DD not being allowed to do Triple Science, really wants to, anything we can do?

[avidhorizon]

We moved to York this year and DD (year 10) got a place in a school that we wanted that's supposed to be really good. She has a flight path 7 in her old school, and we were assuming stupidly I suppose she could do triple science, like she wants to.

The school is saying only flight paths 8 and 9 can do triple science. I dont see this rule written down, and other kids at the school are surprised she's not doing triple with a 7, but the school is adamant. She's gutted and we're really cross because of the effect it has on her, and because we generally think this school (which is well regarded by veeeerrrryyyyy traditional) doesn't like doing science for girls (hardly any girls doing A level science there, we now realize).

Is there anything we can try, before we look at letting her apply to another school, with all the disruption that'll involve?

I'm intrigued to know which school it is too!! I know lots of girls at 3 of the best regarded state schools in York that are doing triple.

I would say it depends how much of a hard worker she is/how much she likes the subjects/schoolwork in general - the content for triple science is enormous. My DS did triple as he had to drop one subject for SEN support time - he was very good at science and he was keen so it seemed like a good idea as it topped up the number of GCSEs he was doing without taking any extra lesson time. We were warned it was a lot of content, but fuck me, I did not get how much until I helped him revise and the vast majority of his revision time was spent on science. Even accounting for the fact it was three GCSEs, the amount of content to cover was huge compared to other subjects.

He did very well in the end in all three so we don't regret it but just go in with your eyes open.

Triple isn't harder material, it's just more topics. Do they offer it as an option (extra lessons) or are they running triple science in the same number of lessons as double science? If offered as an option, really no reason why they would stop her doing it. We don't allow those predicted less than a 5 to do triple but that's only because it's best to take triple if planning to do the sciences at A level, so it's not in the interest of very low ability to take triple science. But really any ability should be able to take triple.

Really weird attitude from your school and definitely not the norm. I would challenge this decision.

Slightly weird if not many girls taking science A levels. Physics can be a bit male dominated but I've never known this for biology and chemistry.

I wouldn’t think it’s necessary to move schools over this.
If her school won’t budge could she self-teach/get a tutor and then you could contact another local school and ask to be submitted for the exam as a private candidate. You’d have to pay the exam fees but I think it’s around £100 so not an extortionate amount

Honestly. Don't do it. Triple was a big mistake for my DD. Got 3 6s in the end. Friends with similar ability got 2 8s in double. They are still doing a level science.

Big regret! I think it's a lot.

completely agree she should be able to do it but I did double science at GCSE and still went onto
to do Biology A level and get a reasonable grade and know others that did the same so it is doable but do agree she should be able to do it with her grades.

You can't do this tho, if you do double, triple is not one extra exam, it's double plus extra for each science.

Yy @avidhorizon I would push back against this for sure. How do they offer triple? Is it an option or an accelerated class?

And why is she so keen - will the reason (science A levels, say) help?

BTW grades:
9 A star
8 A star
7 A
6 B
5 C
4 low C

No it's not

Because triple science isn't just more work or harder work... it's faster paced, and more independent thinking is required. Maths needs to be excellent too.

Yeh it is, tho tbh I think its not helpful to compare numbers with letters now. But what is 7 if not?

But double and triple aren't treated the same when it comes to A-levels are they?

My DGC's school actually invites the children it thinks are suitable to do triple.

Shame they don't have enough teachers to teach them properly

A '7' student would struggle working in a triple class alongside '9' students.

@avidhorizon some triple science schools cover a lot of the GCSE syllabus in year 9, which she's missed as she was at a different school. Is this the case perhaps?

What if there's already 35 students in the class though?

I haven’t seen a school require triple science for science A levels. Why not ficus on her absolutely nailing double…

Triple science isn't harder.

It's only harder if teaching in the same time as allocated for double science. This would mean they would have to learn at an accelerated rate with more independent learning. Most schools offer triple as an option subject so they literally have more lessons of science compared to double. If that is the case, it is the same level of rigour/ difficulty, just more topics.

We prefer triple if going onto A levels, but double is fine to do A levels.

I wouldn't die on this hill. I did double science and have three science degrees - the double has literally never been mentioned.

Not really. There isn't such a big difference. The child could have been still 13 when it was decided they were a '7'.

Its hardly a set in stone careful measurement of unchangeable scientific abilty that this '7' will have been based on either.

It could have just been on the basis of some random end of year 9 test that never even got marked properly.

My students can move between a 7 and a 9 (or vice versa) between the mocks in year 11 and the summer exams depending on how much revision they do and how well they cope with the exam period.

Ofqual would beg to differ

https://ofqual.blog.gov.uk/2018/03/02/gcse-9-to-1-grades-a-brief-guide-for-parents/

Dc got 9,8,8 and his friend got 9,9 which is viewed as better. But dc had a lot more content to cover, in the same number of lessons. He is doing two A level science subjects so I’m hoping that the extra content at gcse has given him a good start.

This is where schools differ.
Schools who cover the triple science syllabus in the same number of lessons as combined tend only to take the most able students.

Many schools cover triple in more lessons (and use an extra option block for timetabling purposes). in this case the extra content is covered in proportionally the same number of lessons.

You can take triple science at foundation level where the maximum possible grade is a 5. It should be for people who like science, not just the best kids.

I don't see that a predicted 7 is not particularly successful, it's only a prediction, that can easily be surpassed.

Advanced maths is a completely different situation, it's a lot more difficult than GCSE maths.

DS's school teaches triple science in the same timetable time as double. It's a selective option - they only take the top 20% of scientists (based on Y8/9 assessment) and those pupils also have yo be high scoring in English and Maths.

Could it be something like that?