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?

He wouldn't need to resit if he got a 4 - that's a pass. If he got anything less than a 4 in either he would have to re-sit.

Sorry to hear that. Do you know what caused the decrease in grades? Did he do any revision before his actual exams? I was assuming that in most cases grades go up in the finals not down but guess it can happen. Hope it works out for him.

French, Sociology and either Economics or Business Studies. His French is very good (he got and 8 in the mock) as dad half is French and Sociology is supposedly one of the easier A-levels. He wants to do either Business or Economics for his 3rd choice.

Yes, he has several offers at sixth forms including his current school. One is a college which does A-levels and a full range of other courses including BTECs and resits. Not really looked into those as think A-levels are the best route.

4s are at least passes and he could still resit those. Not a complete disaster. What were the rest of his results like?

Does the French A level include literature? How does he get on with English Lit?

Why do you think A levels are the best route (for him) if you haven't looked into BTECs?

Thanks Princess. Agree, however, Maths and Physics are known for being the toughest A-levels. My nephew (who doesn't have ADHD and is bright but not that hardworking) only got a C in A-level Maths despite a 7 or 8 at GCSE. In most places they don't recommend taking it unless you get at least an 8 at GCSE. So he may well have struggled even without ADHD. Same with Physics. DS is actually pretty good at maths and is predicted a 6 but no way do I think he should do A-level maths. Same with with Physics. I think he may be ok with fewer subjects in things he is good at or interested in like French and Business. Also, if he does ok in his GCSEs then I think that'll be a massive confidence boost for him.

He is ok at English Lit (got a 5 in the mock with no revision and missed learning about 2 of the texts in year 10 due to a PE). I am sure French A-level will contain a component of literature. I haven't looked into BTEC as his predictions at school should give him enough to do A-levels. He is bright enough but his work ethic and motivation are an issue but I am sure that's the case for many just turned 16 year old boys. I did A-levels and don't recall them being particularly difficult (came out with all As) and have seen many kids of friends go through the process now who are not particularly brilliant or hardworking and they seem to be doing fine.

Definitely worth sitting down with him and having a preparatory conversation - with these grades you’ll get into your school sixth form, if you drop a grade on these then you’ll get into 6th form college A, any more grades dropped and 6th form college B will accept you.

As a mum of an ADHD boy, I would strongly recommend that you look for a place that would offer 2 examined subjects (maybe the French and one other) and one with continuous assessment - maybe a BTEC in Business or Entrepreneurship?

Really try to avoid 3 examined subjects.

Not really looked into those as think A-levels are the best route.

Not for him they're not. Sorry but I think you're being a little deluded here. Struggling at GCSE means failing at A level. Not getting a low grade, failing. His French language maybe good, but can he read and discuss whole novels in French?

How's his Maths? Economics A level is very mathsy, endless demand/supply curves. Sociology full of essays - who told you it was an easy option?

Thank you Kingscote, I will do that. He has a place on an A-level course at a local college (as well as a few sixth forms) which is known for having an inclusive approach and does a full range of courses including BTECs and A-levels plus sports academies so I think he will be able to go there however he does. He has a place for A-levels and Sports Academy/Basketball which gives him 10 hours training a week, competitions etc. which he is enthusiastic about. I just re-read it and it says Compulsory completion of Functional Skills/GCSE in English and maths (if not already achieved) which is reassuring!

Titchy, we don't know is he has failed at GCSE yet. Struggling to focus in a mainstream school and having issues with behaviour does not mean you are not bright and can't do well academically with the right support. It's attitudes like this I really struggle with as it's basically writing off certain routes for them. Obviously if he comes out with 2, 3, 4s etc. we need to reassess but we're not there yet. If he comes out with 5/6s and a couple of 7s (as predicted) would you still say not to do A-levels?

And I did French A-level and did not have to read and discuss whole novels in French. Came out with a top grade despite my French not being very good, especially my spoken French.

If he gets grade 4s then he’s passed and doesn’t need to resit. A 4 is equivalent to the old C grade (a bit confusing as a 5 is also effectively a C ). If he gets 3s or below then he will need to resit.

You are right struggling with school and behaviour certainly does not mean he is not bright. But what i would say having had one do ALevels and one currently doing them is thst it is a very structured way of learning and really hard if you go in with lower grades. A more informal structure such as btec might be a learning environment where he will thrive. Having a chat about all options is a positive thing and gives him the opportunity to have options that he wants to do. Ds who got all A* at gcse found the step up to alevels huge.

Yeh I did it too and no I didn’t have to. Your DS will have to tho - read and watch a book and a film in French and write essays in French. Spoken French is v important and he will need to carry out a research project into something related to France or French (could be a French sportsperson for example) and talk about that for 10 minutes,

Have you or he not checked the spec? I would tbh. Also agree sociology A level is not easy, none of them are. There have been huge changes since you took your A levels.

Sociology A-level is well known for being one of the easier ones. You wouldn't believe standards have improved that much given the quality of graduate coming out the other end, trust me.

