GCSEs online if no place in school can be found

[Squirrelseatcake]

Does anyone have experience with doing GCSEs online?

DC has SN (around MH and cannot cope in a mainstream environment) but extremely bright and academic. We are trying to find a school via EHCP but all local APs which offer an academic setting are full. We are now staring into the abyss of not having any sort of education anymore at all (child is currently in y9). One school we visited suggested we approach the LA for online schooling. Has anyone done it?

How isolating is it for the DC? I work and and DC would be all week alone at home just with a laptop and I worry their mental health would spiral further downwards it surely that is better than no education.

Any other idea how an academic child can access at least 6 GCSEs (that's is what all local sixth form colleges require for A-Levels). 4 or 5 GCSEs won't cut it. DC want to study science or engineering at uni.

My DC was in exactly this situation and the mainstream school said they could could keep him on as long as he attended some lessons. Then he'd have to have alternativey provision tutors for english maths and science at home. DC couldn't go in at all so we switched to EOTAS.

I'm home full time so totally dedicated to his teaching with correspondance courses, but even with me there it is very isolating.

There's an article in the Times Education Supplement this week saying that in England and Wales 92,000 kids stopped going to school in 2024 and switched to elective home education. I think the schools are really in trouble tbh.

Are you able to work from home more days - if only in the short term. I just keep thinking about a yr 9 girl, with no friends, selectively mute and having the additional responsibilities of a severely disabled sibling - on her own all day at home- studying. @Talkingshop sorry, but it is the 92,000 young people studying from home that I would worry about not the schools.

Appealing a schools decision doesnt take a year, contact your local authorities Fair Access team for advice on this point. If the EHCP is still in draft then they can assist with alternative provision whilst you're waiting for it to be finalised.

SENDist waiting times are over a year now. it's beyond ridiculous.

I know, I'm a fair access officer. The local authority has a statutory obligation to provide a 'suitable education'

Because DD isn’t in school full time, you can request an expedited hearing. There will still be a wait, but it won’t be a year for a SENDIST hearing.

And in the meantime the LA is still responsible for providing a suitable full-time education under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 and once it is finalised anything detailed, specified and quantified in F of the EHCP under section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

Then you will also know that a lot LA tend to shirk that duty. Statutory means nothing these days. :(

You don’t have to allow the LA to get away with acting unlawfully. If the LA has refused to provide alternative provision under s19 of the Education Act 1996, have you taken enforcement action? If not, email the Director of Children’s Services threatening judicial review. If that doesn’t work, you need a pre-action letter. And if that fails, JR proceedings will work.

Or she can study at home all day, on her own, coping with her mental ill health issues as you wonder why she is not achieving 9's in science.

For the GCSE science subjects which normally require practicals (or for subjects with coursework) you would take iGCSEs which are fully exam based…

But would that set her up for doing practical work in science A levels?

DC who take iGCSEs can go on to do A levels. Although it is possible to do GCSE science.

Hey - we have been with Nisai for the last couple of years and have loved it. My DD suffers from high level anxiety and struggled with her mainstream school. She has really excelled in this new environment. The lessons are all live and only 15 kids in a class. The teachers, mentors and student support staff are fab! They all got to know my DD and us as parents so well and it’s so obvious how much the Nisai staff all care about her and her daily struggles. She really has come out of her shell and it’s so nice to have my daughter back in our lives again. She is achieving academic results we never thought she would reach.

I know Nisai are the only section 41 approved online provider which means they can be named on an EHCP. My DD’s classmate has gone down this route and their parents told me how great Nisai were in helping them through the EHCP process. Their son is loving Nisai life and how individualised their lesson plans are for them. They also physically meet a mentor regularly to help through his plans.