Retaking Y10

[squaredoff]

DD aged 15 is coming to the end of Y10 and I'd like some advice. She's always been sensitive and anxious and we are now investigating an autism diagnosis. In autumn of Y10 she had a breakdown and missed about 8 weeks of school. She had a phased return and is now back in full time school, but spends quite a bit of time in first aid because she feels faint a lot. (We thought it was POTS at one point but it's actually psychogenic, which is why she only faints at school.) She is very behind in every subject, doing extremely badly in end of year exams and also exhausted. I don't know whether she can make it through Y11 with all the catching up, under pressure of mocks etc and am wondering what options i have. Is redoing Y10 a possibility? Thank you

Have you had a discussion with the school?

Sometimes there are college courses, but it depends on what is available in your area.

Do you think that dd would want to do it ? My ds spent some time off from school in y10 but for social reasons would never have agreed to repeat the year. If he was really far behind then I would have had to find a new school so that he didn’t feel the stigma of repeating.

I would say, try getting legal advice. But first, gather as much information as you can. Talk to school first, ask for their policies. Email to the council education department, ask their policies. You can use Freedom of Information if necessary. Probably best approach with the Council. Public bodies have 20 days to reply, however in practice they could take longer. If you make it clear you need it for legal purposes they will hopefully be quicker. Speak to your local Citizens Advice Bureau. Email your MP, they will allocate a caseworker. Use ChatGPT to give you pointers, explanations and templates. Good luck. I really do think you need to push for your daughter to resit Y10

When was she born? If she's summer born (april-aug) you have a chance but if not than no chance. We did this, and DD has just finished GCSEs. It has it's pros and cons, PM if you want.

Would she be better just dropping some subjects and using the spare lessons to catch up? Dependent on the school she could go to the inclusion unit, or library, or sit in the back of a class. Identify what would she need for next steps and prioritise that?

Does she have an EHCP? Would she qualify maybe?

Mine missed y11, and got an EHCP in y12, this enabled her to do 2 years college, a year out, another year at college and about to return again.

Without an EHCP &/or being summer born, it is unlikely to be agreed.

If DD doesn’t already have an EHCP, request an EHCNA. It wouldn’t be in place before the start of Y11, but it will be helpful. EHCPs can last until 25, or 26 in some cases.

How many subjects is DD doing?

If DD can’t attend full time, the LA has a duty to make other arrangements (as well as part-time school or instead of).

Thank you. You've all been very helpful.

She's autumn born, no EHCP and not likely to get one. Ive not heard of EHCNA but will google.

I'm thinking the best plan might be to keep her in her year group and drop some subjects. Currently she's doing 10, but I'm thinking she could drop from triple science to combined (which would also lose the hardest topics) and maybe also one of her choices.

I've heard rumours universities only look at the top 8 GCSEs. Is this true?

EHCNA is just an Education Health Care Needs Assessment. It is what you go through to get the actual Plan bit of EHCP.

Dropping from triple to combined doesn't lose the hardest topics as such but does cut out a goodly chunk of the syllabus. (Triple is just more not harder), and could be a very good plan. May depend on timetabling of course.

You may have to appeal but it is possible to get an EHCP for the needs you describe in your OP.

Universities don’t always consider GCSEs beyond English and Maths. Where they do, they wouldn’t normally consider more than 8, and some don’t look at that many.

I wouldn't worry about the university too much at this point.

There are so many ways of catching up with education these days.

I qualified from the Russell group university at the age of 45. I had to do an Access to the Higher Education course to be accepted to uni, as I had a break of more than 5 years of studying.

I am neurodiverse. it was my 5th attempt at getting higher education. When I finally did it, I did it with a bang, with a 1st class degree.

My son did very badly in Y10. I told him, if it continues like this, he should really consider going to college to train as an electrician/gas engineer rather than taking A-levels. I told him it was pointless getting bad A-levels and then ending up with a Micky Mouse degree and lots of debt.

It suddenly spurred my son to try harder.

Then he was crying in the middle of the Y11 as the pressure to do well got to him.

I reiterated my point he could always go to a vocational course. Should he still want to go to uni he could do Access to Higher Education and get into uni as a muture student later. This calmed him down.

My son is predicted top grades for his GSCEs. However, it has been touch and go.

I would say, do what you can to support your daughter's mental health at present. Going to uni should not be the priority at the moment.