Sociology A level is not my special subject tbh but from seeing my own DC and their friends do A levels, I am pretty sure that none of them found any of them easy. So to take a subject because it is “well known to be one of the easier ones” doesn’t seem like the best reason to me. Maybe your DS should have a look at some past papers and the spec to make an informed choice,

You imply that today’s young people who have taken A levels and degrees have not had to work that hard (not my experience at all btw) – and yet you say that you (presumably a few years ago) got a top grade in French A level with poor spoken French. Well MFL is my special subject and I can tell you that not doing much work and having poor spoken MFL will deffo not get you a top grade today. If your DS gets an 8 in GCSE then that is great prep – but I suggest again that he looks at the spec as the A level is a big step up. One thing I have seen many times is a student who is a native speaker or who has native speaker parents breezing through the GCSE and coming a cropper in A level as even with native speaker knowledge, there is a good deal of work to do on topics, film, book, IRP.

@winterrabbit no one is saying your DS is not bright – just suggesting that A levels are not the only route and it may be an idea to check out other options at this stage, rather than panicking in four weeks’ time.

In answer to your earlier question, IMHO, 5s and 6s plus a couple of 7s is fine for A levels – but getting Bs and As will need quite a bit of work from that starting point.

He is not taking it because it's known for being easy but because he is interested in it having been to a sixth form open day. It's my understanding from my own research and from friends' kids that it's one of the easier subjects, like Geography which my nephew claimed was easy and didn't require much work to get a B. We haven't and won't look at the specs yet until we get his grades and he makes a final decision on which courses he is doing and where.

I am not implying that students today don't have to work hard at all. I am just not sure I agree with your statement that A-levels today are so much harder than 20 years ago when research seems to suggest the exact opposite, i.e. that standards have declined considerably. DS is not completely fluent but has a very good level of French so typically scores nearly full marks in oral, listening and reading; got a 6 in the writing for his GCSE. I honestly don't think he would struggle to do well at A-level.

I think looking at the specs for a course (any course) is the only way to get a clear idea on what it covers and how it is examined.

However nothing is budging the OP so I hope it all turns out OK.

Well that's great that he's taking it bc he is interested in it! But tbf to me (and others), the only thing you had said before (more than once) was that it was one of the easier A levels, so it looked as tho that was the reason. Apologies.

I didn't necessarily mean that A levels are so much harder than 20 years ago tbh - I don't think it's a simple comparison at all - just that they have changed (which is what I actually said). I had to read four texts each for French and German A level including at least one from the 18thC - BUT I answered questions in English. So that is quite different from the A level in French today. And by the sound of it, different from what you took. If your DS scores highly in the speaking, listening and reading exams at GCSE that's a great start.

I was just warning against going off one's own experience of school as presumably if we have exam-aged kids, we were at school a while ago.

Personally I think it is very beneficial to have as much info as possible - including looking at the specs of A levels - before making even a vague decision on subjects, but maybe that's just me(and @TeenToTwenties apparently!). Best of luck to your DS.

How can we do that when we don't know the results or which courses he'll do? We'll of course do that before we make any final decisions but pointless doing that now as we have about 3 different scenarios to manage. He knows broadly what the courses cover from attending the open days.

My biggest worry with A-level's would actually be is he capable of doing all the independent learning that is needed. For each A-level they take they need to do extra independent learning as well as attending class. DD gets given Directed independent learning for each A-level she's taking, these are assignments/tasks she has to complete on her own each week. As well as the work they do in class and ontop of homework assignments that need to be completed. I'm aware not all schools/colleges do as much IDL (because they struggle to get students to complete the work). But in order to do well they needed to be able to study well on their own or learn to do so at the start of the A-level's.

Several students in DD'S year have dropped out of A-level's (end of year 12) as they couldn't keep up with the work required. I would seriously be thinking again about A-level's if his results come back as 4's and 5's even the odd 6. I mean we take them with 4's but it does them no favours as they often just fail their A-level's which isn't fair on anyone really.

You said four subjects he is looking at so that’s a place to start. You could ask the school which boards - AQA is most likely for French - and have a look. No idea why that would be an issue - info is online, and you clearly are not familiar with the French A level spec in 2024 (fair enough obviously) so it might help him - esp as he is not sure of subjects. Economics in particular is not what ppl often think.

It is difficult to tell what you do or don't know already.
But as part of the decision making process you need to understand the broad topics, how they are examined/assessed and the % to each.

You have a DC who it appears is on track for 6s and 5s, but possibly less. Who doesn't like school, and who needed 1-1 tutors to do any revision at all. You don't understand what GCSEs people might normally resit, and when/why.

What people ate trying to say is that even if he gets the grades to do 3 A levels that doesn't mean it is the best choice for him. He may be better with 1 or more courses that have more continuous assessments. You don't seem to know what the French A level requires, and seem to be assuming it won't have changed from your day.

In my view you would benefit from looking at specs for possible courses now so you don't just assume that A levels are the right choice over and above a BTEC/A level combo, or even a BTEC extended diploma.