Daughter unlikely to pass her A levels

[FavouritePJs]

my DD has always struggled at school and just managed to scrape 5 GCSE passes to enable her to be accepted into 6th form college. She works really hard, has great attendance, fully engages in lessons, does her homework and currently is doing nothing but revise, however, based on all the previous papers that she has completed
in lessons and her mocks, she’s on course to fail badly. One of her courses is a BTEC which she has passed with distinction but the exam side of things just doesn’t work for her. She’s just sat with me absolutely distraught as all of her friends are smart and she can’t face results day when they will be celebrating, she feels embarrassed and ashamed. We obviously support her unconditionally but how do I help her deal with the way she is feeling? I know as parents we always want to make everything better but I’m struggling with how to do this. Thankfully she decided long ago that uni was not for her at this stage in her life so she isn’t worried about that, but I don’t want her to feel stupid/embarressed/ashamed/failure - her words not mine. Has anyone else been through this with their child?

Some of the most successful and brilliant people don't have bloody A Levels! There are many career paths she can take without decent A Level grades.

As others have said, she can receive her results at home on results day.

Remind her too, that failure is just a step in the learning process. If results are as expected, she learns from it, re-thinks and moves on. There aren't enough apprenticeships to go around, but they are advertised through the year. Some companies may have trainee schemes/entry level roles.

No harm in taking a low level/admin job in the meantime for some breathing space and thinking time, to pick up more skills and experience. Often, that can lead on to other things in its own right. Or take a job with a plan to save up to go travelling/work abroad for a while after.

At the risk of stating the obvious a pass at A level is an E although people can be very sneery about lower A level grades these days. I doubt you can entirely write her off getting an E as previous teaching experience tells me that people do get Es when you think they may fail. Ultimately she has nothing to lose now and at this point needs to do her best. At least she has the BTEC that she’s done well in.

There are lots of apprenticeships if she has GCSE English and maths and a decent work ethic. Good luck to her.

It is not over to the fat lady sings!!
If she has a Distinction in her BTech that is equivalent to a B in an A-Level.
She is working hard, just try to keep her calm and tell her to do her best, you could get a surprise in August.

Can you encourage her to create a list of all the skills that she has gained simply by dint of having gone through the process of studying for these qualifications? Put the possible grades to one side and reflect on everything the process has equipped her with to help her to tackle the next stage of life effectively.

Well if anything she’s had a great time in 6th form and she has decided to put the work in now as she didn’t in school so at the very least she’s learned how to make an effort.

A levels aren’t the end of the world

she can resit, she can redo her subjects, she can start new subjects, she can get a job

what apprenticeship does she want?

Unfortunately, I think that’s a (quite common) failure on the part of the college. The majority of teachers will tell you not to attempt an A level without a 7 in the subject st GCSE or a 6 if it’s a less academic subject. You can’t be expected to know that, though, especially when the college is offering much lower entry requirements and hasn’t flagged anything at the end of the first year. So you are where you are. There’s not much you can do about it now, unfortunately, so I would just ensure she gets her results privately and then maybe goes out to celebrate the ‘end of college’ with her mates. You emphasise that it’s not the end of the world, that you’re very proud of all her hard work but that with hindsight is just was the wrong decision for her and tell her that she’ll find something else she loves.

I would concentrate on what she wants to do next and start putting feelers out for apprenticeships. My DS didn't do well at his A levels but he's doing really well at work. He's doing something he enjoys and is being offered training which is more 'hands on' and less academic. Looking back he'd agree he shouldn't have done A levels but all his friends were doing them and he didn't really know what sort of career he wanted to get into. Try not to worry about her not getting good grades but focus on what comes next.

Yes. I see this type of suggestion on here every so often. I wouldn't have a clue either. I can mark maths and science papers with an answer sheet but can't get my head around english / written science/ RE answers.

Arrange for results to be at home but also start talking about all the other opportunities that can be available and what she wants to do. And yes she should never have done Alevels with those GCSE”s and the advice she received to do them was poor but it is what it is so start looking and more appropriate paths. Alevels are not the gateway to everything but she needs to find her path and having a plan should negate the effect somewhat.

Factually the pass rate for A levels last year was over 97%. The 7 and above thing is about getting higher A level grades. For a kid who gets 5’s at GCSE passing A levels is a huge achievement and very many do. Not everyone can get As and Bs. But at many schools these days this seems to be the expectation.

When you say “fail” what is she actually likely to get and what subjects? Can she focus on certain topics, attend any revsiin sessions college run, go over her mocks to see where she missed marks, check her exam technique and time management. If she does not pass level 3 there are other options. What does she want to pursue. Is an apprenticeship available? Could she work for a year then take an Access course? Finally, not all her “smart” friends will achieve their grades and some face potential disappointment and changes of plan. Keep dd focussed, well and doing her best.

