Help - 17yr old with no GCSE's

bbford

My niece unfortunately has missed out on sitting her GCSE's.

She has been attending a small international school in spain, however it was established 1 month before sitting the exams that the school was not properly registered,therefore closed down.

Because she was studying for the international exam it means she has not done the same course work as for the GCSE that we have here,theoretically then she may need to repeat another 2 years,which you can understand she is reluctant to do.

She has the possibility of staying in York or Cambridge - can anyone offer any ideas on courses where she could do the IGCSE or aptitude tests online as she is not sure what career path to follow.

Would greatly appreciate all advice

BWZN93

This might not be practical advice, but local colleges do the GCSE classes in one year instead of two. I did english and maths at college part time evenings, 1 night a week, and passed fine.

Does she want to go to University? In order to get there in the quickest amount of time, she could register for English Lit and Language, Maths, and a relevant GCSE to what she wants to do at uni. She could then start an Open University course when she is 18, which is home study part time, which Universities will accept as an alternative to A Levels.

I decided to go back to Education at 19, and did English and Maths GCSE at college, and two open University courses over two years, and then got accepted to both Newcastle and Bristol Uni for Law.

Of course, it depends on what she wants to do in the future. If she is interested in finance for e.g, then colleges do the relevant courses, and considering the circumstances, will probably waiver the GCSE entry requirement, but may have to do English and Maths GCSE's too. Alternatively, work based training is always an option, NVQ's, AAT's etc, there is a lot out there!

Try the local college websites, https://www.open.ac.uk, and https://www.vision2learn.com (free courses), http://www.dfes.gov.uk/nvq/ and http://www.direct.gov.uk/EducationAndLearning/ChoicesAt14To19/fs/en

HTH

Jo xx

culpepper

My son(17 in october) has just enrolled for his A levels with a 6th form college.He did 3 gcse's at evening classes but the person who interviewed him said they would probably have accepted him even without them .Would this be an option for your neice?
The NEC (National Extension College)do home study GCSE's and have a place in cambridge where the exams can be taken. Im not sure if they also do IGCSE

nightsong

Was your son home educated culpepper? Two of mine were, for three and a half years .

Gcses aren't compulsory. For anyone who wants to go to university it would be useful to have English Language and Maths GCSEs but it should be possible to fit them in with A levels. If you do either subject at A level you don't need the GCSE! Worth checking university prospetuses to see what their requirements are.

culpepper

yes both my kids have been homeschooled for 8 years.
DS did his GCSE's because he wants to go on to Uni and the local college required 4 but they then said they would not take him anyway so my OH had a long 'discussion' with them which culminated in them saying they would take him for the A's provided he got an A grade in his English,as the 6th form college were real people though,not just 'jobs worth' they were happy to take him with or without the GCSE's.I wish we had known that 2 years ago, as it would have saved quite a lot of money in the Adult ed fees,DD is not sure she even wants to take GCSE's,let alone A levels .

Spendless

bbford wrote:

My niece unfortunately has missed out on sitting her GCSE's.

She has been attending a small international school in spain, however it was established 1 month before sitting the exams that the school was not properly registered,therefore closed down.

Because she was studying for the international exam it means she has not done the same course work as for the GCSE that we have here,theoretically then she may need to repeat another 2 years,which you can understand she is reluctant to do.

She has the possibility of staying in York or Cambridge - can anyone offer any ideas on courses where she could do the IGCSE or aptitude tests online as she is not sure what career path to follow.

Would greatly appreciate all advice

Can't she take the international exam at a different school in Spain at a later date since she has done the coursework for this.

zodiac

She can start on a basic level course at college with no qualifations and work up to level 4 (A level). It may be worth talking to her local college and see what they say as she maybe able to take the October re-sits (at least for English and Maths)

Savvy_Sue

culpepper wrote:

DD is not sure she even wants to take GCSE's,let alone A levels .

My only concern about that would be that for many jobs, never mind further study, the bottom line is to have at least 5 GCSEs at Grade C or above, including Maths and English Language. Or their equivalent. Larger employers may allow people to take a test to establish basic competence in Maths and English. Smaller employers might be more flexible. But some will take one look at an application form without basic qualifications, skim over the home schooling and bin it. Their loss, I agree, but you and your daughter need to give this just a little thought. At 16, GCSEs matter a heck of a lot more than they do at 26, and their 'worth' diminishes with time. But the lack of them in the early stages of life can cause difficulties.

For the OP, I agree that it should be possible to take GCSEs in one year, possibly with some after 6 months, and it might even be worth contacting local education authority. Certainly local colleges and sixth form centres - they do take students just for GCSEs with the hope they'll then go on to take AS and A levels. Bound to be loads of 'international' opportunities around Cambridge, and I'm sure a fair few around York as well. Is there an 'official' IGCSE board to advise on where they can be taken?

hilstep2000

My daughter did really badly in her GCSE's. She enrolled at our local college on a Travel Studies course, and now two years later has graduated with sixteen exams in travel, including five City and Guilds qualifications, and Virgin Atlantic Air fares and ticketing, even did First aid at work, and Health and Safety at work!
Only problem is now, every Travel job she applies for, they tell he she's over-qualified!
She is currently working for Littlewoods who are puting her through their Managers course, so don't think GCSE's are the only things that she can study for!

cozzie

My youngest brother was taken out of school, aged 13 because he was being bullied quite badly, and now due to a bit of good fortune and his vast knowledge of computing he is the best paid of all my siblings. My other brother was diagnosed with dyslexia in his final year at school AFTER being dropped from ALL of his exams because the school felt he wouldn't help their league table results - Charming. But he has recently found work as a Computer Technician as is as happy as larry. The point being, qualifications aren't everything, but, they do help, my brothers have both just been quite lucky.

There are colleges over here that do the International Bac, (can't spell the rest) or she could do a selection of 1 year GCSE courses. Going to a college open day is a great idea because they can assess her (poss do a little test) and they can then decide if she needs to have basic qualifications to be accepted for her A levels or if she could go straight into a GNVQ course.

Best advice would probably be to get in touch with a few of the colleges that she could attend and see what they say.

Savvy_Sue

Please don't think I was suggesting that GCSEs are the only thing to do, especially for home schoolers. There are other ways to get into other education and employment, but having a way of 'proving' easily that you have a basic grasp of Maths and English is useful, especially when you're still quite young!