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Secondary education

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Original poster

Asking my Sons school to host a GCSE exam in a subject they dont teach (sons native language)

39 replies

Towcester · 25/01/2023 10:58

My son has grown up bi-lingual. The language is not taught at his school. he is Year 9.

I am trying to formulate a letter that will ask if the school would host a GCSE exam so that he will have an extra GCSE which will help him at some stage.

What do you think is the best way to persuade the school to agree to this? I could do some of the groundwork potentially to find an examiner for the speaking exam for example. I am trying to be a bit more persuasive though because I suspect they will go with the easy anser of 'no'. We can pay the costs too.

Any ideas? or anyone been through this?

OP posts:
MumofSpud · 08/02/2023 22:16

My school loves students who do this!

StillWantingADog · 08/02/2023 22:21

Hopefully you will get sorted but I wouldn’t worry if not- if your dc is fluent in their language they don’t need a gcse to “prove” it. I can see it might be helpful though.

JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 08/02/2023 22:46

Towcester · 25/01/2023 11:52

Yes, it would be a language which they may struggle to locate an examiner for the spoken part but we may be able to find one ourself.

Don't be too sure, my inner city English school had a teacher of Urdu, Panjabi, Hindi, Gujarati, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Welsh and Icelandic, and possibly more that I don't know/remember they didn't offer GCSEs in all of those languages. We had access to teachers of Japanese too.

WillowFae · 09/02/2023 07:25

AnyOldThings · 08/02/2023 22:08

Not if they are DBS checked. Ours were permitted to be alone with the oral assessor.

Show quote history

Most external assessors are not DBS checked for that particular school. Technically you need a dbs check for the school you are in (but some may turn a blind eye to that).

HairyKitty · 09/02/2023 07:36

Failing support from the school see if you can enter for it elsewhere as a private/external candidate. You could try Tutors & Exams to start with.

Teeshirt · 09/02/2023 07:42

Are you sure he’d do well in an exam? I’ve known native/semi-native speakers not do well, because they can’t write or spell well in the language, or know any grammar. Sometimes they’ve completely failed that section - they might have used the wrong script altogether, for example.

Original poster
Towcester · 09/02/2023 10:10

I got a reply from the school and they are willing to do it in Y10 so next summer.

I need to source an examiner for the spoken part and pay any fees for invigilator if the time does not coincide with other exams.

Looks like it will be happening then.

OP posts:
Original poster
Towcester · 09/02/2023 10:12

Teeshirt · 09/02/2023 07:42

Are you sure he’d do well in an exam? I’ve known native/semi-native speakers not do well, because they can’t write or spell well in the language, or know any grammar. Sometimes they’ve completely failed that section - they might have used the wrong script altogether, for example.

No. I am not sure. What's the best way to prep for this? We could look for old exam papers etc.

OP posts:
BabyBecka · 09/02/2023 10:19

DS is bilingual and did GCSE in his 'other' language
Yes to old papers, but also see if there is a tutor in the language locally. He did about ten classes with a tutor focused on exam structure which also helped tighten up the more formal grammar needed for the written part of the exams. He did say he found the exam different to being fluent in the language.

gogohmm · 09/02/2023 14:45

This is really common op. Schools love it because usually the kids do really well! We didn't have to pay ourselves for the extra room

HairyKitty · 09/02/2023 16:58

Yes OP you will need to download the specification from the exam board website and go through some past papers to help prepare.

user1477391263 · 10/02/2023 00:42

OP, you need to look into past papers/study prep books and make sure he is prepared for the exam. A lot of native speakers have poor literacy if they have never actually studied. Don’t assume he can just walk through this.

ittakes2 · 10/02/2023 00:48

There are lots of online gcse courses just ask one of them about enrolling in the exams.

Malbecfan · 10/02/2023 13:00

To answer the safeguarding/DBS question: many organisations which require examiners to go to lots of different schools have their staff use the portable DBS and they contact the young person's school in advance. I teach Music and we never have issues with the ABRSM examiners or Music Hub staff. We have 3 different coloured lanyards for adults. One is the school's colour with the name of the school on it, one is green which means the wearer's DBS status is known & verified. The other is red which means unverified. Adults wearing school or green lanyards can work unsupervised, red-lanyarded people must be accompanied by a school/green one at all times.

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