My daughter's a level teacher just threatened

[LNSL]

not to even enter her for her a level exam. Seems a little harsh no? She's in the lower sixth. Got an E on a recent test, which I thought was decent enough.

What do you think to this?

No, and this really pisses me off. The same thing happened to me years ago when I was in school. I had only done one term of A Level French which is a huge jump from GCSE level and was then expected to do most of a mock full À Level exam in January. I also got an E and then got called into the deputy head to be asked if I wanted to drop the subject and carry on with just 2 A Levels. I was a bolshy self righteous sort of student and told them absolutely not and went on my way but my friend actually dropped out of school after the same chat. I ended up getting a B nearly 18 months later at the actual exams and after I’d had that much extra chance to learn the language!

Depending on the subject, it could be exactly the same for your DD and I am amazed that schools don’t offer more help rather than immediately asking you to drop the subject.

@SleepingStandingUp many subjects are not taught at GCSE for example psychology, politics, economics, philosophy.

@Rowenasemolina that might be true for a science subject but for arts and humanities it’s more a gradual build up of skills in essay writing source assessment etc. My ds1 would have scored a D in January if year 12 he got an A five terms later .

Why is she (why has the school permitted her to) studying a subject at a level that she's never studied before? She's being set up to fail surely

Some subjects don’t have a GCSE , so it’s perfectly normal to start a new subject at A level. If all the students on the course are getting Es then you could have a point - but if others are doing well despite disrupted learning, then it will be more to do with the student.
I teach A level and we have most of the classes getting A/B. The few who are getting Es and below are mainly students who probably shouldn’t be doing A level.

Why is she (why has the school permitted her to) studying a subject at a level that she's never studied before

Might be something like psychology, philosophy or economics that people don’t usually study at GCSE?

@sleepingstandingup plenty of A Levels can be taken without having being studied before. Most schools don't offer gcse economics for example, but economics a level is popular. Similar with pysch, sociology, politics etc. And some others don't need Gcse, many schools will let you do geography with no prior qualification, for example.

@SleepingStandingUp

I did a crash higher in physics. Studied chem and biology at standard grade and then went on to do higher for those in 5th year. In 6th year I did a crash higher of physics, never studied it before but thought why not, might as well get a higher in all of them.
It's fine if you've got the academic chops to do it. If you dont, then it's a waste of time.

Still no answer from the OP about what the teacher has actually said!

Sorry, just liking "academic chops" @WhereverIGoddamnLike, and imagining my dog eating a book.

Did she get higher grades at GCSE than expected? There was some grade inflation last year so she may have been impacted by that. Some students starting A-Levels this year may not actually be suited for them

I strongly suspect that they are worried about their league tables. This subject tends not to get grades any lower than a C.

I got BCC at A level. Went to my first choice Russell group uni. I've had a fulfilling career so far.

My husband failed his A levels twice. He was v bright but lazy and eventually got to uni via a HND. He has had a wonderful career - v exciting job with loads of perks and is a v high earner.

Academics aren't everything.

Op there are some very harsh comments on this thread. If you set aside the issue of the grade for a moment, is she enjoying the subject and is she learning? Are we educating to pass exams, or educating to encourage enjoyment in learning. She has only done this for one term. If she is really not thriving/enjoying then fair enough, but maybe she just needs some time and encouragement from her tutor. You might like to tell her there was a specific paper on one of my A levels which I found very difficult. I got 15% in the mock A level - 4 terms in. Got a B in that paper at A level - suddenly I got it - with help from a lovely teacher.

My first boyfriend sat A levels at the same time as me, having repeated the year due to not turning up. Instead of answering the questions, he sat and stared in front of him for every exam, except for the one where he answered two and a half questions before he gave up.

He got two Us and, for the one where he got as far as a third of the way down the second page of the booklet, he got an E.

That's the level of performance that gets an E grade after 18 months of not studying; if somebody can't get above that for an end of unit question when it's all fresh, it could well be better to start thinking about alternative pathways.

A decade plus at school and three years at university taught me that grades are all a load of wank at the end of the day.

I messed up an exam in my AS year and got a D. Got an overall A in everything at the end of the A level year with full marks in four out of six modules. One E isn't the end of the world if she's willing to work really hard to improve.

That said, I'd be pretty concerned about any of my A Level pupils in Y12 getting an E, even at this stage, so it's worth having a discussion about how suited she is to it.

You think an E is a decent mark. Why encourage your child to aim so low. No wonder the teacher doesn’t want to enter her for exams.

Unfortunately if you have an"e" on a cv its not going to do you any favours. She might be better to drop the subject and focus on others.
Dont be afraid to press the school on what they are doing to help her

An E is a poor grade. She needs to try harder.

Is it just me that thinks this shouldn’t be the schools choice? Surely it makes a mockery of league tables if the school get to banish all of the failing students? What happened to learning for the joy of it, rather than exam results? Or believing in students? (Especially right now)! Are we really saying only young people expecting to pass exams can even sit them, and if so, why? I’d have been fucked. As it is I have a distinction at Masters, but I had to fight dyslexia, and Alevels were a nightmare. I did really badly on paper, but the things I learned, and the joy of the knowledge formed my choices and paths going forward.
I really don’t think the schools league table is the thing that needs protecting here.....

Academics aren’t everything?
How else do you suggest the teachers assess the students for A levels.
She’s working below the expected level. How can you expect the teacher to ignore that??

To be fair your BCC would be equivalent to ABB these days - grades have increased a lot!

[quote Peaseblossom22]@SleepingStandingUp many subjects are not taught at GCSE for example psychology, politics, economics, philosophy.

@Rowenasemolina that might be true for a science subject but for arts and humanities it’s more a gradual build up of skills in essay writing source assessment etc. My ds1 would have scored a D in January if year 12 he got an A five terms later .[/quote]
I dont know about the others but you absolutely can do psychology at GSCE. My DCs bog standard comp has always offered it.

@LNSL

not to even enter her for her a level exam. Seems a little harsh no? She's in the lower sixth. Got an E on a recent test, which I thought was decent enough.

What do you think to this?

FGS. Back the teacher up.

I've just seem an email from a HOD where a year 13 had scored less than 15% and isn't engaging and the parents are backing the school with putting their entry- and we are private.

School need evidence -if the one bit of evidence is E and the others are U U U that student needs a HUGH kick up the bum -apply YOUR foot there and help
Grade are A B C D E U
ie any lower no grade.

*pulling their entry even -that what the student has been told!

Although on top you could email the head and say you are concerned that they are manipulating results by refusing less able students to apply.
Whatever people's opinion on the grade this isnt fair on them.

I think the teacher is being harsh, and probably just trying to get your DD to try a little harder. E isn't a great grade, at the end of two years study, but after just one term there is still plenty of time for improvement.