Of course that ignores the huge amount of class and homework to get good enough to sit the exams; but the way that work is set can be substantially adapted- the BTEC assignments cannot.

What to do?!

Can he work independently through a series of assignments to meet deadlines- explaining ideas in his own way to meet success criteria? If so the BTECs may well be much less pressured.

Does he need more structure and 'traditional' teaching but he's good at closed questions, particularly difficult maths? If so the A-levels might be better if you can make it work.

donquixote

That student is my DS exactly. He can write highly accurate code, he has no problem with concepts and the maths required in physics. He cannot answer extended or open questions. He would do loads better on a very difficult technical exam than on a "soft" question which can be answered with what I might call bullshit and waffle - for example, one that asks about the negative aspects of social media or the environmental impact of rapid changes in technology. That sort of question he cannot do at all.

So an "easier", "less stressful/ challenging" course is much harder for him, ironically. If he could have a fiendishly difficult set of closed questions he'd be fine.

He has (up to now) had poor self discipline. He did no work at all for his "good" subjects at GCSE. Autistic logic.

Apprenticeship?

He could start a btec in September and continue Maths A level (so do it over 3 years) .

...but it's his inability to cope with the workload and pace of the maths in particular that has brought about this crash.

He could do it, if he had less volume of work.

God this education system is so depressing if you aren't an NT middle class child.

But maybe knowing he has a third year to do it, and consolidating some of the areas he has already started at college, might help him cope better. The new Maths A level curriculum is high pressure though and wording of questions different to previous syllabus.

I'm currently tutoring a student in his first year of A level maths - the start of the year was a shock to him by how much work was expected. I think for most students I'd say the key to achieving at maths was largely down to doing enough regular practice.

You've got an unusual situation where achievement has been good despite less working-through-examples than typically asked for. It sounds like putting the right support in place for the teachers to see that he is doing "enough work for him" is the key, rather than dropping out if a way of helping him can be found.

Can he get a writer for some of his work? I wonder if doing 2 questions himself and having someone else write for him for another 5 or 10 questions, would be any help to him? Goodness knows how the logistics of such work work of course. Can his GCSE maths teacher talk to his A level maths teacher(s) about what used to work?

Doing it over an extra year sounds good too.

Good luck finding something he can cope with properly.

My DS has Aspergers. He had an autistic spectrum TA who helped him with managing his time and going his homework. For GCSE he did all his homework in school time. For A level he did a mix (as he'd got his head around it by then)

I also found for his GCSEs I had to do him a timetable for his revision and literally had to sit with him while he revised and keep on him going for the required time . I did loads and loads of pass papers with him and he learnt how to write many of the answers word for word )"(he has a big problem with explaining context). In the end he got 100% for a number of his science papers!

Sounds like your son needs more support to me and agree with perhaps considering doing m the A levels over 3 years. A levels are more likely to suit an ASD mindset I think than vocational courses.

What are the school doing to:
-help him manage his time and plan his workload/homework?

• Could he do homework in school time with a TA?
• help him with exam technique including understanding the question - a lot of passing exams is knowing the key to what they are looking for - my son learns this by rote using clues from the question.

Does he have a prompter? (my son had one for distractions and for ensuring he stayed on track in his answers and to check he had read the question properly). She also used to take him out for a walk part way through if he was getting too anxious or overwhelmed.

My son also used to take exams in his own on a private room (due to distracting himself and others) plus he got extra time. I would argue for all of this if he doesn't have it already.

With all of the above my DS has 11 GCSEs above C grade and 3 Cs at A level in 2 years. He is now at uni and having had the support can now manage a lot better himself. He's on track for a good 2:1 or a first. It's amazing what he right support can do!

That student is my DS exactly.

Your comments about the disparity on the computing exam seemed very familiar with a number of students I've taught over the years (though I'm certain this particular kid had larger communication issues than your son). That said it is very hard to give useful advice on a child you don't know, so the following is the mildest of suggestions for you to take only what's useful, if it seems like it might be:

1. Apprenticeship? No.

1. Put your foot up his bum to the limit he can manage and keep it at that level. If he does an hour a night he may still pass. If he does two, he'll probably be fine. Start really controlled and try to build routine and independence, so (ideally) he can do it himself by this time next year. Keep the exact same timetable each week in much the same way MiniMum97 suggests above.

1. his inability to cope with the workload and pace of the maths in particular Stop doing it. He does as much as he can manage each night and he focuses on past paper questions.

You download lots of past papers from his spec. Each week he reads or watches videos about the next topic coming up and an old topic, the he answers some random past paper questions, marks them himself and looks up what he got wrong. Within that ideally he does as much HWK as possible but the bits in bold are what will really work.

Most importantly he stops when his stress level rises and he does not try to cram for exams.

1. You keep going on either 2 or 3 subjects until the AS exams and see what he gets. Ideally keep him attending the lessons for the third as described in my PP but assume it will take 3 years. The college will moan but you go in with a clear plan and argue hard (waaa- discrimination, equality act). Make sure he is sitting external AS exams so he gets something for this year.

If he doesn't get at least good grade Ds on the AS exams, then do not continue- it isn't worth it. Look at plan B after the results are out.

1. This summer he works like he's still at college and he aims to learn next years stuff in advance. You'll be amazed how well this works.