Lower ability children and GCSEs

[Hatcat]

I don’t have any up to date knowledge of what is available to children in secondary schools so any help would be appreciated. Do children who struggle academically have any options other than GCSEs? My DC are struggling academically and it seems like a gloomy school future for them to constantly find the work too difficult.

School dependent but they often offer more vocational courses which would be BTECs. My sons’ school they have to do Maths, English, Science GCSEs but can pick other qualifications for their options. A lot more options once they get to post16.

OP. You are right. Gloomy. There are still BTECs but for whatever reason fewer schools seem to offer them these days. Even the practical subjects are very theory heavy, e.g. Food Tech.

BTECs are being phased out I thought?
Very low ability students can do functional skills instead of gcse English and maths but it’s usually 1-2 students per year who hit that criteria.

Level 3 BTECs are supposedly being phased out in favour of T-levels, no idea what is happening with level 2s. they need to leave something for the less able kids (my 18yo is on a L1 course right now.)

Best to ask the school as it varies so much.
If they offer a Level 2 BTec it’s a GCSE equivalent, so a Pass = 4.
But if they also offer a Level 1 BTec then a Distinction = 2.
Your child may be far more motivated to achieve a BTec Level 1 Distinction than a GCSE 2 (fail).

My school offer sone course like this, with option booklet stating invitation only.
www.asdan.org.uk/award-of-personal-effectiveness/

Sorry to say op that the most likely outcome is that they will have to take at least 6-7 GCSEs. Possibly a Btec in there. Foundation maths but GCSE English is not tiered and imo is ridiculously challenging for weaker students.

I had a lovely student in my form who was so stressed about her English GCSE ( which she had to take, despite SEN, no option to do functional skills oh no) that I asked her Eng teacher what she would get and was told a U or possibly a 1. I mean whaaat?

Your dc may do better than you fear tho. Ds1 is academically not very able due to a medical issue, but still got two Cs and three Ds in his GCSEs (years ago obvs). We were all very proud of him as I know how hard he worked.

Thank you for these replies. I wasn’t expecting much of a response tbh. It can be quite lonely having children who struggle academically. Parents don’t talk about it in real life. I will look into Btechs and what might be available. Their current school only does GCSEs.

@TeenDivided i hope your son enjoys his course.

@clary that poor girl. It’s so disheartening for children who aren’t academic.

I will say that I thought this wasn’t the usual “academic scholarships for well known super competitive London day schools” thread! I think sometimes this section should be renamed, because it’s not reflective of the questions of secondary school parents that I know! I can see why you feel lonely. Good luck researching options.

Our school do offer several non-GCSE alternatives. City & Guilds and BTEC's in practical subjects, Child Development, non-GCSE language options, and the ASDAN CoPE.

My son struggled with the Asdan .. he has severe dyslexia and additional
challenges.. we are forging ahead with 3 .. hopeful that he might be able to get an apprenticeship at 18 but still to be honest don't understand that all

It depends on the school, I think DSs school have a 'nurture track' where the lowest ability pupils do fewer GCSE subjects as well as some life skills type stuff.
I was looking into apprenticeships recently and they look good for post GCSE. Most that I've seen seem to want some experience, so I'd focus on that. What does your kid fancy post 16? Do some volunteering or Saturday jobs in that area. Confidence is key and this can build it up.
I'd also talk to the school, GCSE 4s in English and maths are really useful so GCSE wise those are the ones to focus on.

One of our local comps offers things like beauty and woodwork at that age. Not sure exactly what the qual is. Worth looking around for more vocational options

Our comp did that, but it was invitation only for about the bottom 20 in the year (out of 250).

@Hatcat My DD is doing Animal Care, which was always the plan, just at a lower level than originally anticipated.

My sons school do a link up with a college for some vocational courses alongside doing less gcses. But basically its gcses

DD is currently in Y10 and low ability. Severe dyslexia, language difficulties and ADHD. Has an EHCP. Her school is incredible with support so this is not a given but she's taking:
English lang
English lit
Maths
Science
DT
Music
Land studies (functional skills qualification)

This is a lot and she's unlikely to pass them all but her school did functional skills level 1 last term and she's got that in English and maths in case she fails her GCSEs. Well, they've sent off the paperwork, hopefully she's got it. The even lower ability pupils only do functional skills.
She did mocks last term (they start GCSE content in y9) and very surprisingly got a 3 in English and 2 in maths. She's predicted to fail, not even a 1. So this was very surprising. Obviously it's not a given but she does get a lot of support and things seemed to have clicked this year a bit more. She's writing and reading more but it's still at the level of about a 9 year old. She is being taught very clever exam techniques though so I guess thats helping, albeit a bit depressing that's what she's getting out of school.
Find the right school and the right kind of support that helps your child. Not everyone clicks with 1:1 tutors and sometimes for very low ability kids it can be a waste of money.

Its terrible - particularly the English and math requirements. I know a girl who has taken the foundation math three times and hasn't passed it. They keep making her take it, though her college has let her do level 3 of her course. Why (she is doing social care or similar) as it is very demoralising to keep trying. But there doesn't seem to be an alternative. She took 6 GCSEs and did below 4 in all except one English. So hard to have to get her results with all her classmates (actually she probably didn't go in).

Sometimes I think we did my DD a disservice having a tutor for Eng Lang. She ended up with a 3, which means she has to keep redoing the GCSE. Had she ended up with a 2 she might have been able to switch. She could get a 4, but would need all the stars to align.

I’m really glad you posted this. My dd is autistic and has adhd. Assessed as also having problems with memory. She attends a Sen school but they follow the national curriculum and still do GCSEs like kids in mainstream. I dread when we hit GCSEs as I know she’s going to struggle especially in Maths. I wish there were other options. Or even more coursework based than exams.

There are coarse work GCSE’s my son did one in English and passed.

Worth a look and see if it’s something your school consider .

Have a look at vcerts. My sons school offer them in some subjects and they count to progress 8. You could lobby they offer those?

Thank you everyone. Well done to all the parents and children doing their best trying to navigate this system. I will do some research and ask school.

It’s very draining as the years go by and you get little good news from parent’s evenings. My children ask constantly if they can be home schooled as it is relentlessly difficult for them to keep up. I wouldn’t say they try their best sadly as they are demotivated and just assume it isn’t within their capabilities. It is hard. I tried to help with some Year 8 chemistry and it was so difficult.

The school system really isn't great in this area at all. And sets people up to feel they've "failed".

Unfortunately because of the Tories and Michael Gove they made exams more rigorous, less coursework, curriculum reforms etc Schools are less inclined to do BTECs or vocational courses now because it doesn't count towards their ebacc results. It's a mess, schools are just exam factories now. I teach a core subject where every kid has to take the same exam and study the same content regardless, it's torture for the both the teacher and student. Teachers are told to differentiate for different ability students, but that only goes so far. I can't change the content or style of the exam at the end.

Are there any studio schools in your area (I think that's what they were called) or there's one near us that does mainly animal based care with an alternative curriculum.

Along side his GCSEs my DS is also taking functional skills in Maths and English- if he passes level 2 it will be equivalent to GCSE grade 4.

DS is actually good at Maths but due to his SEN he may struggle with the GCSE exams so it’s good to have the functional skills back up.
You could ask the school of they offer this.