Year 9 exam results

[Adelinefleming]

My ds has never been very academic. He's really difficult to get to do homework. Over the years I've sent him for a range of private tuition and paid for a home tutor to help him improve. He's a bright, articulate boy but I'm at a loss as to what to do to help him improve. Ive just had his exam results through and he only just scraped a pass in one subject which was maths. It's really worrying me. He's only got a few years left and at this rate he will not get any GCSEs. I am literally sitting here crying.

What is a pass in year9? Do you mean whether he's on course to get at least C or whether he's meeting some target?

Mock exams apparently. But yes, in a couple of months he has two GCSE's.

In year 9? Poor kid. He has two years before any sane school would be making him sit exams.

But yes, in a couple of months he has two GCSE's.

And he's currently in Year 9? That's utterly, utterly insane. Schools that do this deserve the special measures they often end up in, and as it's something that both Ofsted and ministers have repeatedly and unambiguously said is bad for children, and have done everything short of explicitly banning it, the only people who are to blame are misguided school SMT.

Doing maths in Year 9 is only of benefit to the very small number of students who will immediately get a high A, and even then (where is noblegiraffe* when needed?) there are good arguments about why it is undesirable. For a child who isn't going to get as near to 100% as makes no difference it is utterly wrong. What's the other? English? Shocking, shocking. What possible justification is there for this other than a school that is fascinated to see what special measures is like?

I know. I'm really upset about it and really anxious for my son. I've argued that if his predicted grade is a fail then why on earth is he doing the exam. They also told me that they're using a new grading tool and the grades he got are not accurate. Again, what's the point. They also told me that the new exams system means that only 50% of kids will get above a c grade. It's devastating. I'm so worried for him. He wants to do well but I at this rate I'm not sure he will.

What exact subject are his exams in?

Why do you need to know lljkk?

Not maths, English or science so at least the important ones will be a couple of years from now.

If it's any comfort my DS did v badly in his mocks and went on to pass all but one of his GCSEs. He took 2 in year 10, going from a mock result of U to a B in one of them (and this was on very minimal revisionat home). He did attend revision sessions that the school laid on and BBC Bitesize was helpful. If he is willing to work through practise papers in the subjects he is taking soon at home (you should be able to find them online) this would help him.

You say he is 'bright' and 'articulate' but failing academically.

Are you sure he actually is bright? Many bright kids seem to do well despite not working, they take it in in the lessons and don't need to do much extra.

Is there a clear mismatch between some aspects of his ability and others? e.g. You say he is articulate, so I guess he does well verbally. What is his written work like? Could there be an undiagnosed learning difficulty such as dyspraxia? My DD can't organise her thoughts. Give her a framework and she is OK. Give her a question and a blank piece of paper and she's stuffed.

I guess lljkk asked about subjects, and then people would be able to give specific subject-related advice for the GCSEs he is about to sit. e.g. Advice on how to help him now for RE will be different than that for French.

You need to work out

• is he not very clever
• is he lazy
• is there a specific learning difficultly

as the solution/advice/assistance required will be different depending on the answer.

What feedback has he (or you) had from the tutors?