Anyone else have a 16 year old not gain any GCSE 'C' grades this year?

FatVonD

tillycat123 wrote: »

Update -

Well school replied finally to my desperate email Friday night saying come in for a chat. They have offered a foundation course.
Maths + English 2 hours a week
NVQ level 2 in engineering as a 1 or 2 day work placement (They have a list to pick from)

I have also given them payment for the ICT to be remarked as only 1 marks off of a 'C' grade. Just one 'C' right now would be fantastic!

The college that offered the level 2 course in Motorsport confirmed that they don't have dedicated English tutors and would only get limited assistance with a one hour slot for self study for English a week.

We went at the weekend to look at another college offering Engineering, They had the support for the English and Maths there but were much stricter on the entry criteria and wanted science at a D as well which he does not have..This college was an hour an 10 train journey each way with a change and a £20 a day ticket so not ideally located.

He decided he wants to go back to School for the retakes, he's gone off this morning fine but I am so worried I am letting him make a huge mistake here.

A work placement will suit him just fine I'm sure but I cant fathom if an NVQ is worth anything. The exam board sites suggests level 2 is the equivalent of 4 GCSE passes. Others seems to suggest its pretty worthless and a waste of time.

My son and I have poured over college courses to see if there is something else to have a go at. He just can't see one that he has an interest in and neither can I to be honest.

Trains and street sports are his passion and with all theses PE courses offered by colleges I can't even see a PE course that would fit the bill!

I'm glad you have something sorted, I'm no expert but I think you've done the right thing.

Good lucj with the remarking!

peachyprice

tillycat123 wrote: »

He decided he wants to go back to School for the retakes, he's gone off this morning fine but I am so worried I am letting him make a huge mistake here.

A work placement will suit him just fine I'm sure but I cant fathom if an NVQ is worth anything. The exam board sites suggests level 2 is the equivalent of 4 GCSE passes. Others seems to suggest its pretty worthless and a waste of time.

The NVQ is 'worth something' if it's a subject he likes and is wanting to get a job in.

If he does well in his level 2 he can go on to Level 3, although it is quite a bit tougher. He can get a job in the subject once he has passed level 2 as a trainee, so starting higher up than an apprentice, and work his way up from within. TBH, if they're letting him in on a level 2 they must think he has potential, otherwise they'd make him start at level 1.

If he's doing a subject in a field that he has no interest in working in it's not going to the very useful.

Did you look at trade NVQ's like plumbing, electrician etc,?

RAS

tilly good news.

If he gets the re-marked C and gets both English and Maths, try to get him onto a BTec First next year and a BTEC National the year after. Personally, I would try for the BTec First this year if they allow it.

A BTEC first should cover the underpinning knowledge for an NVQ Level 2.

I have seen people would would have been really really glad to have a D in anything do GCSE English and Maths and a BTEC first and turn their lives round when they progressed later.

The good news is that engineering may help him understand the value of maths.

ilovelondontown

I don't think it's fair to cast off any desire to aim higher if that's what the OP's son wants to do, if I'd given up when I was first told I wasn't the right "type" to go on to further and higher education I dread to think where I'd be now. Even members of my own family laughed at me when I said I wanted to go to uni.

I went to school and didn't get on with it, I was young and didn't understand it all then, I scraped through my GCSE's, passed clearing to get on to Btec course at college, didn't have enough to get to uni, so went to work for a year while I got the money together for college again, went back for another year to get the points I needed for uni aswell as doing retakes, then I went to Uni on a 4 year course, working every summer/winter holiday I could temping, then I graduated and climbed my way up the career ladder.

There were so many points I could have said F- this I'm throwing in the towel, but I WANTED to go to uni, I WANTED to learn more and I felt like I had something to prove.

It paid off and I encourage anyone who wants to go further not to be distracted by the negative press Uni gets nowdays. To educated yourself gives you the tools to do whatever you want, even if it's a job working on your feet all day or in the plush office with people working below you.

We should be encouraging the next generation to fight on in spite of increasingly challenging circumstances, not knocking the down.