Sixth form withdrawing subjects

[DecisionYesOrNo]

Need your advice. My child got admission in one of the sixth forms for her choice of subjects. They never informed us it was conditional offer based on baseline testing neither verbally not written. Last week they have taken away her 2 subject choices since she dint clear her baseline testing. She can't do those subjects at all. They are very firm. We left admissions for so many schools because of this school and now this. Is this even legal. Please suggest

Ops daughter already has her gcse results. I don’t see how your dc teaching his/ herself to grade 9 in a couple of months adds anything to the discussion. It’s like you’re trying to make the op feel worse. There are plenty of other threads around for you to celebrate your dc’s achievements.

@EmpressOfTheThread seems to have gone very quiet on this. It seems to be based on the St Olave's precedent, but it has been explained why that doesn't work.

She did English, Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths. She is an international swimming athlete. Managed these grades with 4/5 hours of practice on daily bases.

Sorry adding P.E.

I think she needs to be getting some specialist advice about potential applications for medicine as her circumstances seem quite unusual.

She did and they suggested that her application could be strong due to her sports records.

Could you ring around the other 6th forms? Then transfer her over.

@Spacecowboys - Nice try. I am not showing off at all about my DC, just sharing resources that helped us that may help the OP’s DC, clearly a very high achiever.

OP - my DS has gone to ETH Zurich and he is friends with Swiss kids doing medicine who just about passed Swiss grammar school at 16. It means nothing!

Yes doing the same.

You've put maths in twice, so her total number of GCSEs was seven? What did she get in further maths? Hopefully the specialist advice she received did also advise that even the majority of strong candidates for medicine will still be rejected?

It sounds like she was accepted onto the course with those GCSE results (which honestly surprises me as for sciences my experience has been that you need at least a 7) and then she's not done well enough with testing in class to make sure she has a good enough foundation knowledge for the course?

Gosh I am so sorry OP, what an awful situation for your DD. I hope you manage to figure out a path forward.

I just wanted to say that I completely sympathise about the impact a bad teacher can have. DS1 has got a mix of 7,8 and 9s for all his maths, sciences and computer science except for one where he ended up with a 5 following a huge amount of disruption to the class (teacher had patchy attendance throughout the two years and then went on long term sick during year 11, school tried to scramble together subs but basically they didn't finish the syllabus). Fortunately his college is aware of the circumstances and was happy for him to take the subject at A Level.

Ops daughter has already completed her GCSEs and she has not asked for advice about resits. In fact, other posters have even commented that most medical schools don’t accept them.

As some other post said she sadly won't get to do medicine with those grades and would need all As in A levels. Even then the interview selections very tough.
Look on Ucas for courses and what the entry requirements are for medicine. She is obviously intelligent what about a local college to up grade her gcses if she is dead set on medicine, this would also show determination and give her the opportunity to sort the chemistry situation out.
Good luck.

That's great that the college is understanding.

If she only got a 5 in chemistry it's unlikely any school will enroll her on a chemistry A level course.

my dd has just started doing A level chemistry, they have had a maths assessment, which you have to pass.
In her maths class they had a test on GCSE type material last week, you have to get 50% or more to stay on the course, you are allowed one resit.

They are not just taking GCSE results, they want to see that the students will cope with key aspects of the course.

I think if you want to stay there, I would kick back, if you get a letter saying you are accepted to do the course based on GCSE results, with no mentionof needing to pass a skills assessment, I would be arguing strongly with them, and asking for more details as to what she has failed and what the situation is.

May I suggest that you head over to the medicine threads on the higher education boards for reliable, informed, sensible advice? One of the posters is a teacher who is also the school advisor for medicine and vet school applications, as well as having a recently graduated doctor DD. There are lots of other knowledgeable posters who have been through the process who offer advice, as well as parents supporting DC going through applications.

There are plenty of med schools that only require biology or chemistry, not both. I suggest she researches which med schools don’t require chemistry and considers dropping it regardless of whether she has to change schools or not to be able to pursue biology. Even if there are mitigating circumstances, she might struggle to get an A with a 5 at GCSE as she doesn’t have strong foundations in the subject to build on.

I would suggest that she then contacts the admissions team at those universities for advice to discuss whether she should retake GCSE chemistry under the circumstances and what would be the best A level combination without chemistry (maths, biology, psychology, physics, further maths…).

I would also research how the med schools that don’t require chemistry select students for interview so she can apply strategically. Some will score GCSE results as part of the ranking to select applicants for interview, others only use the aptitude tests. She should apply to med schools where GCSE grades are less important.

Many students don’t get into med school the first time round but, if she can get the grades and spends a gap year working as a healthcare assistant (which will give her good insight into working in medicine, valuable experience of working with patients, and demonstrate her determination and dedication to working in healthcare), she will stand a good chance of getting in post A level. I would recommend that over graduate medicine, which is even more competitive than getting in at 18. As well as being an expensive and time consuming route to becoming a doctor!

Good luck!

@Spacecowboys - it is not about resits. I recommended a website where the OP’s DD can catch up on GCSE material and look up A level material to practise.

The OP already told us her child is an international and has international uni opportunities, possibly. So she just needs to be able to actually do the Chemistry A level at this stage and catch up so she can follow the course in the first place!

The computer says “No” type thinking does not apply all over the world.

@GPNightmare this is good advice and hopefully what the op was looking for.

I would add, if your DD is considering studying abroad, I am assuming US universities with a sports scholarship are something she might be thinking about? Be aware that studying medicine in the US is completely different. You can’t study medicine as an undergraduate and it is very difficult to transfer between the US and UK system, even post qualification.

Vocation or not, a medical degree requires hard work for even the brightest, most academically able students. Not having an 8 or 9 in chemistry is a dead end.
Bleeding hearts are one thing but no one wants an under-qualified doctor.

Totally immoral of the sixth form - often used by sixth forms to attract student in, then sift through and kick them off the course putting them on more "accessible" courses which boost pass rates. I have seen this happen before, sometimes individual teachers, sometimes departments and sometimes a whole school/college approach. Is the a sixth form college or school sixth form.

They are banking on her already liking it there and it being a hassle to move and that other sixth forms won't accept her. Appalling.

Really sorry but I don't think any medical school would take someone with grade 5 chemistry GCSE.

All the kids we know who did medicine had at least 9 GCSEs with an average of about 8.

There's a lot more to medicine than having a vocation -its so competitive.

Is there anything else in the same field she could aim for? Physiotherapy? Psychology?

Why on earth 4? Definitely drop Chemistry!