GCSE retakes in an FE College

duchy

My brother wanted to study at college rather than school so instead of A levels went to college for business studies for a course that is now NVQ level 3. He worked for a few years (the Home Office regarded his "not very qualification " as the same as A levels) and when a few years later he decided to take a sabbatical the Russell Group uni he studied politics at first as an undergraduate and then for his masters happily accepted it too.

Equivalent qualifications aren't a new thing for universities ,my brother started his uni course 25 years ago.

The previous poster's nonsense does show how many parents still don't understand how FE and HE works and as a consequence will push a child into A levels when there may be better choices available for that particular young person.

missbiggles1

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

The OP can read all the replies and choose the ones which she thinks apply to her situation.

Indeed s/he can.;)

.Gigolo_Aunt

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Indeed s/he can.;)

Well at least you've managed to reply without throwing your toys out of the pram, which is more than can be said for some on this thread!

missbiggles1

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

Well at least you've managed to reply without throwing your toys out of the pram, which is more than can be said for some on this thread!

I'm just more bloody minded than most and have less to do.:o

balletshoes

Spendless wrote: »

One of the subjects mentioned is business studies. My son left yr11 this summer, several of his peers did the GCSE exam, I've yet to find one that got above a D grade in it. Whether that is because this years exam was particularly tricky or for another reason I don't know.
Son dropped it after a month as he found it too 'wordy' a subject (which to me says a lot considering he was also taking GCSE Psychology, which is also 'wordy!). He changed to Food only to have school drop him from the exam because his predicted grade was too low! I'd far rather he have got below a C than not take the exam!

From what the OP has said, it isn't likely that he Neice wants to go to Oxbridge or to study medicine! What she has already got with the required grades from her current course will be enough to go on to do something else, even in an unrelated subject.

I think Business Studies was more tricky than a lot of students expected this year, our school had the students sit their GCSE in Business at the end of year 10 (they choose their subjects in year 8 to start year 9, and do GCSE coursework etc from year 9). My DD got a C, she was expected to do better than that by the school, but its a pass, and thats what matters.

meer53

My daughter has just started a Level 3 course at college, she got the 5 grades required. She was horrified at the thought of having to retake Maths and English if she didn't get a C or above. It certainly focused her mind when revising and doing homework !

Taking evening classes or having to take further exams, eg A Levels, is her worst nightmare. A Levels are not the be all and end all these days.

theoretica

Spirit wrote: »

My niece did better than expected in her GCSE's [...]
I would like to help her to improve her D's to C's [...]

Your niece did better than expected - congratulations to her. Have you thought that your desire for her to go back and do even better could be seen as telling her that even her better than expected was not good enough? Is that the message you want to send?

.Gigolo_Aunt

theoretica wrote: »

Your neice did better than expected - congratulations to her. Have you thought that your desire for her to go back and do even better could be seen as telling her that even her better than expected was not good enough? Is that the message you want to send?

I think that's a bit unfair on the OP..

theoretica

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

I think that's a bit unfair on the OP..

She may of course be that rare teenager who is never unfair and accepts all good intentions in the spirit in which they are meant.

skint_chick

.Gigolo_Aunt wrote: »

Looking at some of those GCSEs, these are not difficult subjects. In fact I don't honestly know how someone reasonably bright could NOT get an O level pass in RE.

I just don't think there's any need to be this rude! I would consider myself as an intelligent person (I have 2 Master's degrees and have been accepted for a PhD) but I struggled with RE at school because my family didn't go to church and I didn't know all the bible stories so I didn't do so well in my GCSE.

OP the best thing you can do is tell your niece you're proud of her, and if she wants to discuss her coursework etc you'd be happy to chat about it. If she's doing the Level 2 then onto Level 3 and has English and Maths GCSEs at C then I wouldn't even mention the retakes. The only thing she should check out is the requirements for going from Level 2 to Level 3 at her college - sometimes you have to get above a certain amount of distinction or merit modules - then she'll know how she is getting on.

I would encourage her to think about how she is going to spend her time outside of term time - volunteering or trying to get some paid work in the field she hopes to go into will help her CV/future education plans too.