GCSE retakes

[Lyingonthefloor]

When I was at school (my children would say in the dark ages, aka the early 1990s) if someone failed all or most of their GCSEs, it was possible to do retakes. My local sixth form college, as well as offering A Levels, offered a range of GCSE retakes to be done in a year. Not as full a range as on offer at school, but more than just English and maths, and you only did five or so, just enough to get you onto A Levels the following year. My best mate did this, it obviously meant she had an extra year at sixth form but in the end, after an initial wobble during year 11, came out with respectable GCSE and A Levels results and went to uni.

I'm now thinking about plan B for my son, who due to a very unfortunate set of circumstances may not get the GCSE grades he needs to do A Levels. He is very academic and wants to do A Levels/uni and deserves a second chance if things don't go his way next week. He doesn't want to do an alternate route. But nowhere (apart from the odd private college) seems to offer a range of GCSE resits like I remember from my youth. He could resist English and Maths but that's it.

Are full GCSE resits not really a thing any more?

At DD’s school (prestigious grammar) any pupil who didn’t achieve the correct grades to get into sixth form was offered a full repeat of their GCSE year. I’m sure this would be an option if you spoke to his school

Most will only offer Maths and English resits for those achieving less than a 4. Some fe colleges can offer other subjects if you need tuition or controlled assessments. It is possible they can offer an exam centre for other subject resits without tuition if you can pay the exam fee privately. Do you anticipate he will get a grade 4 or above(pass) if so he can move on to level 3 if not his first choice A levels Was he eligible for and did he apply for Special Consideration?

Not an option for him. He went to a special school who don't have a sixth form.

His situation is very complex and "special consideration" wouldn't have been appropriate. He only sat five GCSEs so there is no room for manoeuvre. He has an EHCP and his future school is prepared to be flexible on entry requirements to take account of his additional needs but he will still need 4/5 in all plus a 6 for one subject. It might be fine but I am panicking that we have no plan B in case it's not fine.

Someone in ds2’s year did less well than expected and school would not accept them for A levels. I assume they gained 3s and 4s. They repeated year 11 at the local FE college and did much better, then did A levels after that. So it is possible. This was only six years ago but a mainstream school.

This is becoming more common again thankfully, not at 6th form though. Look at your local colleges, 2 near us now offer this and they didn't 2 years ago. They usually do a pathway- science of humanities and it's 5 GCSEs. I've never heard of a school allowing a child to resit Y11 to retake their exams unless there's an EHCP- there's no funding for that and even then its only for summer born kids and not ideal socially.

There is most definitely funding to repeat a year! As long as they are in full time education then the government provides funding for pupils right up to and including the age of 19, no questions asked. It’s not an uncommon occurrence if a child hasn’t done as well in GCSEs as they should’ve done.

Unfortunately our local FE colleges don't seem to offer this. My son does have an EHCP so funding shouldn't be a problem (although we have had to fight every step of the way for the fairly useless education he has had so far). His A Level place is at a mainstream school sixth form.

I agree with @DeoHelp – my understanding is that there is funding withno debate until 19yo.

The student in Ds's year that retook was autumn born FWIW and they got an extra year. It was unexpected AFAIK as well so I think they had to organise it on the day or at any rate after GCSE results. It’s a shame there is nowhere local to you that offers this @Lyingonthefloor .

I think majority in this situation just do a level 2 btec plus the 2 resits and can then potentially progress to a levels. So a btec in science for example could be useful if the a levels were science based

Private schools will do this.

there are private schools that specialise in gcse and a level resits.

if you are looking at the state sector then it’s very mixed. Some selective sixth forms will not take anyone doing any kind of resit.
others will take people onto a level courses at quite low grades.

you have to resit maths and English if you didn’t get a grade 4 so that is widely offered although the quality of teaching usually leaves a lot to be desired (mostly for funding reasons and also few teachers want to teach those students).

Definitely talk to the college or sixth form in person. My yp missed the specific grades required with G5 instead of the G6 req for the AL but they took them on. Some yp did L1-2 access type courses as there is 3years of funding at 16-19 level plus up to age 25 potentially with the EHCP. Alt you can sit GCSEs & iGCSEs as a home educated private candidate if that’s an option? We are doing that with our younger child (who has a EHCP) as the couldn’t cope in MS and spreading them out with the hope she can access college aged 17 instead.

His interests are in philosophy, history, classics and there aren't BTecs in those!

Yes there is a private sixth form near me that offers it. We can't afford it although I suppose there might be a world in which the LA will have to fund it through his EHCP. The thought of yet more dealings with the LA makes me feel sick, we've been doing battle with them for years.

GCSEs at home would be a nightmare for him. He just wants to be at a normal school. But we will need to think creatively if he doesn't get the GCSEs next week.

I did 3 awards in May, then one in Nov, then 1 next May, last 2 in Nov. From home, paying as a private entrant to the exam centre. You also pay the invigilator for their time.

Doing from home with extra time due to Disability, with docs note.

Do you think he would be able to cope with A Levels at a mainstream school? I know you said he's very academic but has only sat 5 GCSEs and you are worried about whether he can get grades 4/5/6? Obviously I don't know what the circumstances are and I know that all sorts can derail someone's attainment - but most A Level subjects hope to see at least a 6 at GCSE, and most students take 8-10 GCSEs simultaneously

Not sure if they do A Levels still, but I did two A Levels online, free, with Nisai learning, funded by my local authority.
It says they did A Levels last year. If your son wants to get out and be amongst friends in person, he might not like this idea, but I struggled with illness and was ideal for me.

I got great marks and enjoyed the lessons and had some great teachers.
You just went online and shared computer screens, submitted work online.

If he had an ECHP could he do an additional year at his special school to get his GCSE grades? They cover funding to 25

Look at Humanatees Home Tutoring for igcse online classics and history 1 year courses. Exams can now be taken online at home via Tutors and Exams.

Of course I am aware of that, this is definitely a big step for him but it is what he wants to do and we want to support him to achieve as much as he can. The circumstances he is in are really unusual. At the start of secondary school he was predicted 7s and 8s in a full range of GCSEs. Unfortunately for a range of reasons he had to move to a school which didn't even offer GCSEs, and he only got to sit the five he did because I fought hard for his right to an education, but that's all the Local Authority would fund (after I took them to court and won). It's been absolutely awful for him and he deserves a chance to have a proper education.

His special school don't offer GCSEs. We got the LA to fund tutors to come into the school to teach him. It was awful, the school is completely inappropriate to his needs. It's a long story but he needs to move on from that school.

Can't edit, but I meant to say they also do GCSEs, so maybe you could use them for resits if needed and used by your LEA?

Ah @Lyingonthefloor I am sorry he has had such a tough time.

Have you contacted your local FE college directly to ask about possibly redoing year 11 (in effect)? What GCSEs did he sit?

Might the post-16 destination he is aiming for be willing to take him on for A level study anyway, if you argue his case that his quals from this year do not reflect his ability (for the reasons you have suggested here)? They will have some discretion.

There are places that definitely offer more than Maths & English- my friends daughter has gone to a local college and resat English & Maths ( she received Grade 4 last year but wants a 5) , she has also retaken sciences and another subject

Hope you can find something