Can a child asked to leave 6th form in private school for poor academic performance

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Hi. Just what the title said. I've researched this online and is seems that once a child has been offered a place in 6th form they can't be asked to leave if it is due to poor academic performance - it is against the law. They can be asked to leave for poor behaviour but not academic results. Does this apply to private schools though> I've spoken to someone who says that private schools are a law unto themselves and can do what they like. Am very interested to know the legalities of this as my DS has been threatened with being asked to leave if he doesn't do very well in his first set of exams (October/November). I've also found out that boys that did less well than him in their GCSEs have not been given this threat (they have siblings at the school though so the school is probably trying to stay on the right side of those families).

Is it possible that those boys have done more to convince the school of their diligence and work-ethic?
A non-stellae GCSE result will be due to a unique combination of wildly varying amounts of bad luck, insufficient basic intelligence, insufficient general concentration and hard work during the 2 years preceding the exam, insufficient concentration and hard work or lack of specific exam preparation skills during revision immediately before the exams and insufficient concentration/application during the actual hours of the exam itself.

Every kid who has a less-than brilliant grade will have a different profile of which of these factors were in play. The kids who spent the pandemic at private schools will generally on average have been a lot less affected by it than those at state schools but not totally unaffected and obviously some more than others.

In any school, private or not, there will be some kids who get a 5 or 6 at GCSE who the teachers are confident could have got a 7 or 8 in slightly different circumstances due to the specific combination of all these factors. Academically selective private schools generally expectv a minimum of a 6 to be allowed onto A-level courses but the majority of pupils in each A level class will have got a 7 at least. It seems obvious to me that any pupil for whom the biggest factor for why they got a 5 or 6 was insufficient work throughout y10&y11 needs a stern warning like your DS has received whereas other DC with a different combination of reasons wouldn't need or benefit from such a warning.

Yes it happens all the time

It's a horrible practice- chucking kids out of school for poor academic performance or even threatening to do it to try and 'motivate' . I would never put a child through that. Like having the sword of damacles hanging over his head. You need a much more supportive school where they genuinely want every child to do well

You might well be right and I'm going to have that quiet word as you suggest. It has been useful in that he says the threat is going to really make him step up. If they really are potentially going to kick him out in October though that's potentially disastrous.

These are all really good points.

I don't want to put him through it either but he's adamant that he wants to stay at his current school despite said sword.

It's an awful lot of money for you to stump up just on his say-so though, for a school you are deeply unimpressed with, and don't believe is suiting him, and with the sword over his head that will likely cost him a whole year if it falls.

Is this a recent change of mind for him? Do you think he's got cold feet about moving? It just seems such a shame to start A levels in such a negative place when there are so many schools and colleges that would be delighted to take him with those grades.

And for anyone, so hard to choose the unknown when you have the option of the known. Especially with a 16 year old brain.

We moved a child at start of Y9 and it was terrifying, a huge stab in the dark that we only took because we were desperate. It's so hard to know what day to day reality will be like after an hour or two's tour.

Obviously not, seeing as kids in Scotland don't sit GCSE at all. Or have "sixth form" for that matter.

How about working with your son towards achieving a positive outcome in this? It doesn't have to be a quiet word with the Head of SF, it should be a serious word engaging any help that is possible - extra tutoring etc. The same goes for your son - being engaged in a positive plan.

All school sixth forms are selective though? Even state schools require minimum grades to continue to do A Levels although admittedly they are lower than the grades required by private schools.

Has he actually started sixth form or is he due to in September? I'd be asking for a meeting with the school and your YP and determining if it's the school for him. What gcse grades did he get for the a leveks he wants to take? Does he actually want to continue there or does he want a fresh start. Do you feel they don't want him there or was this said to motivate him (in a strange way).

Yes but his results are pretty good. He has 5x As which is way more than enough for most state sixth forms.

Most sixth forms that offer a levels want to make sure that the students are on the right course for them.

That means that they want the students to be both academically capable of doing the course, and for want of a better word, personally capable - ie will do homework on time, doesn't disrupt classes, will do the level of independent study needed.

So both state and private sixth forms have grade requirements to ensure students are academically capable.

Many will also do an assessment maybe a month into the course to see if students are basically managing to keep up.

In my school this is done quite early and then the students whose results show that they aren't keeping up have conversations with the head of sixth about potentially changing a levels (eg dropping further maths, maybe dropping down to BTEC etc)

They feel that a student who isn't keeping up after the first month is very likely to walk away from a levels with bad results, and they'd rather that student was on a course where they can succeed.

For whatever reason your son's school think he won't keep up. So maybe worth thinking about what will be your plan B if he's not keeping up.

OK @CrossStitchX of course you're right (although didn't realise about sixth form. Is it all colleges?).

So what are these GCSEs - iGCSEs, or the Welsh system?

Exactly this, although I would add that a state school cannot lawfully ask a pupil to leave on academic grounds. I have seen it happen quite recently.

OP mentions that the pupil has good GCSE grades, but the threat related to future performance in exams, not past performance in GCSEs. Is the school concerned about his attitude or his application to his studies?

Private schools and grammar schools ask students to leave if their grades are not up to scratch because they don't want their stats pulled down and fewer applicants in future. It's not illegal

No, it’s not all colleges in Scotland either. The kids who leave school for college at 16 are those wishing to take the vocational route - plumbing, hairdressing etc. children wishing to continue in education stay at school. The same school. Children going to college to study for university entrance level qualifications is just not a thing.

A few DC in my DCs school in Scotland left after 5th year to go to college and then went on to Uni
’Good ‘ school in leafy suburb ,but only really cared about the smart kids 🤷‍♀️

On your other thread you said that he only really worked hard for a month before the exams. If he is picking up new subjects it does sound as if the school are unsure of whether he will really apply himself and work hard enough to cope - it can be a big step up to A levels.

I have heard from friends with children at independent schools that they can be asked to “consider other options” if the school believes that the child isn’t applying themself to the best of their abilities and will therefore struggle with exams.

I’d suggest that you have a meeting with the school and find out exactly what is required so that you, school and your DS know exactly what is expected.

Grammar schools can’t ask you to leave for academic reasons midway through. No state schools can.

Quite - a lot of hastily reworded sixth form brochures five / six years ago

How do you know other students have not been told the same? Presumably these conversations have happened in private, and students may not necessarily admit to them?

Both my DC attend a state 6th form. If they don't get at least a D in their end of L6 exams, they arent able to continue into the U6. I think this is fair as it is really clear explained when you join & it gives them a whole year to get to the D grade.

It has reasonably strict criteria for gcses to get in (at least 5 gcses grade 5 or above with specific grades in certain subjects ie you need a grade 7 in maths gcse to do maths at A level).

I imagine this is also possible at a private 6th form too.

That is against the law for a state school. Schools can select on admission to sixth form, but not once they are already in sixth form.

“In sixth form (Years 12 and 13) a student can, as in other years, be excluded for bad behaviour. They cannot be asked to leave because of poor exam results or for academic reasons (or poor attendance).”

They are probably at least trying though