DS1 thinks he has done badly in his GCSEs

[winterrabbit]

DS1 sat his GCSEs this year and we'll get the results next month. He missed a chunk of time in year 10 as he was excluded from school and it took us ages to find him another place. He has ADHD and really struggles with focus and behaviour. He would only revise with tutors which he ended up having pretty much every day in the lead up to his exams but only for a few hours. The exams themselves seem to go ok, or so he said at the time. No disasters where he forgot to answer half the paper although he mentioned a few were tough (Biology paper 2 for example). He finished all papers so I thought/hoped he had done ok but he casually mentioned the other day that I shouldn't get my hopes up as he thinks he did really badly and failed at least a few. Obviously I'm now super worried. He only failed one mock and scrapped by with 4 and 5s in most subjects plus a 6 in French although he did literally no revision. Surely he can't have done worse in the real exams than he did in the mocks? If he has done badly then what options are there for him? Can he resit or do you have to get certain grades to be eligible to resit, e.g. a 4 in Maths and English?

I am sitting here thinking the same about my daughter with adhd. Really couldn't call it so not going to do anything until we get the results.

What does he want to do next?
Head of English here. General advice - it really depends what he wants to do. GCSEs are the most stepping-stone of exams; Maths and English matter a bit more for that.

Have two (or three!) plans in place for what to do. It’s heartbreaking when students have not thought about the negative alternative and are in tears and panicked. He’s mentioned it so take the opportunity to say ok so 1st plan is x, what’s the back up if this is true? Make sure you know where to pick the results up and where to go register for whatever courses he wants to do. He might also be downplaying it just in case if he’s starting to get nervous?

You can resit English and Maths in November. If you’re planning to do that then speak to the school exams officer by beginning of September and get copies of the papers to give guidance on what went wrong.

Other subjects it’d be sitting as independent candidate next summer - not ideal. The other option is ask for reviews of marking. If he’s close to boundaries in some, it might be worth it. They do cost per paper and it’s supposed to be a ‘review to check the mark scheme has been applied correctly’. I don’t know about other subjects but I regularly see significant increases; I suspect it’s more common in arts and humanities. If the grade overall changes you get money back. Teachers might be able to look at the paper and offer their opinions on how worth it it is, but depends if they’re available. the exams officer will have all that info. It’s absolutely not guaranteed to change though so it’s a balance between how he fared in mocks and felt he did on the day.

Ultimately try to get him to make his plans and then relax. What’s done is done; he’ll find his way and there’ll be something for him that suits him well and he’ll find a groove.

hope that helps

What is he planning to do in September? If he is heading to college then he will be able to resit maths and English if needed. I would look at various options depending on results and be prepared. If he has a place at college then they should guide you. There is nothing you or he can do now. Just take a deep breath on results day and support him to find the best next step.

Obv you know your daughter but from my teacher side, it’s awful seeing students who thought they’d done ok being heartbroken because they didn’t even consider a plan b. Is there any way to make some alternative plans so it’s not all in a rush at the end of august? If it all has gone wrong you could end up chasing round institutions trying to sign up somewhere

Do you think this is just his worries about his grades manifesting as 'I've probably bombed'? Then he can pave the way for disappointment although he's probably done better than he thinks.

I would say I doubt he'd get lower grades than his mocks especially as he put more work in.

My DD is saying similar things. I think it's just a nervousness as they approach results day.

She is thankfully year 11 (NI) so still has 5th year. Waiting on five module results and hoping she won't need to repeat them all. She is predictably unpredictable.

Resitting anything apart from English lang and Maths at GCSE is normally unnecessary, these are the only ones generally offered by schools as resits that I am aware of. If he's struggling with his ADHD/GCSE's then A-levels probably won't be a great fit for him - and for a lot of colleges doing more hands on courses he may only need GCSE Maths and English Lang.

We have a number of students who put everything into their Maths and Eng lang GCSE's as they know those are the ones they really need. If he can pass those there will be lots of doors open to him and if he doesn't then a lot of colleges will let them retake alongside their college course or offer functional Eng and Maths alongside if GCSE's are out of reach. Failing isn't a disaster!

What does he want to do though is the big question? You haven't said what he's interested in but there are lots of opportunities apart from staying at the same school and continuing on there.

Thank you all. Do you need a grade 4 in Maths and English to resit or can you resit with less than that?

I am hoping it is just this, especially as he didn't say on the day that any of them had gone really badly, but did say that one or two were harder than others, which his friends were also saying.

Thank you, really helpful. When I ask him what he wants to do he says he wants to have his own business and that he hates school but I think the latter is down to low self esteem due to the difficulties of managing school with ADHD. We've had a couple of ed psych assessments and he is definitely bright and capable of doing well and works really well with 1-1 tutors. I don't want to just write him off and say, you're not bright so let's give up on GCSEs and an academic route for him as I think with a bit more maturity he could do better. My gut is that he needs to stay in education for another 2 years, ideally doing A-levels, and then decide. He hasn't expressed an interest in going any other courses or apprenticeships otherwise we'd consider those.

