Can you repeat y11/GCSEs and start 6th form 1 year later?

[Pandasandlions]

Just wondering if that is possible. DC has severe MH needs and everything unravelled this year (y9). Mainstream off-rolled us. Waiting for a secondary school place in alternative provision via EHCP and that may take a while. Concerned that DC may not be able to get enough GCSEs for 6th form given the time out of school and the current lack of placement. Is it possible to repeal a year 11 to have more time for GCSEs before progressing to 6th form for A-Levels. DC is very bright and wants to progress to university but is just held back by poor MH and lack of adequate provision. We are in the process of securing an EHCP.

Yes you can. Dd is in year 12 and there’s a boy who is a year older but that’s because he repeated year 11. That said, you’re ds hasn’t started GCSEs yet so don’t write him off. Good to have a back plan.

what would good provision look like? Just to get an idea of his needs.

we need a small SEHM setting for KS4, not mainstream but there are not many options. I doubt it's all sorted at the beginning of y10 and DC will spend part of year 10 without formal education. Our LA is awful in terms of what is available and everything is a fight.

Hopefully it's not needed. I just had no idea if that would be possible at all. New to all of this so finding things out as we go along.

Yes, it’s not that uncommon and happened in DD’s school whenever a pupil didn’t get the grades they needed to progress into their chosen subjects in sixth form.

Yes.

But you might be surprised how few GCSEs are needed to progress to sixth form. You need to pass English and maths and have the GCSEs that you want to continue to a level.

some schools in year 11 have kids sitting a lot of GCSEs and they are not all needed.

Alternatively they may resit some gcses in year 12 alongside a level2/3 course.

most 6th form here require 6 but when you are in alternative/specialist provision, it's quite hard to get 6 as many don't even offer than many. Very different to mainstream schools plus child has missed most of year 9 and probs a big chunk of year 10 as no school place to attend.

In our experience this is true for college, not sixth form who are selective and often have quite high entry requirements. For example DD needed As in both GCSE maths & biology for biology A level.

Thanks for clarifying. DC wants definitely go to 6th form for A-Levels and then to uni.

You can enter your child for GCSEs as a private candidate.

AP does tend to offer fewer GCSEs but most will do English and maths and science (usually combined)

what does your DC want to study?

Something related to English/Drama. Very talented in English. Used to be fab at science whilst in mainstream. I think as a 6th GCSE subject, we can pick between RS and art. DC is not arty at all but used to excel at history and is great in English (writing/analysing etc) so we are leaning towards RS. Anyone any thoughts on this? He really hates art and drawing and the messiness etc. We need to aim for 6 GCSEs.

I know but we don't have the means for private tuition and DC isn't one of those that learns well at home in the absence of lessons/teacher..

I started 6th form but was also retaking my gcse science, I didn’t pass until the day I got my full a level results…..

Our local 6th form colleges all demand a minimum of 6 GCSEs. That is the absolute max DC will be able to take (if everything goes well, it may not). Do colleges admit you if you don't meet the minimum entry qualification in those circumstances?

Under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, the LA is responsible for ensuring DC still receives a suitable full-time education despite not being able to attend school. This is separate to the EHCP process. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use to request this provision. If that doesn’t work, post back for the next steps.

It is possible. Although, to get being educated outside DC’s chronological year group included in the EHCP, you may need to appeal. However, if you are going down the specialist provision route, being educated outside of chronological year group isn’t so important because DC are not limited to only doing GCSEs in Y11. There is often more leeway in the number of GCSEs required for those with EHCPs too.

@perpetualplatespinning I am fully aware of legislation but all quoting it back and escalating and complaining brought about nothing else than a few websites to log in to do some pretty useless stuff which is aimed at much younger kids. It's awful. I send the IPSEA letter etc and got absolutely nowhere. I am concentrating now on getting the EHCP over the line.

We're in the a very similar position to you but a year ahead. DD has some pretty severe MH challenges. Struggled through Y7 and 8 but it fell apart in Y9 and she was completely unable to attend.

However her school was very supportive and proactive and worked with the LA to get alternative provision in place for her asap in the form of 121 online tutoring for the core GCSEs (Maths, English x 2, Science x 3). She's now in Y10 and that provision will stay in place as long as she needs it. She is still fully on roll at the school and (MH allowing) will be able to sit her exams there with accommodations in place (private room etc).

