What happens if your Y11 DC is too unwell to take their GCSE exams?

[katalex]

DC has not been in full time school since November last year due to poor mental health. This has been a mixture of sick time and part time timetable and they were unable to engage with online learning during lockdown. As a result, they are now very behind in their studies. They have missed an entire history topic and was present for only half of one of the other topics. I have been told that they will have finished covering the history curriculum by Christmas and will move onto revision in the new year. In English, DC is only part-way through one of the books and has not even started the Shakespeare book. They missed a huge number of maths and science lessons in year 10. They have been moved down from higher to foundation maths, which they should be able to pass with some revision. They may be able to pass their photography GCSE due to the amount of coursework they have already done and there is no exam.

DC has received a diagnosis and will shortly start receiving treatment but it may be a long time before we can get them back into school, if at all. They keep saying they will try to do some work at home but they struggle to focus and get motivated and it is looking more and more likely that they will not have covered enough of most of the subjects to make it worth taking the exams at all.

I've looked at local colleges and they only do maths and English GCSE so what can we do? Are schools obliged to let students repeat year 11 or will we have to home-school?

Don't deregister, it is easier to get support whilst on a school's roll.

The LA will provide home tuition if necessary or online. It isn't always within a school, hospital or group. The LA shouldn't be putting additional hurdles in place. The guidance (which Saracen linked to) specifically states they must not delay providing support because consultant evidence isn't available, they should look at other sources e.g. the GP.

If you apply for an EHCP and are successful you can name EOTAS which can include home tuition. Or maybe internet school if that would work.

We're not considering deregistering until we've exhausted all other options. If it's possible for DC to be educated by LA-provided tutors next year to repeat year 11 then that would be a good option. I've been looking into online schooling but they would have to repeat year 10 because the texts/topics studied in subjects like English and History are different to what they have been studying in their current school. It's not ideal but, if it's a choice between having to go back to their school or online schooling, they would choose the latter.

Sadly, the statutory duty to provide education to those medically unfit for school doesn't extend to post 16. Therefore most LAs won't provide medical needs tuition beyond CSA, in order to secure home tuition post 16 you would need an EHCP. The advantage of an EHCP is it can include other therapies & support too.