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)

@titchy UCAS is paid for and submitted

whether DC will go or not is another question they are keeping their options open.

essentially currently wondering whether a more creative subject would suit better but I think they are actually suited to academics......

The NEAs for History and English Lit will have to be marked by the school. Will they both be handed in before Christmas?

I think you need to get to the bottom of why your DC wants to leave school. Obviously mental health takes priority, but if going it alone without the right guidance results in doing less well how will that help with your child's mental health?

@RampantIvy I don't think the History NEA question is even known/formulated. History teaching has been terrible. They haven't marked a single essay apart from mocks in the summer. The reason we have a tutor is that DC had no clue of how to structure a history essay, had asked for guidance several times and was getting v frustrated. 4 tutorial sessions in and thay've been told they are now doing well (but obviously no marks or returned essays from school, just the tutor).
It would be so much easier if school were performing ok!!!!

You/DC need to speak to whatever exam centre you use about the NEAs. The arrangements vary centre to centre, and not all centres offer qualifications which have NEAs. For example, for English lit and History A levels, Tutors and Exams require candidates to be working with one of their partner distance learning providers or approved tutors. This will be an added expense and you would need to find someone with availability/willing to take DC on so far through the course.

It sounds like your child has done their research well.

• If they are going as an external candiate, make sure they have properly factored in the costs associated with that, and whether the test centre requires them to take lessons with them first.
• Check whether school would require them to pay for exam entries they are no-longer using. I would expect they would.

thanks everyone
I really want them just to go back to school and be "easy".......😫never been easy in their life......
I have a very full on job, I won't be able to run them around....but in 2 weeks they have a driving test so that might not be an issue.....

perhaps school will accept some dodgy attendance and exams sat with them (Clutches at straws)
It doesn't seem easy to orchestrate this

I share your pain, but I think your DS might actually be realising his limits and that school is impacting his MH. I have had EBSA with my dc (the three autistic dc). My y13 is currently on 80% attendance because they just cannot manage every day. They have an EHCP, have previously had a fair bit of time out of school during GCSE. They understand their MH well now. School seem to be ok with it has they are predicted a* and A.

it’s worth having a talk to school. I would say they would be resistant. Otherwise and exam centre is a good call.

MH has to be the priority here.

Thanks, yes Mental health is everything....without it the rest is worthless.
I will talk to the wellbeing people at school first and see if we can work out a path.

Talk to the school and try to keep them enrolled, maybe with a reduced timetable as Plan A. I wonder if your DC would agree a compromise like doing one or two subjects in college and the rest from home with a tutor. School will be used to students being EBSA and are unlikely to chuck an A grade student out early doors if they keep handing in whatever they need to. NEAs, curriculum coverage and exams will be so much easier with current school. I'd suggest keeping the reasons to MH in discussions with school rather than the quality of the teaching.

Also going into college regularly, even for just one subject, would make it easier for your child to attend for the actual exams. This might make sense to them as a reason to keep going in. Maybe also, if MH allows, raise the idea that tolerating a lesson you are not loving, taking what you can from it, is a study skill they will need for uni. Some lecturers will be poor, some units will be compulsory and not their cup of tea. Keeping "in the room" will be important at undergrad level.

At this age they can be very black and white and plump straight for one solution as the only possible one. Other ideas include dropping out for this year, working on recovery and rejoining in Sept (6th forms should all allow a 3rd year for this reason) or asking for adjustments to homework load. Also I would try to plant the idea that 2 runs at Y13 is completely fine, whether that means staying in school this year and doing own retakes next year if needed, or trying it on their own this year and retaking with a taught Y13 (online school?) next year if needed.

I have some sympathy for your child. We get a similar moan from DD that with all the pre-learning she has to do, actually going to the lessons feels like the least valuable part of her week. But she knows herself, that she only does the learning because of the structure and work set by her teacher. On a bad day she frames it that the lessons are the "price" she pays for that structure, which she absolutely relies on. Going it alone might be a sensible plan for some students, but it won't be right for everyone. You know your child best - would they plough through the curriculum independently or procrastinate and get depressed? I think these particular subjects are some of the hardest to do with no teaching, and the hardest to be confident that an A grade in class will translate into an A grade on exam day.

I would look to maybe meet DC half way and try to agree a reduced timetable with school that still keeps them on track to sit their exams there. (Also is this PowerPoint etc a distraction when they should be doing their NEA?! DD's Eng is already handed in and Hist is due in next week!)

Check about NEAs. Submitting by Christmas sounds very early for the English Lit (but good from your perspective if this is true!).

History is worrying. For context, my DD had very patchy history A Level teaching (teacher was off sick, then one left and they got to about a month off the exams with a huge chunk of the syllabus not taught) and had to do a lot independently but (and this is a big but) the school did recognise that this wasn't great and chucked in a lot of revision sessions close to the exams and spent a lot of the time they did have working on exam technique and what was expected to get good marks - on the basis that this was harder for the students to work out themselves than just learning content. I do not think DD would have done as well as she did if she had left at Christmas and solely worked independently, due to missing out on all the extra targetted stuff. But you may be getting this through your tutor.

