GCSE results
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I am sure Tipsy is right. I taught a girl a couple of years ago who had been to school abroad and had 4 GCSEs because the school she had attended only offered 4. She took A levels with her peers, got pretty decent grades and is now in her 3rd year of a modern language degree at Birmingham university. I have also taught a child with medical needs who managed 5 foundation level GCSEs and is now courting a string of offers from top universities to read English - she is predicted high A Level grades.
So, I will stick my neck out and say that allowances have been made for those with unusual circumstances, and you have those. Have you tried getting advice from the HEAS and your LEA Home Ed advisor? I found the latter in our area really helpful and knowledgeable when I sought her advice during my own period of home education and contrary to what lots of HE-ers think, was not at all hostile to the idea of Home Ed.
Good luck!
So, I will stick my neck out and say that allowances have been made for those with unusual circumstances, and you have those. Have you tried getting advice from the HEAS and your LEA Home Ed advisor? I found the latter in our area really helpful and knowledgeable when I sought her advice during my own period of home education and contrary to what lots of HE-ers think, was not at all hostile to the idea of Home Ed.
Good luck!
I think the problem now with the increasing competition for places and the huge number of applications being processed is that many Universities are using a formula to screen applicants rather than looking at each one carefully - mostly because they don't have the resources to do so.
Where the selection procedure allows for individual circumstances to be taken into account then I am sure matters such as HE, illness etc would allow for different crtieria to be applied by most institutions- so while its not the case that these applicants have all doors shut to them it must be that they are restricting their options as some Universities will reject them 'out of hand'.
It also means that they won't have anything to 'fall back on' whereas if a mainstream educated student doesn't have brilliant AS results the school can point to outstanding GCSE results and explain the AS 'blip' in the reference & still give good A2 predictions.(Accepting this too isn't an ideal situation as any 'weakness' is an application is a problem with the situation as tight as it is).
Most Universities are looking for evidence of the ability to cope with volume of work & time management. If GCSEs are taken over several years this immediately reduces these pressures. The fact that a child hasn't been able to take as many GCSEs as normal because they have been taught in a situation where this wasn't possible might be 'looked on kindly' but choosing to take them over an extended period is almost certainly going to count against them.
Where the selection procedure allows for individual circumstances to be taken into account then I am sure matters such as HE, illness etc would allow for different crtieria to be applied by most institutions- so while its not the case that these applicants have all doors shut to them it must be that they are restricting their options as some Universities will reject them 'out of hand'.
It also means that they won't have anything to 'fall back on' whereas if a mainstream educated student doesn't have brilliant AS results the school can point to outstanding GCSE results and explain the AS 'blip' in the reference & still give good A2 predictions.(Accepting this too isn't an ideal situation as any 'weakness' is an application is a problem with the situation as tight as it is).
Most Universities are looking for evidence of the ability to cope with volume of work & time management. If GCSEs are taken over several years this immediately reduces these pressures. The fact that a child hasn't been able to take as many GCSEs as normal because they have been taught in a situation where this wasn't possible might be 'looked on kindly' but choosing to take them over an extended period is almost certainly going to count against them.
Interesting, we spoke to Professor Lote(B/Ham Medical Admissions Tutor) about 18 months ago and he said that generally the only candidates at Birmingham who get interviews and don't get offers are those where Medicine is clearly an unsuitable course.my DS told me this year one of his schoolmates got a rejection from Birmingham for Medicine after an interview but got an offer also for Medicine from Cambridge instead.
He gave one example of where the candidate was asked why they applied to B/Ham to study Medicine and they replied that they weren't really sure they wanted to but their parents have persuaded them to apply!
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice, I appreciate it.
We haven't fully decided when/if ds will take his GCSE's/IGCSE's but it is interesting that our idea of spreading them over 2 years might be a problem for some Uni's.
We know of young people that haven't done any GCSE's or A levels, they did OU courses instead and they are studying Law at Uni, so perhaps that is an idea? Ds (14) starts his first OU course this Autumn and has seen 3 others he wants to do after this one is finished!
It isn't particularly easy to take GCSE's/IGCSE's as a home educator especially now the controlled assessment is coming in. Ds is thinking about going to 6th form College to do either A levels or the IB but he has so much choice that it is difficult to know which way to turn...
It might be easier if he had some idea of what he wanted to do in the future but he is a real all rounder (which is why we thought about the IB) One thing we do know is that anything that involved blood would be out!
So many decisions-it is so much easier when they are small!
We haven't fully decided when/if ds will take his GCSE's/IGCSE's but it is interesting that our idea of spreading them over 2 years might be a problem for some Uni's.
We know of young people that haven't done any GCSE's or A levels, they did OU courses instead and they are studying Law at Uni, so perhaps that is an idea? Ds (14) starts his first OU course this Autumn and has seen 3 others he wants to do after this one is finished!
It isn't particularly easy to take GCSE's/IGCSE's as a home educator especially now the controlled assessment is coming in. Ds is thinking about going to 6th form College to do either A levels or the IB but he has so much choice that it is difficult to know which way to turn...
It might be easier if he had some idea of what he wanted to do in the future but he is a real all rounder (which is why we thought about the IB) One thing we do know is that anything that involved blood would be out!
So many decisions-it is so much easier when they are small!
HEfamily, I think the only clear message here is that if your DS is planning on medicine at Birmingham, it might be worth speaking to them sooner rather than later. I do think there might be some blood involved though, so maybe not!
Regarding controlled assessment - try the Home Ed advisor at the LEA because when I was last talking to them there was consideration of allowing HE students to do them in certain centres, a bit like some of the arrangements for Science practicals at A level. I am sure there is a way round it.
I am sure that you already know that research has shown that HE students end up in just as wide a variety of careers as the rest of the population, and often do very well indeed in exams taken at a younger age. As well as that, they tend to be more creative thinkers who can look at things in different ways. I really admire your ability to carry on with it at secondary level - I loved doing it but could not manage it as a long-term option.
Regarding controlled assessment - try the Home Ed advisor at the LEA because when I was last talking to them there was consideration of allowing HE students to do them in certain centres, a bit like some of the arrangements for Science practicals at A level. I am sure there is a way round it.
I am sure that you already know that research has shown that HE students end up in just as wide a variety of careers as the rest of the population, and often do very well indeed in exams taken at a younger age. As well as that, they tend to be more creative thinkers who can look at things in different ways. I really admire your ability to carry on with it at secondary level - I loved doing it but could not manage it as a long-term option.
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hermanmunster
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ah yes .. the "icky factor".... specialisms are scaled in our house according to icky factor...Amber wrote:. I do think there might be some blood involved though, so maybe not!
.
lowest = psych,
highest = histopath.
Neurology OK unless you see brain when you call in a surgeon ....
sorry totally OT but mad things wafting through mind while waiting for the next patient
There can be exceptions. Many get into good courses at good unis via Access courses, Btec, Foundation year, etc. It is a slightly more circuitous route and dependant upon individual university disgression but it definitely can be done.
I also have a nephew at Oxford who didn't get 1 single A or A* and only 6 GCSEs to his name - he went on from degree at Oxford to medicine at Oxford.
I also have a nephew at Oxford who didn't get 1 single A or A* and only 6 GCSEs to his name - he went on from degree at Oxford to medicine at Oxford.
