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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Advice on repeating a year

32 replies

Whocouldthatbe · 07/03/2022 21:09

I wonder if someone with more knowledge of how the school system works could advise ?

My daughter is 15 she will be 16 in August.
She attends an independent girls school in London, it's one of the top academically.
She is due to sit her GCSES this year. She has become very stressed in recent weeks and I am very worried about her mental health. It's not just the exams , we have been through a very tough time as a family recently. She has coped admirably but I want to help as much as possible.

I have not spoken to her school yet and I don't know how they will react.. Will it affect her future , particularly university etc , I know this will be the first question she asks me .

Thank you all in advance.

P.S . I have also posted in Education but I thought perhaps there may be someone with advice here.

OP posts:
lanthanum · 07/03/2022 23:09

I think things have got to be pretty bad to consider changing year group, having to forge a new set of friends, etc. It's not the end of the world if the results are not quite as good as they might have been.

ImNotWhoYouThinkIam · 07/03/2022 23:13

DS1 changed schools and then dropped back a year. It was an easy process at my end but I believe the school has quite a fight with the lea/department for education (I'm not sure who's decision it was).

For him it was the best thing we could do, although we went into lockdown just after he moved year groups so it was all a bit weird in the end.

BadHairDayExpert · 07/03/2022 23:15

If the school will back you and allow it then do it - it is normal in France and Germany. It either means omitting a gap year later on and starting uni aged 19 alongside those that did do a gap year, or starting degree aged 20.

Original poster
Whocouldthatbe · 07/03/2022 23:16

@ImNotWhoYouThinkIam what year was your son in ?

OP posts:
Original poster
Whocouldthatbe · 07/03/2022 23:20

@BadHairDayExpert will it have any affect on university application ?

OP posts:
Ulelia · 07/03/2022 23:31

No impact on uni apps at all in the UK. Slightly impact if she might apply elsewhere, e.g. the US.
You're going to have to talk to the school though. Its a huge thing in the UK, far less common than in France and Spain, for example. Many schools won't allow it unless absolutely necessary, such as having missed 6 months due to illness. This is for a good reason; it's extremely hard for the child to go into a lower year group and not take a massive hit to their self esteem. It can also be bad for attainment, as they 'coast' for a year and then find it hard to pick up the effort. Unless she's likely to fail (and I mean truly fail) her GCSEs, you might be better accepting a not amazing set of results concentrating on great A Levels and ensuring the GCSEs are explained in the UCAS reference when paying for uni.

londonmummy1966 · 07/03/2022 23:37

DC1 did this for year 9 but with a change of school - also an August birthday. No impact whatsoever on university applications. I think it would be very difficult to do in the same school as there is bound to be someone who'd bitch.

Original poster
Whocouldthatbe · 07/03/2022 23:41

@Ulelia no she won't fail, her results just won't be what she wants for her choice of university.
She won't put the reason on the UCAS for, that I do know for sure. Thank you for the advice , there is no easy answer.

OP posts:
ImNotWhoYouThinkIam · 08/03/2022 00:52

DS was in year 11 and dropped back to repeat year 10. He's also an August baby and highly likely has undiagnosed ASD.

SometimesRavenSometimesParrot · 08/03/2022 01:07

What is her university choice? GCSEs generally don’t matter that much to unis for her to repeat a year…

Original poster
Whocouldthatbe · 08/03/2022 01:29

@SometimesRavenSometimesParrot
She hopes to apply for Oxford, Imperial and UCL.
Her school also sends girls to the US and she talked about that.

OP posts:
Original poster
Whocouldthatbe · 08/03/2022 01:46

@londonmummy1966 this is a worry for me. She won't want to change school , she has been through so much and has coped so well under the circumstance.She has been my rock and I want to do everything I can to help..She will worry about what people think , I know that.

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BendingSpoons · 08/03/2022 07:18

This is an independent school so they can make the decision themselves and don't need to involve the LA (unless you move schools). They are likely to be a bit more open to it, especially for an August birthday. However it's a tricky time. Are you thinking of pulling her out of this year's GCSEs or sitting them anyway?

Original poster
Whocouldthatbe · 08/03/2022 07:26

I was thinking of pulling her out @BendingSpoons and sitting them next year.

