Will my Year 9 DC be studying KS3 or KS4? Can anyone help me understand this please?

[Chaotic45]

My son is currently in Y8, so moving into Y9 for the next academic year.

His remote learning provision has been really really poor. I have taken this up with the school and I really do not want to begin any kind of teacher bashing thread.

His head of year has told me he genuinely does not feel that pupils will be able to catch up, he is not confident that Y9 will be back in September and he would encourage me to use any time I have available to home school DS using revision guides, bitesize, Corbett maths.

I've found some great info on mumsnet and elsewhere about online courses and other resources but I'm not clear as to whether once he's in Y9 DS should be studying the KS3 or 4 curriculum?

I know that his science teacher feels they have completed the KS3 curriculum. He says the work he has set during lockdown is, as such, at GCSE level- unfortunately it has been extremely difficult to follow and sporadic so not very helpful.

So, where do I start with knowing at what level to look for resources? Any help would be very gratefully received.

In year 9 he will still be at KS3. KS4 starts as he commences his GCSE subject choices in year 10, working towards the final exams in year 11.
My dd is in KS4 so I’m not sure if it is relevant for KS3 but she works from Seneca and it has been very, very good. We did have to pay for some of the subjects but I believe the English and maths were free.

KS4 is the GCSE syllabus so it will depend on whether he will start those. That said, even if he is starting the GCSE syllabus it makes sense to properly consolidate (or learn...) what he should know up to now so I'd concentrate on covering KS3.

If he hasn't yet selected his GCSEs he will be KS3, if he has then KS4 - it depends on the school.

However:

For maths it doesn't matter - just pick something at the level he is at.

For science, even if he hasn't picked options they may well be starting the GCSE curriculum as there is so much to cover. Seneca online is pretty good for science, or just get a GCSE science foundation revision guide and go through some basics (eg cells, structure of atom, gravity)

Ask the school which exam board they use for GCSE science and buy the KS4 books for that. If your DS has a clear idea of which GCSE options he will take in year 10 you could also buy the relevant KS4 text for those subjects (eg, geography, history, languages).