Distance learning/remote A levels

[Kishkes]

My DD is in Yr12 and suffers from a lot of anxiety related to school and exams. We live abroad and she is in an IB school so never had to deal with GCSEs. Her attendance has been awful - hardly went last year. This year is better but still a huge struggle.

She is a very able student but is underperforming due to missing so much school and all the anxiety issues. She's had to drop to IB courses from the full diploma so to continue to uni as she wnts, she'll need to do a foundation course of some kind.

Her school is amazingly supportive so changing schools is unlikely to help. The problem is her not the school.

Other relevant info is that DD wants to go to uni in UK.

So, i've been thinking, maybe remote/online/distance learning A levels could be an option? She'd probably need to do GCSE maths and english too but that should be a breeze for her to get a C equivalent at least as she is managing these subjects at SL in the IB even with her absences.

She's interested in sciences, especially Biology and Chemistry so not sure how the practical side of this would work remotely.

The advantages that I can see is that she would not have to deal with any of the school related anxiety. She has out of school friends so she would have a social life. The exam anxiety would still be there but she'd have an extra year before having to deal with it (so she'd repeat Year 12 but she might not then need to do a foundation year so that would work out the same).

Any one have any experiences with online A levels, especially in science? Any advice will be gratefully received!

What are the anxiety issues exactly?

Uni demands being social and networking, its key in self support.

Are there any online courses in work planning and time management to break the work into easier to manage chunks whilst getting back into an educational routine.

The work at uni is relentless and once behind it's difficult to get back on track, sorry to be negative but that's the reality. She needs to know that before even attempting that path.

@chocolateorangeinhaler

She'll definitely need to sort out the anxiety before uni! There's no way she could cope with uni right now. But time and therapy and support do their thing so maybe she will be able to go in the future. But it's another plus for switching to remote A levels as it'll buy us more time before exams and before she leaves for uni as otherwise she's looking at 2022 to begin a foundation year and I really don't see how she'd manage.

But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it - right now trying to figure out the best end of secondary options so she leaves with something. Uni is what she wants and she is academic and ambitious so I think it's the right thing for her (eventually) even if she needs to go part time.

It's not social anxiety, she's OK socially, but school-related anxiety - lessons, teachers etc. Plus the addition of depression

I should say that when we've had covid related school closures (thankfully not too many for us where we ive), DD has attended fully and it was much easier for her. That's also why I am thinking this might be a good option for her.

I did A Levels at home by myself, mostly with the National Extension College. Not science though, I did humanities, which I presume are easier to study like this.

I suffered from bad anxiety at school but I loved university by the way. Just because you have anxiety at one doesn't necessarily mean you will have it at the other (though obviously some people will).

@raskolnikova

I did A Levels at home by myself, mostly with the National Extension College. Not science though, I did humanities, which I presume are easier to study like this.

I suffered from bad anxiety at school but I loved university by the way. Just because you have anxiety at one doesn't necessarily mean you will have it at the other (though obviously some people will).

Good to know! I hope time and maturity will also help.

Yes, a bit worried about the practicals and lab side of the online learning but guessing that with covid there may be some innovative ways of dealign with that remotely

Could you get an online tutor if she decides to do chemistry and biology? Those are difficult to do totally alone.

Sorry to hear about the school anxiety. My Dd2 has similar tendencies but he's is now related to social anxiety, or rather a fear of getting things wrong, looking stupid in front of others, having negative attention put upon her, she doesn't like to try things in front of people until she is ashtray good at them. She's also a very sociable girl, with lots of friends and will talk the ear off strangers when she is walking the dog or getting served in a shop.But I think it stands from the same fears that drive what we think of as social anxiety.

Don't be so quick to rule out the underlying causes. Those would still be there when she gets to university and it might be better to address those before she goes, even if in the meantime she is studying from home.

Sorry for the typos. Ashtray = really

You might get some more advice if you post in the Home Ed section as I guess people there will be better informed about the practical side of doing the coursework and exams when not registered with a school.

