What are the implications of only doing 6GCSEs

[hopelessholly1]

did not grow up in the UK... hence the question.

DC has SN. Insanely bright but currently out of school. ASD, depression, anxiety...

we are waiting for the EHCP to come through and a few local specialist settings for academically able DC have been suggested but DC can do max 6 GCSEs there. they want to do a-levels and then go to uni (study science or maths). Are there any downsides to not having 8 or 9 a levels? I genuinely have no clue.

I think 6 is ok - our local further education college requires 4 to get onto a lot of the post GCSE courses.

It is what 6 / what grades, that makes the difference. English, Maths, separate Science, Humanity.... English and Maths is what gets the college place and at the correct entry level for A Levels, then depending on what A Levels whether he has the corresponding GCSEs to match the A Level choices.

It would probably depend on what the six were. She would need eng lang and maths for future qualifications - these are the ones that are often cited as a minimum- and then the two or three science GCSE’s needed for a level science. Could she stay in the same setting for a levels? Can they advise?

My daughter ended up with 6 due to illness and it hasn't made any difference. What would have made a difference is not doing English or maths and passing.

My daughter has 4. Is in her first year at uni and thriving! She hated GCSEs and struggled to pass what's essentially a memory test. It hasn't held her back at all and first two uni assignments were grades with top marks

6 is fine as long as your dc is doing subjects he/she is likely to pass. Doing 6 gcse's at the end of year 11 and then doing some more at college the next year is also an option.

they would be doing Math, English ,double science (DC wants do physics and potentially biology at a level. Is double science a show stopper here). There is no MFL.... and PE, RE and duke of Edinburgh.

He might need to do some extra self study between GCSEs and Alevel to just cover the extra topics for science A levels. However its a common scenario as not all schools do Separate Sciences.

6 is fine just so long as they get the grades they need to do A level. For maths and sciences this is usually a 7

Double science is fine for Alevel.

Look at the entry requirements for the next step. So, for instance, my sons sixth form asked for 5 GCSEs at grade 5 or above, including English and Maths, then subject specific ones of a 7 in maths, 6 in science etc.. but there is no requirement for 8 or 9 subjects.

Double science is fine for the A level.

As a PP has pointed out triple science goes into greater depth than double science and if your DC is in A level classes with students who have taken triple science the teacher may assume prior knowledge for all of them, so there may be a bit of catching up to do.

As an aside universities aren't interested in D of E and don't take it into account when making offers.

You can do A level sciences from double science.
Some more selective school 6th forms may be ruled out (though theybprobably wouldn't be suitable anyway perhaps). Our local v good A level colleges only need 5 GCSEs.

Better 6 than attempting 9 getting overwhelmed and dropping out.

6 is fine, you should make sure English Language, Maths and Science are taken though as most colleges and employers expect that. Context is always important so keep a bit of a CV going too - any clubs or experience etc. Good luck

the ones we are looking at do not do any language. is that an issue???

Loads of kids don't do a language GCSE.

Check entry requirements for specific courses but my DS only did 6 for very similar reasons and was interviewed by Oxford for his chosen subject and now is at UCL in his first year. It hasn't held him back whatsoever.

If he wants to do a science degree you might want to just check whether he needs to do 3 sciences as part of the 6.

My son didn't do a language.

I have a suicidal child who cannot leave the house and who is under 24/7 suicide watch. severe eating disorder so no energy for clubs. Is this really something we should worry about? At the moment we focus on keeping them alive (and hopefully finding the right school) but there isn't absolutely anything else we can do and are unlikely to manage in the years to come.

No. The usual requirements are 5 GCSEs. For A levels you'd usually be expected to have grades 6-9 in those. Just doesn't leave much room for a crap grade if that makes sense?

Double science is fine is you can get grade 7 or more. Some will accept lower for A level but the course content may be challenging and a good grade tricky. Six gcses will be sufficient in most cases as long as it includes core subjects and are good grades for any subjects relevant to the A level subjects. Schools tend to want 8 for their stats. D of E is unnecessary apart from for personal development but can attract ucas points if that is relevant later on to meet entry requirements. However the majority if unis specify grades not points and won't be interested.

I've been there , it's really tough.

My son didn't have extra curricular because he couldn't do anything else either. His personal statement focused entirely on his academic subject.

Most places (there are some exceptions) do not count DofE as a GCSE equivalent so that would be my main worry here. There’s no issue doing A level sciences after dual award unless in the chosen setting there are other students who have done separate sciences: in that case the pupils who have done dual often have to attend separate classes to cover the material that the others have already covered; this can usually be done in a term though.

Oh sorry, just realised you listed 6 aside from DofE. That would be fine for A levels