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Would you HE if GCSEs were scrapped?

  

13 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you HE if GCSEs were scrapped and not replaced with any other exams?

    • Yes
      5
    • No
      8


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I'm considering it now, regardless of GCSEs, but don't tell my husband or he'll flip.

 

Reasons... I don't feel confident that mainstream school can meet my son's needs, socially and emotionally. I feel that at times they're blinded by his academic ability and don't see the autism. I feel that I could probably do a better all round job myself but am aware that it's a huge challenge. Seriously starting to look into it.

 

Does anyone have a spare room as I may be heading towards divorce...

 

Karen

x

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Don,t think i would have the patience or intelligence for some subjects. Also i couldnt HE due to work commitments. However i don,t think school are meeting my sons needs either and he is so stressed all the time that he isn,t really trying so unlikely to get any GCSEs anyway although definately clever enough.

Edited by joybed

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Thanks. What I thought was meant gave a completely different question.

 

I don't see what difference the existence of GCSEs have to do with home education.

 

If you are serious about your child's education then you would put them in for whatever system existed for jugging their level of achievement. How else could they move on to the next level ,College, University, etc.

 

You can do GCSE from home but it is not easy.

 

I don't think I could home educate I don't have the patience. Home work is enough for me.

 

So I can't answer the question as to me it is the wrong question.

Edited by chris54

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I wouldnt home educate either, not long term, personally the educational system has to change, more specialist provisions, small academic centres, specialist colleges, smaller class sizes, more specialist teachers, Ive exhausted myself home educating J, Im a single parent and its a lot to take on.

 

I would of home educated if there was more support, if colleges took in family learning courses during the day, and other tuition support, its either all or nothing in todays education.

 

JsMum

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From my son's perspective I wouldn't HE simply because it would not give him the social interaction and skills which are equaly, if not more important, than paper qualifications.

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I voted "YES" if the only option was mainstream education, my DS is too much of a square peg for the round hole and he didn't fit, being at home for the past year has given me my son back. Whilst it is our intention to have him back into a school environment it would only be on a specialist school arrangement.

 

The important thing here is that every child is different and what suits one may not suit another.

 

Clare x x x

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i have really thought about home educating my child. as the school hes in do not provide him with the help and suport which he needs... but as i work 2 long days a week and other commitments i dont think it wud work.....

 

and he wouldnt get the social side like he does at school . and at the end of the day the school shud b providing my child with everything he needs.....

so i will fight them to the end

 

love donnaxxxxxx

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Please give a reason for your choice.

I found HE in a moment of desperation with the support of education otherwise when my son was at breaking point and his school said I would go to prison if I de-registered him. My only regret is I hadn't heard of it eight years earlier.

I always thought that by law your child had to go to school. Not that they had to receive an education.

 

Julieann

Edited by julieann

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The law requires you to provide an education equivalent in standard to the minimum that they would have reserve if at school. Which means you don't have to work to a very high standard. Just a few basics. And as you will be working with only one or maybe two children you only need spend a few hours a day doing formal teaching.

Edited by chris54

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I voted 'yes', 'cos I wouldn't see the point of putting him through all the stress and anxiety of school if he were to come out at the end with nothing to show for it all.

 

~ Mel ~

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I don't see what difference the existence of GCSEs have to do with home education.

 

Because if GCSEs were scrapped and not replaced with anything then the function of schools would be 100% educational. Currently secondary schools perform two functions. 1. to provide education. 2. to provide qualifications.

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But if you didn't have GCSE's you would still need some way of measuring the level of ability that children have.

Without that children how want to go on to college for example would have to sit an entrance exam, how would the college know what their abilities were and what course would suit them.

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But if you didn't have GCSE's you would still need some way of measuring the level of ability that children have.

Without that children how want to go on to college for example would have to sit an entrance exam, how would the college know what their abilities were and what course would suit them.

 

Obviously you don't know what many people in the HE community know.

 

There is no (and never has been a) legal requirement to have to have GCSEs to take A Levels. An increasing number of colleges are now accepting HE kids without GCSEs onto A Level courses. The result of this is that HE kids are increasingly bypassing GCSEs and moving directly onto A Levels. It's also possible to get accepted onto degree courses at most universities without any GCSEs or A Levels by taking an access courses on the Open University. There are also a variety of vocational qualifications that can be accessed without GCSEs.

 

Some people I know in the HE community say that the main purpose of GCSEs is to measure the quality of teaching of schools like SATs do, and as a qualification, are only really useful to access public sector jobs that don't require higher qualifications such as clerical work. They normally demand 5 C grade GCSEs but will often reject somebody who has 3 A Grade A Levels but no GCSEs.

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Yes I know all that but at the end of the day all these courses no mater how accessed have some sort of assessment at the end that measures the person level of achievement.

 

I would totally agree about the GCSEs and if I thought that a child of mine would not benefit from taking them I would have no hesitation about bypassing them.You dont have to home educate to do this.

 

As a parent of children who have done GCSEs I know that they don't give the child any Idea about what to expect when they move into further education. It come as a bit of a shock what real studying is all about.