It’s about not setting them up for failure. The kids themselves want A-Cs. I teach A level in an academic subject and I absolutely wouldn’t recommend it to any pupil who hadn’t achieved at least a 7 at GCSE. A level is a completely different ball game and is really designed for those who want to go on to university to do an academic subject. If kids still want to do it, fair enough, but they absolutely should be made aware beforehand of how rigorous and challenging it is going to be.

@Weepixie and @Missywelliot the secondary and further education (A levels, BTECS) boards on MN are incredibly helpful at signposting parents to resources and sadly some come to it too late. There is a correlation between GCSE grades and A level success and the question that should be asked before taking the A level is if a student comes in on a grade 4 what is the likely outcome A level grade wise? One of the biggest drops is maths, students who achieve a 7 in maths are more likely to get a D at A level or a C.

@FavouritePJs I would be using the college's support and contacts re apprenticeships. Usually there is a uni pathway and a working/apprenticeship pathway and they should be able to help point your DD toward where to look and what might be best for her. I know my DC's sixth form had contacts with lots of local companies and could almost recommend students into their programs. You could arrange to go in with her to speak to them. My DC's sixth form would want this because they want their students to be successful.

I would also reassure your DD that grades do not define her, they are just a way to test people and not everyone does well like this. This doesn't mean she isn't intelligent. Exams are box ticking, you have to do X and Y to get marks and specifically high marks. If they are not taught this and parents don't know to look at this sort of thing then the students are not going to perform as well as they could. I always thought I wasn't academic even though I scraped into uni turns out I just hadn't been taught to revise, to essay plan and to understand the mark scheme.

My eldest dd was looking likely to struggle due to Covid and all the disengagement that brought. However she really did want to work in fashion so we enrolled her on a BTEC level 4 at a specialist college and she did that for a year after her A levels ( which she did well
in but fell short of ucas points by 4 for the degree). She completed that year, had an amazing time with a great qualification and is graduating from the degree this summer. Look at other options and explore her loves. Some colleges or specialist places will offer bespoke level 4. ( my dd went to the fashion retail academy and stayed on there to complete the degree) there’s loads of options

It’s about managing expectations or it should be and setting sensible targets.

Kids who get 4/5 need to move onto level 3 courses. But for some bizarre reason everyone expects to be above average. Probably driven by Govian policy.

For many a level 3 BTEC is likely to be a better option but they have been fiddled with too to make them harder and some really popular ones are being done away with. And A levels are a breeze in comparison to T Level which apparently replace them.

Anyway, don’t want to derail the thread talking about the lunacy of education policy.

I’m sure you’ve told her this already, but her ability to work hard and apply herself to something she finds challenging is really impressive. It’s the kind of skills employers will want to see. I teach a vocational subject at uni and it’s always lovely to work with students who’ve ‘failed’ academically at school but more than able later in life, when studying something they really want to pursue. Lots of good advice here from others, good luck to her.

Focus on the what next. Exams aren’t for everyone and neither is academics - absolutely no shame in that! Does she have anyone at college that she can go to for careers advice / support?

My DD would have nothing but love and kindness if one of her friends was struggling with something. Maybe her friends will be a source of support.

Not the same, but my DD is ND and struggles with new / change. She’s great at sport but rubbish at trials… hard to know whether to put her out there knowing she might shut down / struggle so we are letting her make her own choices… (long winded way of saying don’t beat yourself up on the choosing of ‘a’ levels!)

God some of the people here are horrible! Good on your daughter for having a crack at it! 😊

It’s a bit late now! The time to help her would have been to get her extra, private tuition before the exams to give her that extra help and support to get good results.

She hasn't got ger results yet. She's barely started her exams. All the catastrophising needs to be put on hold until nearer results day. Bear in mind that even her " clever friends" might not get the grades they were aiming for either, it's not just her.
After her exams finish , a few days off to chill and then I'd start looking for jobs/ apprenticeships. My ds applied for and got his in August, started in September.

have you never been on here before? you can’t just ask for “nice” replies, it won’t happen. I would feel terrible for my child in your situation, please focus on realistic goals for her from now on and start rebuilding her confidence

Its realistic though. My ex son in law's parents made him do A levels which he failed, did retakes and failed again. He would have been much better off doing an apprenticeship at 16.

Haha quite!

Get her onto an Apprenticeship. Search find and Apprenticeship and put your postcode in.

She will find one she likes for sure!

I agree with focussing on the positive that she's done well with the BTech and more importantly that she's worked out that she does better with coursework based learning. I'd be looking at what other studies she could do that best suit how she learns.