Obviously it isn't ideal but it is what it is and it's working OK. Like your DS she is very bright and wants to go on to A Levels and university, if she's ready and able to from a MH perspective.

I'm not an expert but from what you've said your DS should not have been off rolled. As PP said, the LA is legally responsible to deliver an education for your DS and that is totally independent of an EHCP. We haven't pursued one for DD and no one has suggested it.

The timescales for the normal complaints process take too long and LAs know it so it isn’t a suitable remedy. If you change your mind (e.g. if you need to appeal the EHCP), the way to enforce provision is via a pre-action letter then if necessary JR.

@mybestchildismycat you should request an EHCNA. An EHCP provides greater protection to specific provision. It can also provide provision in excess of what section 19 provision can provide, including therapies etc. Also, the LA’s duty under s19 of the Education Act 1996 only applies to compulsory school age pupils. Whilst LAs have to power to make provision for post 16 pupils, they don’t have to. Consequently, many do not. Whereas the EHCP can continue to provide provision.

The LAs duty under section 19 extends beyond the core subjects, BTW. The LA should be providing a broad and balanced curriculum in line with what is available in mainstream education as far as DD’s needs allow.

I've cross posted with your update. I'm sorry that you've had such poor support, it's awful that it's such a lottery.

You say that you can't afford private tuition and that DS isn't suited to independent learning. I completely hear you on that, DD likewise needs the structure of lessons and homework to make progress. There are some online providers that deliver group lessons to home ed students which are relatively low cost (compared to private tuition) and provide a bit of structure and accountability. I can share some links for you if that's helpful. Appreciate you may already be well aware of these things though.

Ive found it tricky because in general home ed resources are set up for independent learners in families who have chosen home ed as their preferred pathway, rather than being 'forced' into due to EBSA.

When I was at sixth form we had a “Connect” course for people who wanted to take A levels but didn’t have the GCSEs. It was aimed at those that really “should” have got the GCSEs but didn’t for some reason. It took a year. There was about 20 doing it. Trying to remember who was there and why. There was a few who had been ill - ME and eating disorders were quite common when I was young. A girl who had had a baby. A lad whose family were caught up in escaping DV whilst the GCSEs were going on so missed most of the exams. Quite a few “lazy buggers” who had done no revision and then had a shock. A couple who were just a bit unlucky and got a number of high Ds rather than the Cs they were expecting.

Don’t know if that sort of thing still exists but it sounds perfect if it does.

Thank you @perpetualplatespinning, that's really helpful.

I guess I haven't gone down that route because we (naively) thought that she would be able to return to school relatively quickly, and the LA and school have been so helpful and I've got good relationships with them so I guess I haven't wanted to rock the boat. I'm aware of experiences like PPs were the provision is basically zero so I've been pathetically grateful for what we've got. And it's another thing to have to fight for and worry about. And we are also fortunate thay financially we have been able to 'top up' the LA funded provision and pay for her to study another two subjects independently. I know that the LA should be providing these but I'm not sure I've got the fight in me.

You've given me food for thought though, and you're right about the post 16 provision - up to now it's been far enough in the future that I haven't allowed myself to consider that she may not be able to return to mainstream by that point. But with a little over a year to go I guess I need to square up to that possibility. Thanks again.

You can but be aware very often the syllabus changes so they may be examined on different things

I've been pathetically grateful for what we've got.

@mybestchildismycat this is what LAs relies on. It is disgusting really, isn’t it?

If you ever want a handhold through the EHCP process or pursuing further s19 provision, the SEN and SN boards are good (although quieter than the main boards).

You're right of course. My experience has been that the people on the front line have been just lovely and clearly want to do the very best for their children that are referred to them. But their hands are tied.

And to be fair to the LA, demand for specialist education provision is spiralling while funding has been stagnating or cut. And they have a shit ton of competing and equally spiralling demands on local budgets (adult social care being an obvious one). So I guess they don't have a magic wand either.

I don't know, it's all a bit of a mess. I know those aren't my responsibility to solve though and that my responsibility is to make sure DD gets everything she is entitled to. I'm going to think on it.

I'd talk to the 6th forms now to see how flexible they may be.