Edited by chris54

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I would not home educate unless school became impossible regardless of qualifications at the end of it. Out of three children, I have one that is nailed on to achieve a high number of GCSE's as long as he stays sensible. The other two, well, who knows, but probably not. They both have statements, they both attend mainstream, and they are both coping and doing well, and although we have had problems, which is par for the course, acedemic achievement is only a small part of what they "learn" whilst at school. They learn disapline, give and take, having to do things they sometimes don't want to do in that it pushes their boundries, teaches them boundries, friendship, sharing, caring and learning that they have to work at what they achieve. Now I do apprieciate this does not apply to everyone, so this is just answering this question, with my opinion and my own children in mind, no one elses.

 

Three years ago I believed the education system let them down. I never believed they would continue to cope, but with the right help and support they are happy and thriving. I am no fool and know that things can change and it won't always be rosey, but at the moment things are better than they have ever been. :thumbs:

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From my son's perspective I wouldn't HE simply because it would not give him the social interaction and skills which are equaly, if not more important, than paper qualifications.

 

Totally agree with you but would have to disagree that these things can be picked up in school. Simply attending school does not necessarily enable a child's social interaction. I also agree that social interaction is equally more important than paper qualification and that is why I already HE. The vast majority of parents who do home educate their autistic spectrum children, and there are ever increasing numbers of us now, all agree that the child's social skills improve in some cases drastically. My own two sons can not hold their own in most social situations and have friends. Neither of which they could so while they were in school.

 

 

Cat

Edited by Cat

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An increasing number of colleges are now accepting HE kids without GCSEs onto A Level courses.

Maybe so, but they would probably require you to provide some evidence of your ability with a thorough application procedure and interview.

 

It's also possible to get accepted onto degree courses at most universities without any GCSEs or A Levels by taking an access courses on the Open University.

But if you reject GCSEs because they are a qualification, how can a different qualification be more acceptable to you? And a degree is a qualification too.

 

There does need to be some kind of formal examining procedure as employers don't have the time to make the necessary assessments of ability, it is so much easier for them to specify qualifications.

 

Home Educating works well for some people, and you can choose to access formal qualifications if you home educate, so I don't feel the existence of GCSEs would even be relevant to a person considering home educating.

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Maybe so, but they would probably require you to provide some evidence of your ability with a thorough application procedure and interview.

 

This is quite a common procedure but shouldn't be something to worry about. All the applicant has to do is convince the interviewers that they are of sufficient calibre for an A Level course.

 

But if you reject GCSEs because they are a qualification, how can a different qualification be more acceptable to you? And a degree is a qualification too.

 

The value of GCSEs continues to fall as each year passes because of dumbing down. Higher level qualifications have more value attached to them. Some high ability students see GCSEs as a pointless waste of time and want to jump into the A Level course as and when they are ready for it.

 

There does need to be some kind of formal examining procedure as employers don't have the time to make the necessary assessments of ability, it is so much easier for them to specify qualifications.

 

This isn't an argument of qualifications vs no qualifications.

 

Home Educating works well for some people, and you can choose to access formal qualifications if you home educate, so I don't feel the existence of GCSEs would even be relevant to a person considering home educating.

 

Allegedly there is a certain fraction of parents who want their kids to get GCSEs primarily to function as bureaucratic passcards to access higher education or employment even if the knowledge required to obtain the GCSEs is pointless and of no relevance to life as an adult. If GCSEs were scrapped and not replaced with anything then that would defeat the object of the parents sending their kids to school unless there are other reasons apart from GCSEs.

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It is argued over and over that the value of GCSEs as a level of academic achievement is decreasing because the are to easy.

 

I would argue that for some people on this site they are something to avoid because their child is unlikely to achieve a level of any value and would prefer their child to put their efforts into acquiring life skills instead.

 

I can see myself in this same situation at some time in the future, but would be unlikely to go down the road of home educating.

 

By the way the argument about GCSEs only comes into play for children in Years 10 and 11, so what is the argument for home educating younger children?

Over to you.

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I would argue that for some people on this site they are something to avoid because their child is unlikely to achieve a level of any value and would prefer their child to put their efforts into acquiring life skills instead.

 

My own findings from the real world over a space of several years is that plenty of parents of kids with AS consider useful life skills as more important than getting paper qualifications, but I have encountered very few secondary school age kids with AS who are not of the academic calibre to get reasonable grades in a few GCSEs of their liking. They often struggle badly with certain subjects but there are almost always a few subjects they are very good at. Another common problem AS kids have is poor exam technique which will jeopardise the grades they will get despite having the knowledge to get a higher grade. This problem isn't always picked upon by parents and teachers.

 

The concern over life skills is also a reason why parents of kids with AS of high intellectual ability don't always think grammar schools are the best place for their kids.

 

By the way the argument about GCSEs only comes into play for children in Years 10 and 11, so what is the argument for home educating younger children?

 

GCSEs make use of KS3 level knowledge so really start in Y7 rather than Y10. To be very pedantic, GCSEs also make use of KS1 and KS2 knowledge, although it is probably safe to say that GCSEs are less of an issue for parents of primary age kids than secondary age kids.

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