DD's mocks results are a disaster - what can I do now?

[Earningsthread]

Art target grade A* - mock grade - A/B
Biology target grade A* - mock grade - C
Chemistry target grade A* - mock grade - C
English Language target grade A* - mock grade - A
English Literature target grade A* - mock grade - A
French target grade A* - mock grade - D
History target grade A - mock grade - A
ICT target grade A - mock grade - A
Mathematics target grade A* - mock grade - A
Music target grade A* - mock grade - B
Physics target grade A* - mock grade - D

This girl is talented. So talented that her English teachers in every year have told me that she is the most gifted student they have ever seen. But just look at those mock results. They are APPALLING. She is underachieving in every subject bar 2. What should I do? What can I do? There are only six months between now and the exams. The school thought she was an Oxbridge banker. I know my rebellious DD and knew she would not work. But there is not working and not working. THose mock GCSE results are appalling.

What if anything, can I do to help at this late stage?

[NigellasDealer]

"appalling" - really?

[Earningsthread]

Yes really

She has been predicted and fairly targetted with 11A* grades at GSCE. You have seen the mock results above. Yes it is fair to say that this degree of underachievement is appalling.

So what do I do now?

[FuckyNell]

I wouldn't say they were 'appalling'

[iwantavuvezela]

Appalling? I think not. Have you asked your dd to reflect on these grades, did she think she would get these grades, does she feel they reflect they way she answered the papers/exams ......

[PotteringAlong]

You and I have a different idea of appalling. They are her mock results - you want people to peak in June, not the previous December! She's not done all her revision yet, not completed all the course yet. Chill out!

[HyvaPaiva]

Overall, the grades aren't appalling. They won't get her into Oxbridge, but they would certainly get her into other good universities (RG ones included).

[mermaidbutmytailfelloff]

She's a person not an annex of you.

[Terrifiedmum]

The majority A's and B's I wouldn't call that appalling. Yes not as good as she could achieve but even so good grades.

[Earningsthread]

I acknowledge that she is not an annexe of me, FGS

Are these results appalling in terms of underachievement or not? What can I do to help?

[joanofarchitrave]

Ask her what she thinks, I guess.

She's done really well in her English exams. It is her English teachers who think she is the best. Sounds like they are right.

Is there anything she would like to drop so that she has a bit more time? 11 is a hell of a large number.

[SantasLittleMonkeyButler]

If you think those mock results are "appalling" you really need to get a grip.

Maybe some tutoring would be useful in science & French - but, honestly, you are being extremely harsh on your DD.

I trust you haven't told her that you are "appalled" by her performance? .

[christinarossetti]

What does your dd want to do come the summer/autumn? