DC regretting choosing the Brit School for GCSES

[gettingtothetopofthemountain]

DC is in year 11 and is now regretting going to the Brit School as they don’t want to continue with the strand and want to do A levels.

They want to do Spanish for instance but they don’t have GCSE Spanish; also psychology but I think they can do it with English GCSE.

What can they do?

Go to 6th form college open days. They are usually happening about now. They can apply to a college they like to do A levels.

I’d advise they visit some colleges and talk to them about entry requirements for different A level courses. Psychology will likely only require English and maths, maybe science, as it’s rarely taught at GCSE level. Spanish may be trickier but if they’re willing to put the work in they might be fine.

Thank you. They speak Spanish

Could they take a year out to do the GCSES they need?

Best bet is to go to open days and talk to 6th forms.
With a less standard GCSE background places may be flexible. DC needs to show ability and in some subjects specific prior knowledge. So e.g. if speaks and reads/writes Spanish (as a second main language?) that may be ok even without the GCSE.

What GCSEs is the DC doing?

Local Colleges will likely offer GCSEs for post 16 students, A-levels, and a range of BTECHs etc at different levels. Make contact with local Colleges because they could probably offer GCSE retakes where needed, for a year before starting A-levels. They could also guide your child to A-level equivalent qualifications that might be do-able with the GCSEs they have. They might also offer some more advanced courses, subject to GCSEs being taken alongside, rather than first.

Often schools will allow native speakers to take their home language GCSE as an additional entry. Or he could take another test to prove competency. Sixth form may allow Spanish A Level for without the GCSE but will want to check the language skills are there.

Yes all children are allowed to extend their secondary education for one year for a good reason which might include repeating a year or retaking gcses or a change of direction like this. But you will find it tricky to find anywhere that will teach a full GCSE in a single year. How well do they already speak Spanish? If they are from a bilingual family a 6th form college may accept them onto an A-Level course without GCSE - generally so long as your DC gets 5 good GCSE passes they will be able to do A-Levels somewhere. For any A-Level subject that wasn't offered at GCSE at your child's current school, most colleges will allow a student to do the A-Level if they got a grade 6 at GCSE in a vaguely related subject, though they may set catchup work to do over the summer.

Enter them for Spanish GCSE as a private candidate this year (may need a tutor). No point in taking a year after to do just one subject. Spanish and Psychology A levels should be accessible if English grade is ok.

Psychology A level will probably need 5s in Maths and 2x Science GCSEs, plus pass in English or at least that was the minimum requirement at the Sixth Form where I did admissions until last year.

Thank you. Good idea

How do I enter them for Spanish as a private candidate?

One of the exam boards, AQA, has a guide on being a private candidate - here. I imagine several exam boards have similar pages on their sites, so it depends which one offers the Spanish GCSE you are after

Thank you. I need to start researching

Your school may be willing to enter them for Spanish if native / second language, ask them.

For Psychology A level a good Maths pass is as important as English.

And what is a good maths pass? The school we are looking at is asking for a 5 in maths, 6 in English and 5,5 in science

And when you apply do they base their decision on their predicted grades? Or final GCSES results?

This is totally not true. The only GCSEs colleges get funded for are English, maths and sometimes science or biology.

OP

He needs to look at local colleges and / or VI form.

My cousin took A Level Spanish without GCSE but she was good at languages.

At least a 5/6. There are statistics involved in Psychology.