GCSEs

My daughter has just been diagnosed and has not attended school full time for much of year 11 as the anxiety has been overwhelming for her. 4 weeks ago she took an overdose and has not been back in school since or managed to do any school work at home.

GCSEs are just a few weeks away. She has dropped most optional subjects leaving just the core subjects and one other.
We have met with school and she will be in a small room with 5 others and will be allowed up to 30 mins break outside of the room. We did think her own room would be best but she would prefer not to just be with the invigilator as she will feel they are watching her. 

Has anyone been through GCSEs? Is this the best way forward? She is desperate to stay for sixth form at her current school, although we have no idea how she will cope with that but just want to make sure she has the best shot.

  • Have the school offered a smaller room with breaks? I tried looking for the same 1-2-1 support prior to GCSEs and it’s just not out there. As we identified Autism so close to exams school said they would facilitate it if we really wanted it but in the end my daughter thought she would feel the examiner was looking at her the whole time so we went with the small room. When did you identify that your daughter is autistic?

  • Thank you for your messages. So far she has managed to sit the exams with supervised breaks and a teacher walking her to and from me. I sit in a cafe just down the road in case she needs to come out. Revision is non existent as it takes it out of her and she comes home climbs into bed and watches you tube. Who knows if we are doing the right thing but she wants to do them so we are trying as best we can to support that. There is a charity called SENDIASS (I think!) that can give advice on schooling. I have a call with them scheduled for a couple of weeks time to see what our post 16 options are. School have reduced the boundaries slightly for sixth form but she still needs to average a 5 across 7 subjects to stay in the school she is in. I am sure we could fight if she wasn’t far off. 

  • Schools in England do not have the resources to have a single invigilator to a single student.

    However she can be taken out of the main exam hall and sat in another room with significantly less people in the same situation. But these accommodations need to be made at the beginning of the term or before Easter term at the latest. 

    exam accommodation are really common. Some people require a computer with a word processor because anxiety triggers stress induced dyslexia. In English Exams the spell check and auto correct function is disabled though. 

    If you have a formal diagnosis it can prove evidence for the school/college to provide noise cancelling headphones during the exam. 

    Depending on your anxiety disorder you can get so many rest brakes and additional 25% on time to complete the exam. 

  • hiya,

    How is your daughters exams going? 

    I didn't really do GCSEs as they were supposed to be last year so i didn't do the actual exams which meant we ended up doing far more than most years which wasn't so fun. i totally understand why she wants to stay at 6th form, that's what i did and it was totally the right decision. Warn her that the first few weeks of 6th form are hell but after that it does get better. are her school ok with her doing 6th form if she doesn't get the grades... due to circumstances?

  • I'm having a similar issue with my daughter. She has been so far unable to attend the exams due to severe anxiety but keeps wanting to try the doctor has given her a betablocker. She is now really upset as she knows she can't go to her chosen college. I've tried looking everywhere for how she can sit the exams in a room with only the examiners but not getting very far. How has she got on?

  • I’m now doing my GCSE as an adult at 25. Your daughter is right to try and stay because six forms and skill heavy courses I have found are age locked to those under 18.21,23 year olds. 

    the SPLD department OR SENCO Lead at public schools are honestly useless. If she fails their are other options but it depends on how long you are able or willing to finically assist her. 

    As someone who has done every employment scheme available, short course and health and work programme which I recommend avoiding their a waste of time.

    it best your daughter get GCSE and A levels first time round because doing adult GCSE is taught in a 3 hour lesson once a week about 1/3 of what it taught in high schools. 

    many employers at the minuet are being really hyper critical on having a 5 or a C in English and maths and not achieving this level will limit her options to follow education and even apprenticeships.

    I have found that dodge employers or big companies abuse the apprenticeship system. Often offering apprenticeships in retail, horticulture, livestock, adult caring and childcare providers seems to abuse them too. You can often spot them as they are often not carried about by the local colleges but dodge training providers my example of dodge training providers are “ Nova training “ “YMCA TRAINING” “QA TRAINING”.