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Should students be allowed to skip a year of school?

Do you feel it's a cost-effective idea? Beneficial?

Example: a profoundly gifted individual being able to enter (say) Year 9 after completing year 7.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

999tigger

19

If cost is your concern then why not just remove education?

Reply 2

Kvothe the Arcane

20

Original post by Emerald7770

Isn't that just a gap year? You're allowed to skip a year. I swear!? I don't know about high school or primary tho. Can you tell me, please?

A gap year is a year between years of schooling. What the OP is talking about is missing a year of school. So for example, going from grade 4 to 6.

Reply 3

username2926188

21

Original post by Kvothe the Arcane

A gap year is a year between years of schooling. What the OP is talking about is missing a year of school. So for example, going from grade 4 to 6.

Ohhh thanks for clearing that up..

Reply 4

AmeliaLost

20

I think it's a good idea just for the individual. Being stuck doing work way below your intellectual level for so many years is incredibly tedious and must contribute to so many gifted people dropping out of the school system.

Reply 5

monkyvirus

13

I don't know, it's risky and depends on your temperament. I think it would be better to stretch those students within class (maybe setting them research projects outside the curriculum). My brother and I were both considered for skipping he did and I didn't (I don't know how they decided). He was pretty impatient in a class where he thought he knew everything whereas I was the sort of quiet person who likes doing work they completely understand so I didn't get frustrated if the curriculum wasn't stretching me very much.

I think we should change how we approach "gifted" children, I use quotes because basically all of use level-out by the time we hit university and are just comfortably above average rather than truly exceptional. I think skipping shouldn't happen but extension activities should be provided or more time given to weaker subject areas. Your teachers would have to work together to provide the best extension work.

Reply 6

cheesecakelove

20

Sometimes I read cases of young children doing GCSEs, A-Levels and university degrees and I wonder if this is best thing. It may be that they are capable intellectually but in terms of personal development, you don't get the normal interaction from attending classes with peers of your own age.

Reply 7

_Ddraig_

19

One of my friends did this when he was in primary school, skipping year 4 out completely. His birthday is on September 1st and went from being the oldest in his year to the youngest. He graduated this year with a First.

I think in early years it is definitely something that should be considered for the more gifted students, but probably not something I would consider for secondary school age groups.

Reply 8

tazarooni89

20

I think skipping just one year of school might be okay, but as a general rule I don't think this is the best way to stretch the most capable pupils. A ten year old might be so gifted in a particular subject that they can attend university and cope with the academic rigour in a class full of people twice their age - but just because they're academically advanced doesn't mean they are advanced in any other way (e.g. socially, emotionally etc.)

I think it's much better for schools to select pupils based on ability, and for classes to be subsequently segregated by ability. So this ten year old can study the subject to the academic level that is appropriate to him, but it will still be in a classroom full of other ten year olds, with a level of expectation and pressure that is appropriate for a ten year old.

Reply 9

Caitlinp2003

1

Absolutely. The American education system is bull but the one thing I agree with is being able to hold back and push forward students regardless of age. I was naturally gifted at reading and spelling and found things came easy to me in younger years and I then got bored waiting for others to catch up. I couldn’t be bothered participating in classes where I wasn’t being challenged. This is not me saying I was too smart for my age but I do think this damaged my work ethic somewhat and I was never even that gifted. Someone truly gifted should be able to move on once they understand something, else they will start to get lazy or bored and bad habits will develop. Equally, children should be allowed to hang back if they don’t understand something fully and they should not be shamed for it. Once you get to highschool, you should be allowed to be pushed ahead for some things and perhaps (but not so often) held back for other things. Of course the holding back would cause some issues when it came to GCSEs and we can’t get every child pass grades in every compulsory subject. However, knowing that they have to pass to move on should be great additional motivation for the students and I truly believe that in education not everyone should be treated the same. For a neurotypical student with no other learning difficulties, they should be able to pass every subject so long as they give sufficient time to learning, if not then we need to sort out our examination system too. However, for a neurodivergent person, allowances should be made. If they are just not a strong reader and writer, they should be pushed to be the best that they can be but should not be held back due to a condition that is outside of their control. The education system has to become more fluid and adaptable for the student in order to produce the best results. Someone should not be held back or pushed too far because of the society’s unwillingness to change and evolve.

Should students be allowed to skip a year of school?

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