GCSE Options.

My GS us in yr 9 and has to decide on his GCSE options when he goes back after the Easter holidays.

I would have thought that she would already being doing GCSE work/preparation now in yr10

My GD chose options in year 9 so she should already be studying for her GCSEs

I have two 13 year old granddaughters, one in year 8 and one in year 9. They are at different schools and both are about to choose their options.

As above, my GS in year 9 has chosen his options for GCSE. Was she not asked when she was accepted for a place in this school?

GCSE work starts at the beginning of Year 10, so September last year for current year 10s.

Your granddaughter will be almost finished with her first year of GCSE work already.

GCSE is a two year course so options should have been decided by end of Year 9. Some schools take three years so options decided at end of Year 8.

I would think the best way to find out is to speak to the school. However she is probably already studying the subjects she will do GCSE s in.

When granddaughter was accepted and started in February she chose her options during the first week! This is the catchment school for the area and was the only one with places. She wanted to go to the school in the next large town but unfortunately they were full.
My granddaughter is hoping that she will be able to repeat the year.
There is a zoom parents evening tomorrow so hopefully they will be able to voice their concerns.
Thank you for all your replies.

As your GD has started in Y10, the school should have given her the options for GCSE. I'm surprised that this doesn't seem to have happened. Your daughter should contact your GD's year head and find out what they are doing about her options.
The 'core' subjects are English, Maths and Science. My DGS, now 14, is in Y9 and his English teacher is already using the AQA literature syllabus. I think his options include drama, history and ethics&morality (which is what his school calls religious studies). If he was a linguist he would be able to take one or two modern languages.

Sorry MiniMoon, I seem to have misunderstood you as your OP seemed to imply that she hadn't had the opportunity to choose her options. Your further post says that she was accepted and started in February she chose her options during the first week.

annodomini

Sorry MiniMoon, I seem to have misunderstood you as your OP seemed to imply that she hadn't had the opportunity to choose her options. Your further post says that she was accepted and started in February she chose her options during the first week.

Yes I don’t understand either.

MiniMoon

When granddaughter was accepted and started in February she chose her options during the first week! This is the catchment school for the area and was the only one with places. She wanted to go to the school in the next large town but unfortunately they were full.
My granddaughter is hoping that she will be able to repeat the year.
There is a zoom parents evening tomorrow so hopefully they will be able to voice their concerns.
Thank you for all your replies.

Unfortunately it is now very rare for pupils to be allowed in the wrong year group because of the govt league tables and statistics. A pupil who does not collect their grades (at whatever level/exam/assessment) at the same time as their peers is deemed to have failed (even the very bright ones who too GCSEs early I believe). Ofsted grades are highly dependent on these assessment statistics.

That is assuming she is at a state school. Independent schools are much more flexible with having a range of ages in a year group. Many international students attend and take a step or two back down the year group they are admitted into.

Hi MiniMoon,
The zoom Parents' Evening is your first option for sorting things out, but if it's anything like my grandchild's you'll only get five minutes. Therefore I'd use this meeting to arrange a longer meeting, at which your daughter and granddaughter can discuss all the relevant issues. (Or at least get started on some of them.) (Actually it's quite possible that granddaughter is already au fait with the status quo at this school.)
Your daughter needs to find out (or make sure she understands) which GCSE exams her daughter is currently entered for, and whether this will be enough to get her onto A-Level courses. I think she'd also be wise to discover exactly what the gaps are, that her daughter will need to fill to pass the GCSEs she's set up for. Also when the exams will be! Since Covid 19 arrived on the scene, many schools are doing exams some months early "just in case".
Your daughter may need to accept some less-than-positive messages from the teacher/year head/individual course teachers, as their view may be that September '21 would have been a better time to start at the school, and Spring '21 a better time to start the dialogue about which subjects to take. (Please don't think I'm being negative about this, just trying to warn you that some teachers might be less accommodating than anyone might hope for. But when they see your granddaughter working hard to fit in with her peers, they should bend.)
If your granddaughter can get sufficient passes to join an A-level class, that's all she actually needs. If she doesn't pass there will be options to retake, eg in November. But for now, she may need to dedicate this summer to filling any gaps in her studies!
I wish all three of you the very best in sorting out this dilemma, and I really hope it works out well for your granddaughter and she's able to get the passes she needs for the future she's set her heart on.

My home-ed grandson is starting college in September. Why not have a look at college options? He chose courses fairly recently.

Your DGD will be studying her "options" now..so whatever she is studying beyond Eng Lit, Eng Lang, Maths & Science are the options: history/ geog/ art/ graphics/ drama/MFL/PE/ computing etc etc.
My 3 older DGC at secondary school get up to at least 5 mins per subject so the evening for kids & parents is about 40 mins..with the option to make an additional meeting if needed. Of course it is a lot longer for staff who will need to speak to between 50-200 parents over the sessions.
The whole system does not make it easy for kids to 'repeat' a year...mostly not to do with schools unwillingness but to do with DfE funding & reporting regs. but it is possible under some circumstances which may or may not apply to your DGD. As someone else has said she may be better at a post 16 college catering for students re-sitting, as well as starting, courses.
Wishing your DGD well in her ongoing education. DD just got through a 'rocky' mock term with our elder DGD, also ASD. She did well but anxiety & stress has been high for her! Fingers crossed ?? she manages successfully in the actuals but with lower anxiety!

Things in education have changed massively over the last two decades.
However, as has been said, MiniMoon, your g.daughter is well along the path of her 'options'. such as they are.

She will be doing will doing the core (compulsory) subjects of English, Maths and Science (either double or triple), religious studies (under whatever name is given to it), a humanity (history or geography), an Arts. At the end of yer 11 she will sit these GCSE's.

As has also been said, once GCSE's are out of the way, either she can go onto A levels, or go to an FE College which will give a wider range of subjects, and exams.

You seem confused yourself, as to what you are asking. In the original OP you ask WHEN she will choose her options, then in your later post, you state she chose options when she commenced in February. If she has not been following the syllabus during her home schooling, then she may find some of the subjects difficult.

Her autism, hopefully, should not have too much of an problem. . If it is bad, and causes her real problems then she should be referred for assessment.

One of my G.sons has Autism, obtained a good clutch of GCSE's, (albeit at a special school for youngsters within this spectrum), and four A levels A, A, A, B at a local FE College, and is in his second year of chemical studies at Uni.

Franbern Congratulations to your grandson for his excellent study successes.

MiniMoon I hope the meeting went well, and that your daughter is beginning to get a handle on what's what and how best to support her daughter through this stage of her education. It must seem quite different for her now, and I particularly hope your granddaughter is settling to the new regime.

One thing to be aware of for further ed. is that almost all courses require GCSE grade 5. Sometimes they'll accept a 4, but mostly it's a 5 (no more A* to G scale).

If they don't get a passing grade for core subjects, they may have to resit until they do reach a passing grade.