GCSEs - can bright children wing them?

[bendmeoverbackwards]

Had some problems recently with my 15 year old dd and school. She is on the autistic spectrum and had some mental health problems at the start of Year 10 (so 6 months ago) resulting in erratic school attendance. She is managing to keep up but her attendance averages around 50%.

I am obviously quite worried about GCSEs next year. She is very bright and so far has done very well at school with not too much effort. I'm wondering how she will do next year if the pattern of school attendance continues.

Some people I speak to (including my own older children!) say that GCSEs are actually not that challenging for bright students. My oldest dd did pretty well and she admitted she didn't work that hard and she is probably not as bright as my youngest.

I know my dd's health is the most important thing and that GCSEs can always be done later on but I don't think spending more time on these exams is the best thing for her. She just wants them over and done with so she can get onto the next stage.

No. They have to know the curriculum. You can be a great writer but if you don’t know the set texts how can you write well about them?

the depth of knowledge for the sciences is challenging. Have you seen the size of the textbooks? If they have amazing teachers they will cover it all but if they miss 50% of lessons how will they know the content?

I winged it for standard grades, highers and advanced highers (don't know what they are in modern speak!) I am bright enough, never needed to revise. Just went in and did it like any other bit of work. I did hit the brick wall at uni where I suddenly found I had to actually work rather than just coasting along though.
Could I have achieved better if I revised in school - yes. I came out with mostly As but a handful of Bs and one C. But the As were in the things I cared about and which mattered for the course I wanted to do. Now I work for one of the big name engineering consultancies so my winging it in school did me no harm in the long term. School grades are just a stepping stone to further education. Nobody cares that I hated history and flunked it with a C grade back in school.

It depends a lot. I was bright and missed most of 6th form and got into Cambridge University but I was capable of teaching myself at home and did lots of studying at home. My daughter has patchy attendance and very bright and expected all 8s and 9s but she studies hard at home. My son has around 50% and expecting him to fail all of them, bright the same but no work at home. The key will be can she work by herself at home and does she put the work in. It also depends which 50%, if that's non gcse subjects its more viable than if its gcse subjects.

Yes IF she spends time memorising her text books / practice papers

Much of the time spent in school is not actually that useful.

A lot of the science text books are just wordy/waffle though rather than the core facts. The CGP books are far better at GCSE level as they just concentrate on the facts. My DS got bored rigid with the "approved" text books - so we bought him CGP instead which are straight to the point, bullet points & lists instead of wordy paragraphs, etc., where specific topics are covered on a single sheet instead of several pages. The layout of the CGP books was far better for him, and even better was the fact they had the answers at the back, so he could quickly check he'd got the progress questions right, and could easily go back to understand why if he'd got anything wrong immediately (rather than waiting for the teacher to mark/hand out answer sheets). Generally a lot better for the self motivated/self study students.

Thank you all. I am trying to support her as much as possible, I have bought revision guides ensuring they are the right exam board. Her older sisters have advised her as to the best online resources. In spite of her recent struggles she WANTS to do well and is doing her best. They had (very early) end of year exams last week and she attended every day and on time. It will be interesting to see how she does. I'm just thankful the real exams are a year away, hopefully things will improve for her and she will gain in maturity in that time. She doesn't want me to help or get involved in any way so all I can do is provide the resources and support and leave her to it.

Unfortunately her Maths teacher this year (and next) is hopeless. Every time dd asks for help (which is difficult for her in itself), the teacher says she 'should' know this or asks one of the other girls to explain it. Dd is naturally very good at Maths but she feels in a worse position now than a year ago.

Is she doing any practical subjects ? My son did Food and Nutrition which required him to be in school to do his practical on a given date.

I think in your shoes I'd be most worried about getting her to school for exams because wise if she can't /won't turn up then that's a problem

DD was county/regional level in two sports and was involved in a performing arts programme which took up most of her Sundays.

Revision guides….

Worked fine, and a tip she got from the older girls. It helped that she was pretty good at maths/science so did not struggle with concepts. Not for everyone though. Others might benefit fro a tutor to help with structure.

I can also recommend Christmas and Easter Justin Craig 3 day revision courses. DD used them for English which was her weakest subject. Covering the ground quickly with an experienced teacher focussing on the exam and exam technique helped.

Have you applied for an EHCNA?

In addition to that, as DD cannot attend school full time the LA should be making alternative arrangements to provide her with a suitable, full time education under s.19 of the Education Act 1996. Are the LA providing medical needs tuition?

For you DD's maths get a good tutor or look at Corbett Maths online?

They can and frequently do at GCSE bit less so for A levels.

@AReallyUsefulEngine do you mean an ECHP? She doesn't have one currently but I am looking into applying.

I am strongly pushing private tuition to her which I am happy to pay for. She does want the tuition but really struggles with talking to people she doesn't know, it's a real challenge. I have arranged tutors in the past (with her being on board with it) but when it came to it, she just couldn't manage it.

I think it depends to a degree on the subjects and in what way the child is intelligent if that makes sense? For example, my son could have taught himself say, physics, from the books and done pretty well with munimal teaching, but English Lit? Not a chance! His brain just doesn't work that way and without a lot of input from the teacher I don't think he would have passed. He only got a 5 in the end but I think I was more proud of that than I was of the 9s he got in subjects that come easily to him.
Then there's subjects like music where there's still a significant amount of marks to be gained outside the exam, some of which involves working with other people. It could be hard to get a good grade with low attendance in some subjects like that.
But I think with the right choice of revision aids and possibly some outside tutoring it should be possible to do fairly well in most subjects. I hope things improve for your DD soon.

