Can DS (Year 10) catch up on GCSEs?

[winterrabbit]

I've posted separately about the issues I've had with DS1, 14 years and in Year 10. Basically, he was facing exclusion from a state school last September. The school arranged a managed move but it took 6 weeks during which time DS was out of school. DS was then on a MM from 14 Nov - 20 January when the school ended the move. He was then out of school again from 20 Jan until 3rd March when he started at his current school. It seems to be going well and we're hoping the school will keep him, however. we've now realised that DS1 is massively behind in quite a few subjects due to the 2 chunks of 6 weeks school he missed. The plan was to start tutoring a lot to plug the gaps but I first want to make sure he'll stay at this school. My question is, is it possible to catch-up at this point and come out with a decent set of GCSEs or is it too late? We are appealing the decision not to conduct an EHCP needs assessment so if we are successful then there's a chance he'll get an EHCP will apparently allow you to go back a year, which he's hate but may have to be an option. TIA

I'd the school are willing to support him (and he is willing to put the hours in at home then yes. But ultimately it's down to him and his dedication or otherwise

Hello, it sounds like the priority should be settling your son rather than catching up? It's really important this placement succeeds, unless you think he is just unable to cope in a school environment? if you think he can cope with some extra study then why not focus on one subject, I would suggest maths, as that is a subject where having gaps can prevent you learning new stuff which builds on it.

When was your son born? April - Aug? My DD is in Y10 and is about to retake the year. Not the same circumstances as your son but it's been agreed from summer term. Could that be an option?

Thanks Maddie, I agree but also good to know that it might be possible. I know it comes down to him but he has ADHD and is quite lacking in motivation. He does work quite well with tutors though so just going to throw a lot of money I don't have at it and pray he starts to catch-up. His Maths and languages are ok, Science ok ish, just English behind as he missed one of the set texts and really really behind in Geograph and PE (which he never took to).

DOB is end of March so right on the cusp. When are they allowed to retake the year? Is it only with an EHCP?

Thank you HotPenguin. Yes, completely agree and if this placement fails then yes, I will be thinking that he cannot manage MS and we need to look at other options (not sure what). I wasn't too worried about academics but his English teacher called me today to say he has missed an entire module on a particularly long and difficult classic book which is going to be hard to catch-up on. His maths is actually in ok shape as he have a good tutor that we kept going throughout all the time out - tried to get tutors in other subjects but was quite stop and start, didn't know which exams board to follow etc.

@winterrabbit you don't need an EHCP to retake. Speak to the SENCO and see if it could be an option. If he's struggling with English Lit, see if he can do just English Lang but this may not be possible if the lessons are intertwined.

Get him settled before looking at catching up. His new school might not be studying curriculum in the same order as his old so have a look at what he's actually missed from this school then ask them for advice to plug the gaps. They'll be doing revision for the last half term (at least) before exams so that will help him with at least a rudimentary knowledge of topics he's missed.
I really wouldn't advise holding back a year. Better to focus on what he wants to do post-16 and help him work out what he needs to do to get there.

Agree with @Dodgeitornot don't stress about the missing book, that's English literature. When people ask for a pass in English they usually mean English language. Focus on getting him that and don't worry about English lit. You don't need to have read specific books for English lang and it will be easier to catch up on.

You may need to mentally write off a couple of GCSEs, but that's OK.
He needs ~ 5 passes including English Language & Maths for Level 3 courses, obviously better grades in A level subjects if that's what he wants to do (though BTECs might suit his learning style better, you can still go to uni with them).

It is probably easier to catch up on science because the CGP books and youtube things are so good (though that might be my bias showing).

Which is the Eng Lit book he's missed? There may be a film that is true to the book (eg a Muppets Christmas Carol is meant to be quite good). Or read it along side the York Notes for it.

Agree with others though, settling to the new school is more important. Better 7 GCSEs from there than 3 from a PRU.

When DD2 was waiting to get her special school placement, she attended a unit at a PRU. They said that they have managed to get students to a pass in 3 months before, so it is possible.

Not too late but he'll have to work and you'll need to help him. My ds has missed weeks of school through illness this year (also Y10) and is still on track for good grades next year (is still doing catch up this year).

One thing that's really helped my ds has been dropping 1 gcse subject (in his case French as he was so behind). This gives him 2 lessons a week to go to the support unit and do catch up work. Obviously your son's situation is different but it might be worth talking to the school about this if you think he would make good use of the time.

One thing to be aware of is there is very little help from the school itself re catch up - his teachers identified what work he'd missed but it has been up to us/him to teach himself the content. There are quite a lot of good resources available on line to help though and we may yet have to employ a tutor if he misses any more school.

I disagree. Using all the advice from this thread, push for support now. For example dropping one GCSE eg French will allow catch up time. Yes settling in is important, but if you attack it full on now, he will have caught up a lot by the summer and that will make him feel so much better, thus helping the settling in.

I agree. It's very difficult to settle when you're overwhelmed and don't feel as smart as others.

I have never ever come across anyone being able to resit a year in the state system, except the final year of sixth form. Having an EHCP makes no difference at all. This is a requirement by ofsted.

