GCSE exams at end of year 11

[phaedra]

This discussion seems rather circular! Your reply from Oxford suggests that your correspondent will look at each applicant individually, as one would hope. Home educated children would often sit five or less GCSEs and are frequently admitted. My interpretation of this particular reply though isn't that the issue is immaterial - rather that it is one that would benefit from further explanation so that a child is not disadvantaged, surely?

[moved]

Interesting discussion regarding the early sitting of GCSE exams. Everything seems very fluid at the moment. Recently, I was advised that there could no longer be an early entry for maths in November of year 11, a preferred sitting for a great many schools. Last week, however, I was sent an email from the exam board assuring me that November entry was still going to be totally acceptable under the new scheme.

I am probably missing something as I've been rather busy lately, but are pupils going to be forbidden from taking GCSEs in earlier years? DS' school currently put their pupils in for a year 9 MFL exam and then move them on to AS. Whatever the pros and cons of this, I would like to know if this is to be forbidden by the government. No difference to DS as he has already completed key stage 3.

I am fed up with the constant changes to the curriculum and the fluidity of the grade boundaries, which have changed by over 10 marks out of 60 during the last year for one module of the maths GCSE.

[Snowdrops]

I was out to dinner last night with a close friend and was absolutely stunned to find her dd (who is year 9, same as mine - but different schools) has already sat her French GCSE (she said she'd done three exams - I don't know, it's beyond my understanding, not having gone through it, my dd makes her choices in the coming weeks). The sad part is she only got a 'C' but I know if she were allowed the extra years learning, as my dd is doing, she would gain an 'A'. And yes, I know you can do resits (oh, more discussion!) but honestly, if that happened to you at such a young age, wouldn't you be put off and demoralised?

How schools can morally do this I will never understand. It's wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. wrong!

Annoyed of Harrogate

[Marylou]

The sad part is she only got a 'C' but I know if she were allowed the extra years learning, as my dd is doing, she would gain an 'A'.

But Snowdrops, if the school's target is the standard A* to C grade then it means the school will be able to tick another box. Especially if it wants to get a good EBACC ranking. A candidate capable of getting a C in year 9 is extremely likely to get a higher grade in year 11 which will help with their university applications later, but hey - the school's met its target, so that's presumably all that matters.