An EHCNA is the needs assessment you apply for before the LA decide whether they will issue an EHCP or not. IPSEA have a model letter you can use to apply on their website.

Could DD engage if tutors (you don’t have to pay the LA must arrange a suitable education) set work or with a online platform with pre recorded lessons DD can access when she feels able to?

I think (hope) so, as my dd15 (year 11) is not really doing a lot of work but got 4s to 7s in her mocks. I can't hassle her constantly about it without making her resentful. I reckon if she put some work in she could get all 7s and 8s except maths were she could maybe get a 5 (dyscalulia) but with some last minute cramming she'll probably (hopefully) achieve mostly 4-6 with the odd 7 or 8. Not ideal for future work ethic but I just hope if she's really interested in the course she's applied for at college then she will be more inclined to put in the hours.

I think so (but I’m 31 now so my advice is a bit old!). My parents didn’t care if I revised and said that I just had to pass maths English and science. My attendance was also terrible. The only subjects I revised for was maths and biology because they were the ones I enjoyed. My revision for those was doing old papers ( you see patterns of questions and topics). I still got straight As. RE I was particularly proud of as the lad I fancied told me of a movie he watched the night before and how it was linked to a bible story (something about Jesus carrying them and footprints in the sand). I wrote out that exact story for my essay on what a neighbour is and got an A. I’m sure your daughter will be fine if she is smart. I’d get her to cover broad topics though if she can and definitely do old test papers.

That's a good point too, for several subjects my dd has already completed practical / coursework elements eg music is 1/3 graded on a single performance she's already done. A child with poor attendance or who has coursework based subjects with loads missing from what they should have done wouldn't get away with it. But a 100% exam subject a bright kid could possibly get away with last minute cramming.

I think if you are really bright they are not that challenging - but you still need to know the content. No one can magic names for all the bones in the inner ear in biology if they haven't heard them for example. I'd advise her to be careful - one of mine thought they were "bright" and could "wing it" they came unstuck and admit it now.

In principle, yes. I know a lot of bright pupils who are bored out of their wits by the repetition of GCSEs. But it's not entirely straightforward either.

There are loads of online resources which really help - my DD is yr10 and finds Seneca really good. It's free and is set out for the specific exam board, so really useful.
For actually teaching herself, Khan Academy is very good, certainly for maths and sciences. But it might be worth looking at a tutor for maths, as that's where understanding where a student is going wrong is most important.

Mine were 18 years ago. I never bunked off but I also never revised. I got all A*- C.

I continue to wing everything...eventually it'll fail me 😬

I think you can, even with the new style GCSEs, but A levels will come as a hard shock if you do. DD1 admits she worked less hard than she could have done, got very good GCSEs and then really found A levels hard. She did get into her chosen uni, worked her backside off and is in with a good shot at a First now.

DD2 worked very hard at GCSE, especially in the sciences and maths where she was predicted 4-5 and got 7s. She didn't struggle so hard with A levels and is now in her first year at Uni getting really good marks. My takeaway is that developing good work habits is just a good idea if you're planning for A levels/University.

Dear OP,
With regard to the maths teaching. If you have concerns that problems with the teacher are negatively impacting on your DD then raise this with the school. My DD is very good at maths and was getting high grades in years 7,8 and 9 but a mediocre and then a very poor teacher at the end of year 9 and then year 10 really knocked her confidence. I wrote to the head of maths and expressed my concern. It turns out I was far from the only parent to raise concerns. The following week the teacher changed to the head of maths and my DD has thrived since. She is predicted a 9 and is now planning to do maths A level, which she wouldn’t entertain previously because she thought she wasn’t good enough.

Let the school know there is a problem and give them the opportunity to address it.
I can also recommend Quizlet and Seneca learning as really useful online resources for your daughter.

It depends on the subject. English Language for example yes, you can wing it. BUT most are fact based subjects - Biology, Chemistry, History, Geography, Eng Lit, the languages, Classics etc where you just have to learn the stuff. And there is A LOT of it to learn. As others have said, the CGP guides are brilliant for this. My DC is doing GCSEs this year and has spent hours and hours revising some of these subjects. Maths and Physics they need to remember equations and how/where to apply them. And whilst this year the schools have been given advance notice about SOME of the content, as well as crib sheets for the equations, next year they won't be (unless Covid rears its head again).

Those GCSEs that have a large, or total, practical aspect are already completed (Art, DT, F&N for example), and that does take some pressure off.

Would also echo a pp who recommended Quizlet and Seneca.

It depends on the subject. English Language for example yes, you can wing it. BUT most are fact based subjects - Biology, Chemistry, History, Geography, Eng Lit, the languages, Classics etc where you just have to learn the stuff. And there is A LOT of it to learn. As others have said, the CGP guides are brilliant for this. My DC is doing GCSEs this year and has spent hours and hours revising some of these subjects. Maths and Physics they need to remember equations and how/where to apply them. And whilst this year the schools have been given advance notice about SOME of the content, as well as crib sheets for the equations, next year they won't be (unless Covid rears its head again).

Those GCSEs that have a large, or total, practical aspect are already completed (Art, DT, F&N for example), and that does take some pressure off.

Would also echo a pp who recommended Quizlet and Seneca.

Some children are bright and do very well with classroom assessments throughout the year on knowledge they are currently being taught, but revision is going over all material from the full course to make sure you can recall it during an exam.

It is a test of both their "brightness" but also their work ethic. Being bright will possibly be enough to get them through lower level exams such as GCSEs with lower results that they were capable of, but it is those that develop good work ethic and study skills during this time that succeed in the next steps.