Child next education steps

[anthill2388]

My child is due to go into year 9 next year, however she has Dyspraxia and at present the best she can hope for is the equivilent of grade E's should she take them. I feel that she would be better suited to a vocational course, but all the courses I have looked at say they need to be able to get A-D's. I dont know what to do next, she is very emotional and I want to give her the best to enable her to build a fruitful life after school. What can I do?

If your child does not come out with A-D grades don't worry. General FE colleges do vocational courses which they can enrol on without any GCSE's.

Entry Level 3 is a below GCSE qualification, then Level 1 is equivalent to GCSE E-G grades, and Level 2 is A-C grades.

Once they have successfully completed one level and show interest/aptitude they can move to the next level, even if they do not have the GCSE's that that course lists as entry criteria.

My son is considering doing a level 2 IT course, which they will accept him on as he did a level 1 at school, even though he does not have the D grade required in English (he only has a G).

Some colleges list the courses under the subject area, others as foundation learning, others under Learning Difficulty.

All the best to your child. Mine has Dyspraxia plus Autism so I know what you are going through. There is a lot of help and support in FE colleges, even if your child does not currently have a statement/EHC.