My DS did an A level in a humanities subject after he had left school (he was 19) and it was difficult and expensive enough to meet the exam requirements for that, plus a fairly long distanced commute to take the 3 exams. I can't begin to imagine how you would do this for science subjects which have a laboratory element.

so not sure how the practical side of this would work remotely.

You need to pass the practicals to do most science based courses at university. You would need to find somewhere that can offer this.

DD is studying biomedical sciences at university, and she and her peers are really struggling with writing up lab reports about practicals when all they can do is watch a lecturer carry out the practical online.

She definitely needed a pass in both chemistry and biology practicals at A level to do this course. You will then need to find a private exam centre for your DD to sit the exams.

@Fortyfifty

Could you get an online tutor if she decides to do chemistry and biology? Those are difficult to do totally alone.

Sorry to hear about the school anxiety. My Dd2 has similar tendencies but he's is now related to social anxiety, or rather a fear of getting things wrong, looking stupid in front of others, having negative attention put upon her, she doesn't like to try things in front of people until she is ashtray good at them. She's also a very sociable girl, with lots of friends and will talk the ear off strangers when she is walking the dog or getting served in a shop.But I think it stands from the same fears that drive what we think of as social anxiety.

Don't be so quick to rule out the underlying causes. Those would still be there when she gets to university and it might be better to address those before she goes, even if in the meantime she is studying from home.

Definitely would want online tuition or lessons for her! I was hoping to get some recommendations but might try posting in the HE forum.

Not ruling out the underlying causes. DD sees psychiatrist, psychologist, is on medication etc. We take it very seriously and she has been very unwell with depression. I think the interventions are helping but progress is slow. I do think that maturity and time help a lot as well which is why I think the option of delaying external exams and uni by a year could be good for her.

www.nec.ac.uk/courses/chemistry-a-level/

This is A Level Chemistry at the NEC (as an example). I notice it says that equipment for practicals isn't included, I guess you would have to enquire about how to do them.

I'm currently studying with the OU so I am biased but it might be worth looking at. They are the experts on distance learning.

Some universities will accept OU modules, some have links where you start with the OU for 2 years then move to the second year of a course at a brick university. Loughborough and Bristol are part of this so the entry is to the second year of a degree at a good uni.

They are also supportive of special needs.

he-exams.wikia.org/wiki/Open_University#General_info_on_A-level_and_OU_unit_comparability

www.lboro.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/apply/entry-requirements/

As you are abroad, I would recommend looking at the international A levels. There are 2 providers Edexcel and Cambridge CIE. The practical requirements for the UK A level Chemistry are very demanding and expensive for private candidates. I wouldn't recommend booking or paying for any course until you have found an exam centre / made arrangements for practical work.
For A level Chemistry/Biology I do know about UK based centres that offer the practical work. One where you use labs at a local university. This is for the AQA courses.
For the international courses the amount of practical work is less but these qualifications are still equivalent for UK university courses.

I saw Pembrokeshire college offer a week long workshop to assess the practical component as part of the package. We could definitely arrange for her to go to the UK with me or DH for a week to do that (assuming there are no more covid restrictions in another year or so!)

I was looking at uni entry requirements for biology, biochemistry, molecular biology (the kind of direction dd is looking at right now) and they say you need to pass the practical if it's offered as part of your A level. Not clear if that would apply to someone abroad. I might need to get in contact with some unis to get some clarity on this.

The scheme I know about is run using university of Bristol labs.
A levels in England are slightly different to those in Wales OP. I don't think you can take the Welsh A levels if you live outside Wales.

This is the college:
online.pembrokeshire.ac.uk/online-course/alevel

Seems that the international a levels do a written exam for the practical component.
Worst case I guess she'll need to do a foundation year of some kind if the unis don't accept it but at least shel be studying and moving towards what she wants to do

Has anyone heard of Harrow School online? Is this dodgy?
www.harrowschoolonline.org/