11 Plus Exams Forum

My dd is in Yr 12 at a selective school in London and recent tests have suggested that she will not perform well for her finals.

In year 9 she had an Ed Psych assessment and we realised she has a mild form of ADD which affected her concentraion etc.
The school were great about it and she achieved 6 A/A*'s and 4 B's (although over 50% of her peer group were straight A students).

Having started A-Levels, she is not scoring consistently. In some tests she will score 80% and in others 30%. With this in mind, the school have suggested it may be better for her to study at a college where she is better supported and does regular tests.

Understandably, she is completely torn as she has been at this school since year 3.

My worry is that if she continues to perform erratically in exams, her A-level predictions will be poor and she will not be able to go to University. She is very unwilling to defer entry.

In this situation, what would be the best way forward?

Ooh dear. Poor her and poor you. My first thoughts are as follows. Others may well disagree.

disenchanted wrote:My dd is in Yr 12 at a selective school in London...the school have suggested it may be better for her to study at a college where she is better supported and does regular tests.

I need to ask, is this a fee-paying school? It is almost unheard of for a school to make 'suggestions' of this kind and it feels very harsh of a school to do this to someone with a recognised learning disability who has been at the school since Y3. But if it is a fee-paying school you may have little choice but to follow their 'advice'. It is something of an indictment of their own teaching if they feel 'a college' is able to support your daughter better and offer her the regular tests they feel she needs - why can't they do it? If it is a state school they will be obliged to do so, but a private school has no such commitment sadly.

disenchanted wrote:My worry is that if she continues to perform erratically in exams, her A-level predictions will be poor and she will not be able to go to University.

This is one of the things about education, I am afraid. There is no real answer to that - any number of factors will be affecting your daughter, not least now the uncertainty around which school she is going to go to in September.

disenchanted wrote: She is very unwilling to defer entry.

Why? Why not think about a gap year? It would take the pressure off her and allow her to apply to places with her grades already. 2 of my 3 children did this with huge success and the third, who is the same school year as your daughter, is going to do the same. She is still young and it sounds as though she has enough to deal with right now without worrying about university courses. One step at a time - sort the school out first.

I feel for you as it looks to me as if she is being let down by her school at a very crucial stage in her education. I imagine they are worried that poor results will reflect badly on them in league tables . The first port of call has to be the school, but in this case I think it does depend on what type of school it is. Good luck.

A state school cannot do this - the only reason to exclude someone is for behaviour issues.

I totally agree with Amber and you are very unlikely to find another school willing or able to take on another student into Year 13. They would need to have covered the same topics on the same specifications in the same subjects and have room.

What support is being given? What support plan is in place? Have they got special access arrangement in place for exams and do they apply to class tests as well? [They should] A diagnosis of ADD would normally lead to additional time and rest breaks.

It is possible to move in year 13, although it may be harder now the exams are terminal. Previously it was possible even if different boards had been studied, because the AS counted towards the final mark. The only stipulation in the case I am familiar with was that they couldn't study and be examined on the same thing in different years - for example if they had been examined on a certain book in English literature they couldn't study it again the following year if they moved. It may well be different now though. It might be easier simply to restart year 12 elsewhere, and I know of 2 or 3 people who have done this successfully.

I would say that 6th form colleges aren't renowned for being on top of their students to knuckle down, it tends to be a bit more of a halfway house between school & university & the students are encouraged to take more responsibility for their work (in my experience anyway)

Amber - you are correct it is a private school!

The subjects dd is studying would not be the same board at the college suggested. DD feels strongly that with a little more work she can definitely push the marks up but the issues are the predictions.

Also, her GCSE grades are poorer than her peer group (although I feel very pleased with them!) but I wonder how Uni's will see this.

Re support - some staff are happy to support, others feel dd is not up to the task!

The school feels 'independent learning' is key.

At the very least, I would press your current school for concrete evidence that a named college or colleges would provide exactly what they are saying that your DD will get there. Obviously colleges vary, but on the whole, what many students like about sixth form college is the greater freedom (but also the attendant responsibility for their own learning) compared to school.

disenchanted wrote:Amber - you are correct it is a private school!

The subjects dd is studying would not be the same board at the college suggested. DD feels strongly that with a little more work she can definitely push the marks up but the issues are the predictions.

Also, her GCSE grades are poorer than her peer group (although I feel very pleased with them!) but I wonder how Uni's will see this.

So are they effectively attempting to push her out against your (and her) will? I would resist this strongly if you want her to stay.

My strongest advice regarding university is to take a gap year and apply late to university if you (she) feel that she is going to do better than her grade predictions. If she outperforms them and ends up going somewhere she wouldn't have chosen had she known, she will be paying a heavy price.

Taking a gap year is a very good idea, she can then apply to uni with her actual grades and not her predictions and perhaps consider places that she previously wouldnt have.

My DS is just coming to the end of his gap year. He has been working as a gap year student at a local school he's done everything from coaching sport to emptying the bins and it has been really very good for him. He's "grown up", made a few decisions, met some great people, earned some money and is generally going to uni in a better place and frame of mind than if he had gone straight away. He will even now agree that on this one we were right!

disenchanted wrote:Re support - some staff are happy to support, others feel dd is not up to the task!

The school feels 'independent learning' is key.

Does she get additional time? If not then ask why not. Her GCSE grades are fine and, in my opinion, they are failing her not the other way round.

There should be a learning plan to support her additional needs that every teacher follows. This is what a state school wuld have to do and surely they should be doing at least that?