He has a place in the sixth form at his current school (needs four 6s and the rest 5s) and a few other local sixth forms where the entry requirements are typically at least 5s and 6s in the subject you want to study.

It's not all bad news if his results aren't what was expected. My son has autism and didn't even sit any GCSEs, he was at a special school. I contacted local colleges and he got a distinction in music production and performance level 2 along with functional skills in English and Maths in his first year. He's just finished 1st year of level 3 and sat english gcse, next year he will do Maths gcse.

I’d honestly wouldn’t worry about it.

He can either resit or look for other avenues that interest him - apprenticeships ect..

I was kicked out of school at 15 for being pregnant- not a single GCSE. I have my own regulated business now and it has nothing to do with any GCSEs

You can resit whatever you like if you pay. My son passed maths and still did a resit because he wasn't happy with it. It cost £48 at the time.

But your son may be fine, getting the results is quite nerve wracking and chances are he's done better than the mocks, since he has actually revised, whether it was with a tutor or not. I think my youngest who did exams this summer said the biology paper 2 was hard - he'd got over confident as the first one was a lot easier. He said yesterday he was nervous about the results, even though he felt fine about it a few weeks ago.

I'd be inclined to investigate what your local FE college has on offer.
Does he know what sort of business he'd like to run?
Our local FE college has a level 3 business course - five grade 4s are enough, and maths/English retakes can happen alongside.
As others have said, it's a good idea to have a plan B/C in place.

You wouldn't usually bother resitting GCSEs except maths and eng lang, and only if you get less than a 4.

If you don't get enough for A levels you do vocational courses BTEC/T-level, if needed starting at level 2, or even 1. Do well enough at level 3 you can still go to uni.

Yeh you don't usually resit if you get a 4 @winterrabbit as that is a pass grade. If you get a 3 you usually resit the GCSE; if you get a 1/2 you are often offered Functional Skills which can be great.

I wouldn't worry too much atm but at the same time I would look into some alternative options. A levels might not be right for him but if he gets 2/3/4/5 type grades, then there are still lots of things he can productively do.

Business or a computing course might suit - non-A-level options are not all plumbing and electrician, good tho those things are.

My gut is that he needs to stay in education for another 2 years, ideally doing A-levels, and then decide

Never mind your gut - legally he has to continue education till he's 18.

A levels don't sound suitable for him at all. Look into alternatives. Do you have a place for him to go in September?

You have to resit maths and English if you don't get a grade 4.

Why ideally A levels?
Which ones?
What other options has he even looked at? BTec Level 3 Business?

I think someone who will only revise with tutors may well struggle with the amount of independent work required at A levels (even if he makes the minium grade entry requirements).
The advantage of a vocational course is they are more modular with more regular meaningful assignments.
If you haven't looked at vocational options I urge you to do some research now so you can make an informed decision.

I agree re btec business, ds friend has done it and got offers from all the universities he applied to. He was on the borderline for A levels but would not have coped with the work load and the independent study. It has been a great route for him.

My DS did ok in mocks (a mix of 4s and 5s) but terrible on the actual exams. He only got 4s in English Lang and Lit.
He had already decided to leave school and do a vocational course at a college, and was able to resit math there. But it was still devastating- I'm sure he did the worst in the school.
Then unfortunately Covid which impacted his college but that's not relevant here.
So fast forward and while he's still, at 20, trying to find his feet, he's been working steadily at one full time job and has a part time job at a gym teaching classes, which is what he's qualified for.
So think whether an academic route is really the best one here. It's not for everyone - my son is bright enough but doesn't have the aptitude- he's very physical and happiest when moving.

I wouldn't recommend A levels. My son with ADHD has just done his and absolutely hated it. He really really struggled. The jump in difficulty and the requirement for own work if you want to get above D/E is huge. He worked medium hard I would say ie. Doing all homeworks and quite a bit of revising for Sept resits for predicted grades, Jan mocks and the actual exams (Y13 is basically one long exam period!). He is set for D and E but that's in maths and physics which were very hard. Product design was easier for him, more hands on and 50% coursework. This was coming from a 7 in Maths, 6 in Physics and all other 6s (except 5 in English lang and Spanish).

It's also good to know you have 3 years post GCSE of government funding so maybe try A levels for 1 year but know that you can switch to a 2 year college course after you've done Y12. I tried to persuade my son to leave A levels after Y12 but he was adamant he would continue as he'd done one year already. Y13 was pretty much torture and we needed maths and physics tutors just to get those predicted D/E grades. He would have got much better grades at college because he does work when he enjoys it more and also the level is less academic.

If he didn't get at least a 4 in English and Maths he will need to resit them until he passes. Check entry requirements for the sixth forms and colleges near you.