Daughter starting GCSEs one term late

My 14 year old daughter will (pending the success of her visa application!) be starting school in early January. She will be entering the GSCE year, but will have missed out the first term. The college has suggested she could attend the high school until September (effectively meaning she would be behind a year), but the local council said that this could only be determined once she had started at the college. I was just wondering if any others here had any experience of their child starting late - how much extra work was involved in 'catching up'?   

If she is willing to work hard and the school is willing to give her some extra help she should be able to catch up.  Remember that some of the things like math she will be doing at her current school so depending on the curriculum she may be alright.  She will have coursework to catch up on in subjects like english or art based courses.

If you know what school she will be attending here then perhaps they can suggest some revision books for her to start looking at.  These books are readily available at WH Smith and Waterstones.  Find out which curriculum they are following, such as AQA, Edexcel or OCR, so you know which ones to get.

We moved here when my daughter was 14. She did start in September but even then there were some areas she had to catch up, some of her subjects started their GCSE work in year 9.  She also had some areas that she had learned things ahead of her classmates---algebra one of them. I think it comes down to knowing your daughter, does she pick up things quickly...does she generally struggle with school?

I am a little confused about you referring to the college suggesting she stay at the high school until september. Is she planning on doing her GCSE's at college and not at high school?

Thanks for your responses.

HG - in the area where we will live, high schools go up to the age of 14 and the colleges are for GCSEs and post-16.

My daughter does work very hard and is quite motivated, but does need a lot of support - in part because she has a hearing impairment. The school offers catch-up classes so we're hoping this will help her. We've also been looking at mock exams online, and she has covered a lot of the material in there. A further question though - is the 'foundational' level the first year of GCSEs or is this the material covered in Year 9? Or does it just vary a lot depending on schools? We've been looking at getting some revision books sent over from the UK - but I will ask the school for more information. The thing I am most concerned about is her having to catch up on coursework - whether she will need to complete assignments the other students have already done, as well as working on current assignments.

Foundation level is a lower level GSCE, the students are entered for tests at different levels based on ability. It depends on the subject area but typically Foundation Level allows the student to get a grade between C-G. A higher level will allow them to get a grade between A*-C. If the school doesn't feel they can reach the higher grade they will enter them at foundation level because otherwise they will end up with an U.

Surprised about the high schools in the area you are going. Personally I think I would push for her to start right at the college. Definitely talk to the school, there are different exam boards for subjects and it is best to make sure you are providing her with the right material. 

As far as the coursework, I would imagine she will have some catch up, but I wouldn't think it would be a lot- and should have a good amount of time to catch it up.

My biggest advice is getting a contact at the college who you can count on for support especially at the beginning.
On a side note I can tell you we had some tears early on, some frustration at things she didn't know and shock of having to wear a uniform- with a tie! but she adjusted amazingly well and has blossomed here. She loves it here and is thriving at University at the moment.

HG - in the area where we will live, high schools go up to the age of 14 and the colleges are for GCSEs and post-16.

I'm surprised about the high schools too - I have never heard of a high school only going up to age 14, especially as secondary education is compulsory until age 16 in the UK (but colleges are non-compulsory). Just wondering if the schools in your area don't just have middle schools and high schools, similar to the US system? (just out of curiosity, which area are you moving to?)

A friend of mine from Dorset went to first school (age 4-9), middle school (age 9-13) and upper school (age 13-18), whereas here in Bristol there are no first/middle/upper schools so I went to primary school (age 4-11), secondary school (age 11-18... although some secondary schools are 11-16 only). As far as I am aware, colleges are for post-16 and adults and usually the only people who do GCSEs at college are those who have been expelled/excluded from the other high schools/secondary schools in the area, those who failed their GCSEs at school and have to re-take the exams at a college, or those who wish to take some GCSEs later in life (i.e. if they failed them while they were at school or if they want to learn a new subject that they didn't study in school).

I'm surprised about the high schools too - I have never heard of a high school only going up to age 14, especially as secondary education is compulsory until age 16 in the UK (but colleges are non-compulsory).

My husband went to a high school (definitely was called a high school, not a middle school) just like the one the OP described- up to year 9 only.  He then went to college for GCSE's and A-levels.  This was in Leicestershire.

Yes, we're moving to Leicestershire - so maybe the high school/college distinction is unique to that area?

Your replies have been very useful. I'm wondering if they will test my daughter when she starts, or whether they will go on her past results? I do worry about this, as she aspires to do A-levels and hopefully university, but she'd be at around the C grade (or under) at the moment - though she's been working as hard as she can lately to help increase her chances in the UK. I do find it a rough system in that the child's performance at the age of 13/14 has such life-determining consequences. Is there any chance of moving from Foundational level to Advanced once they have begun on one of these tracks?

HG - Thanks for sharing your story about your daughter thriving after the initial tears and frustrations. It will all be new and strange, but a great adventure - we hope!

My husband went to a high school (definitely was called a high school, not a middle school) just like the one the OP described- up to year 9 only.  He then went to college for GCSE's and A-levels.  This was in Leicestershire.

Ahh, thanks for the info - I didn't know that .

Is there any chance of moving from Foundational level to Advanced once they have begun on one of these tracks?

What happened in my school was that for subjects like Science, Maths and Languages, the school year was split into 8 class groups (sets) based on academic ability. The top 4 sets took the higher level paper and the bottom 4 sets took the foundation paper. However, I think there were some instances when a student in a lower set took the higher paper, or vice versa and some students were moved up or down between sets during the course as well. In maths, there were 3 levels, foundation, intermediate and higher and the top and bottom sets took the higher and foundation papers respectively, while the middle sets took the intermediate papers (I think you can get up to a B grade at intermediate level).

In subjects like English, people of all academic levels were put into the same classes and it was up to the teacher to decide which level paper each student took and in some cases, this wasn't decided until quite close to the exams at the end of the 2 years. If I remember correctly, some of the other subjects didn't have foundation or higher levels, just one exam for everyone.

What happened in my school was that for subjects like Science, Maths and Languages, the school year was split into 8 class groups (sets) based on academic ability. The top 4 sets took the higher level paper and the bottom 4 sets took the foundation paper. However, I think there were some instances when a student in a lower set took the higher paper, or vice versa and some students were moved up or down between sets during the course as well. In maths, there were 3 levels, foundation, intermediate and higher and the top and bottom sets took the higher and foundation papers respectively, while the middle sets took the intermediate papers (I think you can get up to a B grade at intermediate level).

In subjects like English, people of all academic levels were put into the same classes and it was up to the teacher to decide which level paper each student took and in some cases, this wasn't decided until quite close to the exams at the end of the 2 years. If I remember correctly, some of the other subjects didn't have foundation or higher levels, just one exam for everyone.

Yup I think this sums up my experience too. I found they started her in sets based on her past experience but were happy to make changes as they go. Schools want students to get the best grade they can..it helps them look good .