School not going well - what options should I be looking at?

[SoTiredNeedHoliday]

We're in the start of the GCSE phase and i had always thought A levels would be a no brainer and then possibly university or maybe a college course.....
However what if things are not looking that way?

School is not 'fun' for them and they are not achieving the grades (despite complete family support and excellent support at school) it's like they just don't want to be there in a classroom.

What options should I be considering and looking into?

IF it turns out A levels are not the best way to go I want to be prepared with some positive options to move forward with.

No idea on career goal as yet but we are talking about it.

Research local Further Education Colleges in the same way you would a secondary school. Go to an open evening and look at the BTEC courses on offer. To get onto a BTEC level 3 your son will need 4 GCSE's to include Maths and English. If he is showing any signs of not passing either Maths or English I would look into getting a tutor. If he is not enjoying school I would guess he will be very resistant additional workbooks at home. After the BTEC he could look at an apprenticeship or university. I would also encourage him to get a part-time job. Taught hours reduce post sixteen so you could be looking at 3 days in college 2 days 'at home' - it is the same with A level but this tends to be timetabled across the week. If he needs focus then a part time job on those 2 days would be useful

catndogslife and TeenPlusTwenties thank you very much for the information re the T Levels, I hadn't even heard about them! How do you find out so much information? Is my school just really poor at communicating or am I missing being on a Forum / Mailing List or something else?
There is a lot I have to read & consider after all the help provided on this chat!! thanks.

@SoTiredNeedHoliday I’m collecting all the revision videos/online options in the hope that these will make revision easier. Ds spends half his life watching YouTube and he does seem to take stuff in that way.

Primrosekitten and freesciencelessons are good according to dd. I saw CGP maths buster advertised - anyone know if that’s any good?

PaulGalico thank you for the reminder that he does need to get the 4 GCSE's to consider a BTEC level 3. We are working on it, He could easily achieve that and more if he tries..... it's all about motivation, he just seems to not have any!

One of my concerns about BTECs/T Levels is the type of student they attract. This sounds snobby, but I’ve heard from one or two on such courses that some of the students mess around/aren’t motivated and there’s a high drop out rate. I worry that ds doesn’t have the intrinsic motivation to work without peer pressure.

Having said that, over 20 years ago my brother, who’s not dissimilar to my ds, insisted on going to an FE college, although it was to do A Levels. His whole group were either lower ability than him and/or very mature students. He ended up doing better than me and better than anyone expected. I think he enjoyed being a high flier there.

Pleased to hear my advice is appreciated @SoTiredNeedHoliday.
T levels are indeed being trialled in some areas so may or may not be a possibility for your ds. Personally I think that similar trials should have taken place before the new 9-1 GCSEs were introduced as well.
Sixth form colleges usually offer a mixture of A levels and BTECs (or their equivalents).

My DD1 did a BTEC and it was a huge learning curve (BTEC parents are underrepresented on MN for a start). I ran a 'BTEC Support Thread' on this board which if you search for it (under name TeenAndTween I think) has some info about how they operate and are graded.

T levels were in the papers for about 1 day when announced. I had forgotten all about them until cats mentioned them.

re 'Type of Student'. I think that is a fair comment to some extent. But there are plenty of lazy kids doing A levels, and hard working but not academic doing BTECs too. I think it is luck of the draw.

CrayCrofter I also have concerns about the 'type' of student doing BTEC's at some institutions but if the A levels are too much pressure (all one exam at the end) and BTECs offer a course that is interesting I am hoping that this might lead DS to 'focus' and be engaged in his studies/future.
I know people where the child has done A levels because they thought BTEC's were a 'lesser' qualification and now the friends that did the BTEC's are far outshining the A level students as they studied in a format that suited them and focused on a subject they liked.

It's a tough one!

I don't think the thing about the "type" of students on BTECs is necessarily true- to get onto a level 3 BTEC, students will have to have passed 5 GCSEs or equivalents. Although that's not a super high bar, it's something most students will have to put some effort into achieving unless they have a very high ability and have completely slacked off.

Students have also chosen the BTEC and so are usually more interested in the subject/area than they are in something they have effectively been forced to do e.g. GCSE Science.

I teach science in a school, including Applied Science BTEC to Y12- many students have chosen this because they want to go on to do something like a healthcare course or sports science at uni, but would struggle with the demands of A-level Biology. Most of my students are engaged and will work hard in lessons- some need quite a bit of chasing about coursework, though! These students have chosen to stay on at school though- although part of that is travel time to the nearest college! I would describe most of my BTEC students as hardworking middle ability.

English and maths retake classes do tend to have behaviour issues though, so if you can possibly get him through them first time around that would probably be a good thing.

From what you have said about your DS, it sounds like he might enjoy the coursework elements of a BTEC and as you rightly say it puts much less pressure on the final exam. He could also choose to mix and match BTECs and A-levels- a lot might change over the next 2/3 years.

BTECs are widely accepted at most unis for a range of courses, including some more accademic ones. AFIAK, the big exception is Computer Science, where many unis want A-level Maths alongside whatever other qualifications you take.

Also, to add, your school may well do an information evening/open evening if they have sixth form- but this will mainly target Y11 parents. A lot of people aren't thinking about post-16 options any earlier!

If you have a local college, getting a prospectus from them might give you an idea as to the sorts of things that are available?

Many thanks SansaSnark your comments are really helpful. I think that I need to look into the Btec's really well. As Ds is not someone that copes really well under huge pressure the format of the A levels I feel right now just won't suit him, he won't be able to show his true ability. The Btec style seems to be a way to let him achieve more over time.

I have to think of post 16 now as I had always just assumed smooth sailing gcse then straight to A levels and uni - but the path for DS is not looking as straight forward as that so I want to be prepared with knowledge should we need to deviate to a new 'path'