igcse French

tyllwyd

An update - we're still going, but it has turned into a bit of a struggle to persuade her to study. If she is going to sit the exam in the summer, I need to look into sorting that out in December, and to be honest I'm 50-50 whether it is worth me putting the effort in to push it forward. Having got this far, I probably will - ideally I'd like to find a tutor for some additional lessons just to keep the effort going, but the cost is putting me off.

tyllwyd

Update - well, I've decided that I dont know what level she is working at so I've contacted a local tutor for an initial session to assess her in the new year and hopefully give us some advice.

I'm starting to panic a bit because her school gcse options are coming up next month and my whole plan depends on the options offered this year being essentially the same as last year - if they make languages compulsory at school it wont work out. Fingers crossed.

I've also realised another slight problem. She is studying for the Edexcel igcse which is not accredited for the Ebacc. There is a new version which is accredited but the first exams wont be until summer 2014. Or she could take the CIE igcse which is accredited but I'm not sure how different the syllabus would be (not all that different I'm assuming for a first language qaulification). Or maybe the current Ebacc is a waste of time and I shouldnt worry - who knows!

mrcow

Would taking it in summer 2014 be such a problem? It will give her more time to put the work in and could well improve her result?

tyllwyd

mrcow wrote: »

Would taking it in summer 2014 be such a problem? It will give her more time to put the work in and could well improve her result?

Yes, it might be the best option - my worry is that at the moment she is doing French at school plus a bit extra at home. But after next September she would have given up French at school, so if she didn't do enough at home she might go backwards, and if she has a private tutor it's that much longer to keep paying! I'm still weighing things up in my mind.

tyllwyd

Update - I took her along to the tutor, and the feedback was that she is doing well for a year 9 pupil, but nowhere near ready to take an exam this year. That was pretty much what I'd expected to hear, and the tutor was very nice so I wouldn't have any problem sorting out tutorials with her if my DD carries on studying out of school.

It's GCSE decision time, and it is clear that the school is going to be keen for her to do a language GCSE so it depends now on whether we have the strength of conviction to be able to insist that we know best and she isn't doing it through school. I'm pretty nervous about it!

tyllwyd

Update - just in case anyone remembers this thread from before - my DD studied for her iGCSE French for about an hour per week after school with a local tutor and took the exam in June 2014 through a private exam centre in Bristol called 3A Tutors. She's just got her results and came out with a B, which we are delighted with! Phew.

JustKeepSwimming_2

tyllwyd wrote: »

Update - just in case anyone remembers this thread from before - my DD studied for her iGCSE French for about an hour per week after school with a local tutor and took the exam in June 2014 through a private exam centre in Bristol called 3A Tutors. She's just got her results and came out with a B, which we are delighted with! Phew.

Glad it all worked out well for you/her & congratulations to her on such a good result.

How happy were her school with your plans in the beginning? My DD will be starting her GCSE's next week (Y10) & a language was compulsory for all but the least able pupils. Luckily she wanted to study German & her options have worked out well for her, but I know a few friends of hers felt forced into doing subjects that they really didn't want to do.

Incidentally - back in the day we we're told that certain unis required an O level language as part of their admissions criteria - I wonder if this is still the case?

Buzzybee90

JustKeepSwimming wrote: »

Glad it all worked out well for you/her & congratulations to her on such a good result.

How happy were her school with your plans in the beginning? My DD will be starting her GCSE's next week (Y10) & a language was compulsory for all but the least able pupils. Luckily she wanted to study German & her options have worked out well for her, but I know a few friends of hers felt forced into doing subjects that they really didn't want to do.

Incidentally - back in the day we we're told that certain unis required an O level language as part of their admissions criteria - I wonder if this is still the case?

Not as far as I know. At my school the top students studied two languages in year 9 in place of a lesser academic subject. Unfortunately I was assigned french, which I hated. When I then took German, I loved it! So on one years experience I took German at GCSE, being a year behind everyone else. I think this was common practice at the time, and might still be now. I wish I had that extra year and got to keep the more fun subject in place of French but hey ho!

skint_chick

JustKeepSwimming -you don't need GCSE languages for uni courses, most units will offer languages from beginners level as modules you can take in additional to your own subject. I did A level German so did an advanced course along with my main subject but there were beginners modules as well. You would only need the GCSE languages to go on and study A levels for linguistics, courses with language components, and sometimes European studies/European business courses with a year abroad.

Although not a bad plan to encourage language learning since most European universities have lower fees with lots more courses taught in English. I would certainly have been off to Europe somewhere rather than pay course fees of £9,000 a year if I was considering an undergrad now. It isn't often you feel grateful for being old :rotfl:

tyllwyd

JustKeepSwimming wrote: »

Glad it all worked out well for you/her & congratulations to her on such a good result.

How happy were her school with your plans in the beginning? My DD will be starting her GCSE's next week (Y10) & a language was compulsory for all but the least able pupils. Luckily she wanted to study German & her options have worked out well for her, but I know a few friends of hers felt forced into doing subjects that they really didn't want to do.

Incidentally - back in the day we we're told that certain unis required an O level language as part of their admissions criteria - I wonder if this is still the case?

Well, when my DD was choosing her options, the English Baccalaureate was important to schools so they were encouraged (although not forced) to take a language - a couple of weeks after she'd made her choice, the league tables were changed and I haven't heard the EB mentioned since!


She was told that some unis want a GCSE language, but I'm not sure whether or not that is still the case.


Beyond this, the school showed pretty much zero interest, even though they were aware that she was studying for it out of school. They did authorise the actual exam days as educational absence, but that was the only support they gave. When she put in her options I was expecting a phone call or something to discuss whether she should do a language, but it never happened.