Dd just out of hospital after a couple of rubbish years. Is she better off doing all the GCSE assessments or not?

[H00laH00p2]

She’s on strong new medication. Has had a horrendous 3 weeks and coming to terms with a lot. She has had a rubbish couple of years with 4 other admissions.. At a grammar school and has been told 6th form not a problem. Had an exam today which doesn’t seem to have gone well. I know she’s struggling to focus and struggled to study in hospital. Exam plan was all up in the air. She’s keen to do all the assessments but is she shooting herself in the foot if unable to do that well at the moment ? Data must be all over the place as missed a lot of assessments and school. I think doing them would be useful to get back into the groove for A levels but not if they have a negative impact on GCSEs.

So has school given her a guatanteed place at 6th form regardless of GCSE results?. If she is aiming for Uni, they look at GCSE results. It seems like her school understand her given the A level position and so actually the way in which her year is being assessed can work in her favour. If she is well, she should do the assessments, provided that she stays well doing these. This of course depends if school/stress will have a detrimental impact on her. Only you, her and her medical team know that.

She is physically well but on a heavy duty medication that is impacting her focus. She has had a massive 3 weeks mentally. Missed loads previously, was unable to work in hospital
In the run up and is now coping with a lot since. She has had extra exams to catch up on too. Will her not doing well in these new assessments drag down the data they already have if worse?

Yes she is aiming for uni. Yes it appears 6th form place is safe.Not a lot I can do if they look at gcse results.

I've worked in Sixth Form. I've never known any kid being given a place unconditionally. Recognising the rough time your daughter has had, how in depth has your conversation been with school as to how she will cope in Sixth Form? What subjects is she aiming to do? Are these subjects that require cumulative knowledge, such as maths, sciences and languages, or is she planning to do other subjects that are less reliant on this such as English, or a subject new to her? A levels are hard and the workload relentless.Is she ready for this?
With the move to linear A levels and the scrapping of A/S levels at the end of year, universities put so much weight on GCSE results, so her assessments will matter, whenever she takes them. You may need to look at the long term picture as well.

Yes I echo what @Changemyname18 said; A levels are really hard and I would wonder how well she will be able to do.

What A levels does she have in mind? If they are things that rely on GCSE to give a head start, as, yes, MFL, maths, sciences, also art, music, tech, then it will be perhaps hard for her.

Yes unis will look at GCSE grades. They have nothing else firm to go on. It's not the end of the world if they are tip-top as long as she is not thinking of Oxford, but it may be an issue.

TBH only you and the school and your DD can really decide this.

They’ve said repeatedly she is absolutely not to worry about sixth form. Considering what she has been through I think they’d be shitty not to. She wants to do sciences and history. It’s not her fault she has been poorly. Being ill won’t change her competence. Re GCSEs we can’t change the situation. Don’t think she’d be failing any as old data didn’t indicate that I just want to know if doing assessments now that aren’t great will be counter productive to her predicted grades.

Will they be able to give her GCSE grades at all if she doesn’t sit the assessments?

Surely a fair few this year won’t have had the best grades or year 11.They surely won’t all be not worthy of doing Alevels.

Good point Noble. Don’t know how it works.

That's the question you need to ask the school then. I'd be assuming no assessments = no GCSEs due to inadequate data, especially as you say she has missed a lot of school and assessments.

Ok. Have emailed. Looking like doing all the assessments is necessary then.

It all seems very vague.

She isn’t keen on repeating the year. Also ASC in the mix so staying with who she knows important to her. Could ask when dust has settled if it’s something she wants to consider even though I know the answer. Would it be worth it?

Schools are looking at each student case by case. They should be aware of medical needs of student and should be taking illness into account if not 100% of day of assessments. Also if some assessments include topics studied when she was ill this bit should not be taken against her. Discuss all of this with exams officer to make sure aware

You definitely need to explicitly ask the school whether they will be able to give any grades at all if she doesn't sit (and whether they will be passing grades if they can tell you that.)

My DD is in a similar though not quite as bad situation. DD's school seem so much more flexible and on the ball than so many others, we're really lucky.

Your DD would have to resit Maths & English Language so they might be worth taking if school can't current guarantee a pass based on previous work.

She’s well enough to do them but just concerned if doing assessments now will pull down grades further. That said it’s been a pants couple of years. I’m so proud of her as she’s plodding on even though handling a huge amount mentally and physically. Not doing them hasn’t even occurred to her. It’s just me wondering if she’s shooting herself in the foot. Sounds like they’re necessary though so.

They aren't necessarily necessary.
Talk to your school.

DD's school is setting 'safety net grades' at some point below which they cannot go, even if they have an off day on the later assessments. Designed to reduce stress.

I'd ask the school what they advise.

I wouldn't worry too much about the GCSE results as regards university entry. The main thing they'll be interested in is her A-levels. Her school reference will no doubt cover the fact that her GCSE results don't reflect her ability, and she could also address that in her personal statement. (Rather than say "my GCSEs are rubbish because", it would be better to say "I had a prolonged period of ill health, and missed much of my GCSE courses. As I had to catch up missed content in order to start A-levels, I needed good self-motivation and independent study skills to do this over the summer." - You can probably put it much better, but you see what I mean - big up what she learned from it that will make her a better student.)

That's a really good point from @lanthanum, if she can put together a good explanation of poorer GCSE grades and say what she learned from that on her PS that would be good.

MN in general seems to set high store by top GCSE grades and suggest you can't get into uni without all 7-8-9 but that's just not true, don't worry too much. Obviously higher grades may encourage a better offer but it really only has a major impact for Oxfird and Cambridge.

My point about A levels was not that people would not be able enough, more that a lot if missed GCSE content for some subjects could have a big impact.

I had a student a couple of years ago who was unable to sit any GCSEs at all due to medical problems. However, her A level work was exceptional and she got a place at a top RG university. Unis know that some students have well documented reasons for poor / exceptionally poor performance at GCSE and will take that in to account when making offers.

Hi @H00laH00p2!

A slightly longer perspective which might offer something positive: my daughter was at a grammar school and is at Cambridge now; she knows several girls who have faced tough physical or mental health challenges, including hospital stays and missing significant chunks of schooling and/or university studies. They have all come through it. It's just a question of precisely when they eventually settle. They have all become strong and all done really well.

Schools and examiners are often good in such situations. Cambridge Admissions Tutors, for one, are realists and very experienced with such students. They would advise you to focus on health and believe that the rest will work out academically, especially for a girl at a selective school.

How are you yourself with it all?

My best to you both!