HELP, y13 walked out wants to study A levels from home

[everybodystalking]

I will try to be brief.
My last child (always rebellious) wants to complete the last 2 terms of their A levels from home having turned 18.
They have had mental health issues but seem ok currently
They are clever but impulsive
They resent the time wasting and frankly some pretty poor teaching/teacher attendance for their subjects
Thye are capable of and predicted As

I could refuse but I am at work long hours and cannot make them attend
They are stubborn but very capable and likely to do better at home.
Multiple other siblings did school and did (very) well but now look back and think it could have been better from home and one really struggled.

Do you have any advice/experience?
Might school allow them to study remotely and take exams with them given they have completed much of the course?

Help what do I do ?
(Single parent no support)

Speak to hoy in first instance. Has something happened to trigger this ? Would he attend for some face to face tuition, are his subjects suitable for independent study or are there controlled assessments for example. They may not be able to enter him fir exams as a pupil if he is offrolled.

Its a tough situation and I would also suggest speaking to his school/college.
DD is a straight A student and works hard, one of her subject at college was badly taught and she had to do most of it herself and got an A.She then had a gap year and taught herself another subject at home (was supposed to have support but it was useless) and didn't do very well despite only doing 1 Alevel and nothing else.
Self Study is really hard and if your son is off role at school they probably won't be involved at all so he would have to take the exams independently

Thanks for answering

They have just turned 18 so legal to leave is the trigger....
We have a tutor for one subject because the school treaching is so poor and they are getting on well together
My eldest has a degree and is a tutor for one of the other subjects and would probably help (they get on well)
One of the other siblings has a good degree in the other subject but does not tutor usually...and they butt heads more

all are essay subjects so simple from that point of view

I think the academics are doable but I am daunted by the admin (my work is very full on) and I think if school would not allow to sit with them we would be too late to find a private exam centre...it seems like they get booked up well in advance.

I think I have to talk to school don't I? Argh...sadly stubborn rund in the family so insisting on attendance would likely end in failure

The key decider for me would be will school let them sit the exams there if they’ve not been fully involved with the teaching? Your dc’s results will be reported with schools even if they’ve self taught for 25% of the course so they may not be too keen.

yes this is my concern
on the other hand this school really values it's ranking for A levels and my child would be in the top 10 percent.......if they achieve what they are capable of

Being alone in a house in a vacuum hour after hour has dreadful effects on teens’ minds. Look at what happened in lockdown and after.

Yes, check if the school will allow the exams to be sat there.
If they are sat privately have you factored in the cost?

We had a kid who stopped turning up for lessons around January time insisting that he could work better from home. He could not, and ended up with Ds and Es. It's not as easy as teens may think.

Could you task said teen with finding out about exam centres and how much they cost and if they could accommodate him? Would they put their money where their mouth is and find a PT job to pay the fees?

I'd say to him that if he's old enough to be an adult he's old enough to do all the research on how he would sit the exams privately and then get a part-time job to pay for them. Tell him he's got three days to come up with the relevant info and a fully hatched plan, and if he can't he's going back to school.

My child is ahead of the game...they have blessed me with a 15 minute power point presentation with costs (financial, social, emotional) and benefits.
They have a part time job and can finance sitting the exam privately as they have put the money aside.......
I'll ask them to look up exam centres (good idea) but costs they already presented.

however as @noblegiraffe said, the theory and the reality might be different. I'm very aware that being bright and impulsive does not put a good foundation for self discipline and dedication.

I'd agree with pp. Set clever teen the task of finding exam centre and booking.

@ScrollingLeaves I agree, it is a worry, although the house is far from empty....as multiple adult sibs are here working/studying etc,

Lockdown was not such an issue for them as they had each other and functioned well even though I was not here...several of them actually preferred it but they were all under 20 then.

"They" are 18. I would let the adult crack on and just reiterate that I won't be picking up nor admin, nor costs, nor any responsibility if it goes wrong.

The school may have already paid for the exam entry, so taking the exam may not be an issue.
They may want your DS to take the exam as a private candidate as however bad they think the teaching is they may not do as well as they think without it.

Do you receive child benefit or similar which may cease if they leave ft education or training?

Do any of their choices involve NEAs? If so, how would they be marked?

Good point
What are the subjects?

Are they planning uni? Has that application and reference been done?

Hi I echo look into exam centres asap before de reg , locally we have had quite a few centers reduce the numbers of private candidates or not offering them the spaces at all this year not all offer a lot of special arrangements if he has any e.g a separate room. Also pls be aware child benefit will stop and potentially any others you get for him as he will be seen as not in full time education and once de regested he will get no support from the school

How can DC have presented you with the financial costs if they haven’t researched exam centres? Exam centres don’t all charge the same amount. Some may also be fully booked for some subjects/boards. This is especially the case if DC needs access arrangements.

My DC took an a level privately. It is do-able but you may need to travel some distance.

I would be concerned about exam technique in your shoes. It's not enough to know the content you need to be able to tick box the markscheme and that's where the teaching really does help.

Is your DC considering university or do they not know future plans?

What kinds of costs did they factor in? I work with a group of exam centres to assess my subject; they are very good and can accommodate all kinds of requirements - an A level in history (for example) is £670 for an on-time entry (entry by early Feb) so three similar would be more than £2k which is quite a chunk.

I would speak to school asap to see what, if anything, can be agreed wrt to the YP sitting exams on minimal or zero attendance.

I agree.
DD did her STEM subject A level around an hour and a half away, somewhere not accessible by public transport and her practicals 2 hours away.
Luckily I am SE so could take her but we actually stayed in an Airbnb for the practicals and I drove her to the exams with a very early start and hung around nearby.
Also, she is very bright and absolutely knew her subject BUT still did badly, research afterwards suggested it was purely down to not being drilled in exam technique for that specific exam

thank you so much everybody...
the costing that DC did was just exam entry fees not cost of the actual centre...so more work to do there.
They are taking English Lit, Philosophy and History with EPQ already submitted and gained (A) and NEA for English half complete first draft and final draft will be handed in by Christmas (school front loads everything...I think actually only has to be done by Feb 14)

I am naturally a conformer...I would always take the path of least resistance/conventional well worn route BUT it has not necessarily worked that well for me in the past. Other DCs are generally of the ...just get on and live with the non ideal situation people. I really struggle with this DCs different and very logical and well reasoned approach...because they haven't had a great track record of self discipline....

However school isn't working that well and ...they are an adult. Usually I parent by logic/natural consequences and reason. I'm trying to find a reason why this is a bad idea and school is a good one...but logically the DC's grades are going down, mental health suffering and resistance going up....but it feels really risky to me. Am I just a wimp?