I am always very surprised to hear of on MN of this happening, unless it is a very recent change?

Is it related to summerborns being able to refer? This is a bit of an issue at the other end of education though, as they don't then get the option to do 3 years in the sixth.

If anyone knows how and when this year retaking can happen, I would be interested to hear about it, because it is still an absolute no where I teach, and everywhere locally. Never an option, in any circumstances, due to results stats, and ofsted.

so OP, check, because even if it happens in some places, it doesn't happen everywhere

• summerborns defer?

Gcses can be studied in a year at crammars and fe colleges so it is possible to catch up. However it will take intensive study and support from the school. Would taking fewer subjects enable him attend lessons in the topics he has missed for core subjects next year with the year below, for example, alongside his year 11 lessons. What was the reason behind the moves, is that likely to be an issue in future affecting his studies?

Having an EHCP makes no difference at all.

An EHCP can make a difference because provision in EHCPs must be provided, including if being educated out of chronological age group is included in F. It also makes a difference because parents can appeal to SENDIST to get being educated out of chronological age included in the EHCP.

DD1 is resitting year 10. She's in an independent specialist school (moved there at the start of year 11) but the LA specifically told me that had she been in state, it would have been a decision for the head teacher. It was only because it would require a further year of fees that they had to take it to a panel to ratify it.

The only action the LA had to take was to update their database and change the year group from '11' to '10'.

For various reasons, my son moved schools in Year 10 and missed quite a chunk. Also the exam boards were different and he had to start doing geography and RE which he'd never done before as previously he was doing Philosophy and Classics.

Fast forward to now, school have agreed that he drop Eng Lit as he missed a couple of the texts and is not a reader so never caught up. They do extra Eng Lang work for him instead. He also dropped French and wont be sitting the RE exam at all, although he has to go to the lessons which is a bit pointless. He is on a reduced timetable, only going on the morning due to behavior issues and I make him do revision in the afternoons, which is working out pretty well and his behavior is now not a problem in the mornings as he knows hes coming home after the 3rd period.

So he's doing Maths and Eng Lang, Art, Food Tech, Geography and the 3 sciences. He needs to get 5 GCSEs at Grade 4 or above in order to get onto his college course, so thats what we are aiming for and i will be pleased if he gets that. I am no longer aiming for 7s and 8s for him!

We are limping towards the finishing line now.

My daughter was also behind a lot so me and my husband also decided to get her a tutor. And we don't regret it at all. DD said she definitely sees improvements and is getting more and more confident. Our tutor is Rueben and here is his profile link on Edumentors platform. He is tutoring our DD in english literature but you can ask him via chat if he teaches other subjects too.

Also here are some past papers that might come in handy
https://edumentors.co.uk/blog/gcse-english-literature-past-papers/
https://edumentors.co.uk/blog/a-level-english-language-past-papers/
It's important that he practices with past papers, he will learn a lot with these

@Nimbostratus100 I actually had a thread recently asking about this and I had a fair number of people saying they retook, some who are now adults so it can't be that new. All of them had moved and the new school put them back to the beginning of y10. I do think it's probably regional. We've personally not had a problem but DD is summer born and has an EHCP. She had an offer to retake at her current school (state) or join other schools. We've now had trials at 3 schools and every single one has been ok with it. Aside from the first discussion, it's not been mentioned at all. 1 has been state and 2 independent.
I suspect with summer born deferrals being the norm now, you'll be seeing it more and more, especially in the y10 groups. My DDs current state school y10 has multiple kids who were deferred at reception so are about to turn 16 this summer. Don't see how her being able to do that now makes any difference.
It's easy to retake y12 but do remember that most colleges only allow you to retake maths and English GCSE. If you're on track to fail most of them, it's far more beneficial to retake y10 so you actually get your 5 9-4s. There are private colleges that offer 1 year GCSE courses but they're expensive and not accessible to most.
It's a different story if a child is failing because GCSEs aren't accessible to them, however long they're doing them for it won't make a difference so retaking y10 would be futile. But in a case where a child is able but has had large amounts of gaps, it can be a brilliant option.
However, now that I think of it, in OPs shoes I would probably avoid this. If he's settling in well now, it would probably be a huge mistake to move him down a year. Sounds like he can do well catching up.

that's interesting @Dodgeitornot It certainly used to be the norm, going back to the 80s and 90s, but is something that ofsted clamped down hard on since then, but maybe the approach has softened again

@Nimbostratus100 That's interesting, I didn't know it used to be the norm. I can see it being very beneficial tbh, I think that's the one risk I see with kids being deferred so young. It closes a lot of options later down the line. We had the option of deferring DD, but I genuinely don't think she would've been in a different position now. I don't think she would be able to retake y10 if she was already a year older than most.
For her, things clicked this year and it makes sense for her to retake as she will likely go from 4s to 6s. She's scoring highly on tests from topics now but has huge gaps from beginning of the GCSE courses.
For many kids things go pear shaped in GCSE years. A lot of health conditions show themselves in adolescence and I think it's a good time to save yourself a safety net of sorts and be able to retake.