Teenager kicked off A-level courses after grades u-turn

Ozzy Bowler was granted a place at Devizes School sixth form to study Maths, Physics, and Chemistry, based on his GCSE grades, which were a combination of fives and sixes.

But in September, less than two weeks into the courses, Ozzy was told a decision on his future would be made in days, and he was moved onto new courses over fears he would not achieve successful A-level grades.

Ozzy told this paper the blow had a huge impact on his wellbeing and confidence.

He said: “They told me they didn’t think I would do well enough so gave me a week to see, which wasn’t helpful as it just built up stress.

“I wasn’t sleeping for about three weeks and now I’ve been chucked onto brand new courses three weeks in, so I have to catch up.

“I’m stressed out most of the time. I’m annoyed because the school always told us to try, but they’ve completely gone against that and didn’t even give me a shot.”  

Ozzy and Nigel Bowler (Image: Nigel Bowler)The 16-year-old had secured a place studying these subjects, which would allow him to pursue his “dream career” of Astrophysics, at St John’s College in Marlborough.

But his teachers convinced him to return to The White Horse Federation-run Devizes School, where he spent four years, after receiving his results this summer.

He has now been moved onto new courses, which he does not believe will help his career ambitions, including Business, Health and Social, History, and Media.

In an email to Ozzy’s parents, staff admitted offering him a place on GCSE results day “may have been a hasty decision in hindsight”.

They added all sixth form pupils undergo a probation period and that Ozzy’s teachers deemed he would “struggle” based on his initial lessons and bridging work.

Ozzy’s dad Nigel says this U-turn was “neglectful” and put “a lot of stress” on the whole family.

Devizes School head David Cooper (Image: Devizes School)He added: “They’ve made an offer without due diligence, if they’d turned around initially and not given him a place there’d be no problem.

“We would have taken the St John’s offer, but instead they’ve given him an offer and taken it away, allowing him to fall massively behind.

“It just feels so wrong, they want the best results but I thought they were about serving the community.”

Devizes School was approached for comment but said they could not discuss the circumstances of individual students.