It’s GCSE results’ day. After two – or even three – years of working, the results finally arrive for your child. They might not be everything you had hoped for, but they have passed the required number of subjects, so relief and congratulations all round.
But then comes contact from the school which says the grades are not good enough and your child can’t come back for the Sixth Form. It might sound outrageous, but every year this happens to a number of students who are then left with an extremely short amount of time to find an alternative school or college.
It might be something you were aware could happen, but when the decision appears to come out of nowhere, you have no back-up plan and you are left with just a couple of weeks to either battle your way back into the school or find a new option for their Sixth Form – where do you start?
Were there warning signs?
First of all, think back over the past year and consider whether this is a total surprise:
How well did your child achieve in their mock exams and how do those results compare with what they actually achieved in their GCSEs?
What were their predicted grades and how did they differ?
Has anyone mentioned specific grades that need to be achieved for entry into the Sixth Form?
Have any concerns been mentioned by the school about your child’s progress throughout their GCSE studies and if so, what steps were put in place?
Have you raised concerns about your child’s progress and achievement and if so, what was the school’s response?
Did your child work consistently throughout the year?
Did the actual results reflect the work put in by your child or have they been a total surprise?
Next Steps
Before accepting the school’s decision on refusing to allow your child to return, it is essential that you request a face-to-face meeting with someone senior at the school, to understand the rationale behind the decision and to discuss future options. It might be a meeting with the Headteacher or Deputy Head, but it needs to be with someone senior enough to have been part of the decision.
If your child failed to achieve the minimum level for the Sixth Form** and this has been clearly circulated with parents and students, it is a more difficult situation. If there have been warning signs that their projected results were not going to be as strong as had been hoped and the school had notified you of this and the possible consequences, it might be difficult to argue that your child should continue at the school. But even if you were made aware of potential problems and there are no extenuating circumstances for your child’s results, it is still important to meet with the Head and other relevant staff to discuss the situation. They should be prepared to offer advice on the next steps and the available options, they might even make the appropriate introductions for you. Look into alternative schools, Sixth Form colleges and possibly re-take centres as soon as possible.
If your child has failed either or both of their Maths and English exams, this needn’t preclude them from taking A Levels, but they will need to re-sit whichever exam they failed until they achieve a level 4 or until they reach the age of 18. Again, the school should be able to support this, unless a pass in both is a prerequisite to continuing at that school.
However, if the school’s decision has seemingly come out of nowhere, there are a number of key factors to consider. The following list should form an important part of the discussion between you, the school and your child:
If your child has not received the grades everyone expected of them, are there specific reasons? For instance, chronic illness, specific circumstances which impacted their physical or mental health during the exams, or other special needs.
Was it evident your child needed more support and if so, what was put in place to help them?
Has the school failed to recognise any difficulties your child has been having?
Have you contacted the school with concerns and what steps were taken, if any?
Has the school given your child advice and have they then listened?
If there were no warning signs of possible problems, why does the school think the results were too poor to return?
What were the predicted grades based on and why does the school think these were not achieved?
Were the predicted grades realistic or aspirational and was this made clear?
If it is felt that the poor grades were an anomaly, does the school believe that with the right A Level choices, your child could still achieve strong grades?
Does the school offer alternatives to A Levels? Perhaps A Levels are not the right option for your child and you should look into other options (see our next blog for more information on alternatives to A Levels, due next week)
From there a plan and the next steps can be agreed in collaboration with the school.
Is trying to stay the right decision?
While the school’s decision may be a total shock, consider carefully whether this is actually the best place for your child to continue as a fresh start somewhere else might be the best decision.
Carefully weigh up the pros and cons or battling to stay. Their current school knows your child’s strengths and weaknesses, so should be able to motivate them appropriately. But, should they be somewhere which might be able to offer more appropriate support? These are questions which can only be answered in conversation with the school. If your child is determined to stay, is it possible to select different A level choices in which they are more likely to succeed?
If you would like advice on the next steps to take, or if you would like Heywood de Ferrer to support you in meetings with your child’s school, please contact us as soon as possible. The next week is critical in ensuring the appropriate and best decisions are made to ensure a positive outcome for your child’s future.
Watch out for part two next week: ‘Alternatives to A Levels’.
** The minimum requirement for entry to VIth form is usually 5 GCSEs at grade C or level 4-5 including Maths and English, usually with levels 5-6 in potential A Level subjects. Selective schools and colleges, however, will often require up to 7 GCSEs at level 7 or above.
