A Levels in 15 months?

[bendmeoverbackwards]

Bit of background dd is 17 and should be in Year 12. She didn't quite get the grades for her school sixth form and didn't settle in an alternative school back in September. She's ASD and suffers with anxiety and has been trying to return to this new school since September. Today she finally managed it.

However, not surprisingly they have said it's too late to catch up to do A levels next summer and they recommend she re-starts in September. It's a great opportunity as she will be able to try various subjects in the summer term.

However - it's a hard no from dd. This only happened today so she may need time to process it and perhaps come round to the idea. But what she wants is to do A Levels next summer like her friends. I have reassured her that she's not alone, people sometimes have a Plan B (myself included, I repeated Year 10 due to moving around) but she just won't hear it.

I have started to look into private tutorial colleges, tutoring etc. Bearing in mind that the summer term is largely taken up with exams and then there is a long summer holiday (this is a private school so they finish early July), is it possible that dd could use this time to be working?

She's not sure on subjects - probably Psychology and she also wanted Sociology but this particular school don't offer it.

You know her best, do what you think is right, just keep trying, she will get there. I say to my dd, you unfortunately have had to go the long way round.
you sound v v supporting, but I feel for you, it’s so scary as a parent xx

Will the school let her try if she wants, or are they saying a hard no to exams next year? I can't see what there is to lose by letting her have a go at them next year if the school will allow it. She can always resit. Some tutoring in the meantime is a good idea.

Yes, I know some people who tutor at A-level, but it's usually just additional support/exam practice. At this time of year they are generally "full" with clients and often regular clients want extra sessions- they wouldn't necessarily be looking to take on new clients until exams are over.

If someone is teaching the whole course from scratch, for me, I'd want someone with QTS and experience of teaching the whole course at A-level. Around here (cheaper part of the country) that starts at £40 an hour. For A-level you're probably looking at 3-4 hours a week of tuition per subject?

Edit: I'm not saying it's not possible, but just that it's not necessarily as simple as finding a tutor and just starting tomorrow, particularly with a teen who sounds like they may have strong feelings about who they work with?

Let her explore each option with you do she’s not hearing “no”.

A levels in 13–15 months?
what does that look like to her?
You could see if it’s possible to get a tutor. See if the school will assess her in September - is she ready / able to continue?
Is your dd willing to do the extra work?

Ask her plan if she doesn’t get grades she wants for uni. Though I have seen foundation years recruiting from 48 ucas points.

Also explore the other option with her. What does that look like? She could take a bit of time to find her subject. Would school let her do tasters in summer term? She can finalise her subject choices.

Obviously there are pros and cons to both. If she decides that her priority is still to continue with the cohort then ask her to think about a back up plan.

In my experience students will sometimes realise that it’s better to do the plan b as more chance of success. But if not then at least she’s considered the realities of her preferred choice.

Here are some factors to consider:

• Discipline for studying.
• Methods for learning.

A-Levels are not as difficult as people make them out to be. The difficulty of engaging A-Levels, like any other level of education, is having the discipline to do the learning and having an effective learning method.

It's the absence of these abilities that makes A-Levels difficult, especially for young people who haven't been exposed to expectations set by an employer, etc. The answer to your question depends on maturity of your daughter; whether she has the ability to stick to a rigorous learning schedule and whether she understands techniques for learning effectively.