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TeenPlusCat · 08/03/2022 07:30

I think that at an indie and an August birthday she could 'get away' with repeating y11 and no one would even notice provided she doesn't sit some this year.
She would have to be fully on board with it though, and you would have to also be getting her help for her MH too.
If you were doing that I'd suggest considering moving to y10 after Easter so avoiding all the revision hype?

titchy · 08/03/2022 07:33

What's the likely result differential? 9s to 7s? Or 9s to 4s?

GCSEs won't make any different for UCL or Imp. Taking a year out after A levels would be another strategy and playing with A levels in hand.

Your biggest issue though will be that next years grade boundaries will be increased compared to this years, so what would have got a 9 this year will get a 7 or 8 this year. So she would prob end up with the same results.

titchy · 08/03/2022 07:53

Sorry - the same result of 9 this year would be a 7 or 8 NEXT year.

hockeygrass · 08/03/2022 07:58

Yes I agree with Titchy, the grade boundaries are going to change next year. You need to speak to the school as they will have a view re this too, they won't want a student sitting who won't gain grades re their full potential but on the other hand they know this year is different to next.

Original poster
Whocouldthatbe · 08/03/2022 08:03

@TeenPlusCat she had help along with me and my other children. She has experienced something no child should have to go through. I don't want to go into details on a public post. She wanted to go back to school and carry on but she is struggling now.

I want to protect her at the moment. I am worried about her during the exam period. I'm not sleeping at the moment which doesn't help with making this decision
@tichy
She will still get some 9's but not all , I see your point about next year. A year out after A level might be a good idea , will all universities be open to her once she has A level's ?. Do you know which other universities look more at GCSES or is it just Oxford?

OP posts:
LIZS · 08/03/2022 08:11

A solid ps and A levels can overcome any blips in gcse. If she can still sit gcses and still get 9/8s I doubt a school will let her resit. They can submit extenuating circumstances and request access arrangements where relevant so a better conversation may be around what support they can give during the revision and exam period. Would she even want to leave her cohort?

Most unis will not get too hung up over gcse results. However if she is struggling at gcse is a high pressure environment for uni the best fit? Some unis/courses prefer there is no gap between A level and uni, Maths for example.

TeenPlusCat · 08/03/2022 08:11

After your response to titchy I'm going to revise my answer.

I was thinking 7/8s down to 4s. If she is still expected to get a raft of 7+ including some 9s then I'd probably go for sticking where you are and getting them out the way. In the school UCAS reference they can say that GCSE grades were lower than anticipated due to xyz.

You say she 'had' help. Is she getting any help ongoing? I would think there would be a lot to be said for keeping some kind of counselling on until the end of the academic year at least.

titchy · 08/03/2022 08:11

No university really looks at GCSEs to be honest. Oxford may, Cam don't, and a few medicine offers may be ranked by best 8 GCSEs but that's about it.

Honestly if you still think she's going to get decent grades don't bother. Given the hike in boundaries next year she stands to lose too much.

Yes to applying after A levels - this is very welcome by all universities!

Nelliephant1 · 08/03/2022 08:15

Don't hesitate. My son went back a year, Scottish system so he repeated S5 which is his second last year of school. It was the best thing we and her ever did.

He was the youngest in his year all through school which gave us the option. He'd had a ridiculous 5th year with absent teachers, changing teachers and it was awful. He did ok but not what he wanted so he changed schools and repeated the year. It changed nothing for him in terms of uni applications etc and He got into his university of choice and four years later got his first class honours degree.

It's a one of opportunity that can make a massive difference to the way ahead.

myrtleWilson · 08/03/2022 08:15

My daughter is repeating 6th form as she came off roll during at the start of year 13 due to anorexia. Timetabling meant she couldn't just re-do year 13 this year so has started yr 12 again. She was initially anxious about being two years older and essentially finishing school aged 20. However, it has turned out all the better for her. Having already done year 12 once, it means she's got capacity in this year for eating disorder recovery wobbles.

We don't regret the decision at all, by the time she goes to University there won't be a noticeable difference with her cohort

wishing your dd (and family) a good future

bestbefore · 08/03/2022 08:20

If you speak to the school about what happened they can apply for special consideration in exam marking. My dd suffered right before her a levels and has special consideration by the exam boards