I don't know if it's the same for all exam boards, but my DD had to choose her own History question. (As in, she could choose anything historically related, as long as it met approved criteria).

I’m sorry, I know it’s not a laughing matter but that did make me laugh- a PowerPoint detailing costs does scream smart arse sixth former 🤣 On a more serious note, it will be difficult to study to the required level from home, especially given that essay subjects require quite significant practice and feedback. I would try to persuade him otherwise or look for professional tutors (preferably teachers who are currently teaching or who have only left teaching recently)

Don't underestimate the stress off sitting an exam with no peer support, in a strange place where everything and any staff are unfamiliar where you travel to a new place. All that can knock someone's confidence. There is so much that even a not amazing teacher knows about the course because they know it and the past papers and the trends and what to focus on that the even the most able pupil can't know. All the revision tasks and practices that a child won't know to do. The very fact that this was triggered by 'I'm 18 and I'm an adult now just smacks of childish arrogance and and underlying immaturity.

A level teacher here. I’d be amazed if your child could do as well outside school.

It’s not the content - it’s understanding the mark scheme, practising under exam conditions, assimilating feedback, listening to class discussions, bouncing off ideas. Especially in subjects like Lit and History.

Teaching ends around Easter and then it’s exam stuff. Surely they can suck it up for 4 more months? Rather than allow them to ‘opt out’, put your foot down. Nothing to stop them studying hard at home too!

The poor teaching does need addressing though - get in touch with Dept Head.

I can guarantee if they opt out and it all goes wrong, they’ll blame you for allowing them to do it.

Lots of people thrived.

Sitting a levels as an independent candidate is expensive, and if there are practical / coursework elements they may not be able to sit the same exam board / syllabus / access the a level at all.

I disagree with others here, in my experience self study is more efficient for many. And if teaching is poor, they’ll likely be doing it by themselves anyway.

I’d allow it, even encourage it… if you can afford it and sort the practicalities.

You may find that if your child is able, the school will want credit for their results and will keep them on roll, allowing them to sit the exam as a registered pupil.

One of mine is self studying GCSEs and doing much better than they did in school.

Genuinely, I hope their exam results reflect that.
A lot of what is taught is exam technique.
i speak from experience (A level not GCSE though)

Would a move to a different school or sixth form be possible? Is that allowed in a level year ?

I knew quite a few people who quit just before the end of a course. they all regretted not sticking it out.

id talk to the school and work out a reduced attendance timetable on the basis of EBSA.

Thing is though - most people ‘grow out of’ school a term or two before the end.totally natural to want to move on, but there’s a need for the tuition (even poor).

Yes I agree I hope they do well.

I examine aspects of my subject (MFL) for GCSE and A level, private candidates who are often HE or taking the exam independently for whatever reason, and there is a real issue at times (not always) with lack of knowledge about what they need to do to do well in the speaking assessment. The kind of things that would be very much covered by an exam-experienced teacher or tutor (most if not all teachers are but alas not all tutors).

One of mine missed yr 10 due to a MH crisis. She taught herself a short course GCSE, school saw her after school five times to mark her work, she became familiar with the mark scheme.

she sat the exam and got a 9, four marks off
full marks. For the right child, it actually doesn’t matter. And getting g a 4 or a 9 actually are great outcomes if their MH is ok.

Will you have to pay for the exams if you withdraw from school?

yes I think so but exam cost is small compared with exam centre cost.

I'm more anxious the longer I think about it, not because of my 18 year old...it's me!! I want to hide my head in the sand and ask them to just get on with it...I did it, their siblings did it BUT they are not me, nor are they their siblings.....they are both better and worse suited to home schooling....I need a crystal ball!!, more time and ideally another parent in the mix (thanks all for filling in for the latter and helping with your wisdom).

The burden is so much harder as a single parent, but you seem extremely perceptive, and you have so much more experience than most parents would do in your position. Trust your own judgement.

I don't really see why you should withdraw their candidacy from school and fork out for the exam centres. That is an illogical conclusion for me, your DC being too black and white when a "smaller" response could address their feelings and actually meet their needs better.

I"m not even saying this is EBSA, but just for the record there are a lot of kids who don't manage to stay in school for their learning but do manage to take their exams there. Smaller exam rooms, breaks, adjustments are possible to help get them over the line. But Philosophy and English Lit A Levels are particularly tricky subjects to teach yourself from a book, mark your own work etc.

I got myself through an A level without any lessons. I got hold of the last ten or so past papers. I was doing Govt & Politics, so I made a list of all the topics - trade unions, Labour party, Conservatives, etc. I didn't have a syllabus, so obviously that would help, but being familiar with the papers helped enormously. Then I wrote a model answer for each question on each topic. I got a B - it took me six months of working part-time and working hard at the A level.

If I were to do it now I'd get the syllabus as well as the past papers, but I'd also need to know when and how the syllabus last changed.

I'd also get a copy of the mark scheme for each paper (those weren't publicly available when I did this, decades ago). I'd write those model answers using the mark scheme and then get a private tutor to mark them for me. Given the vagaries of mark schemes I wouldn't trust myself alone on that.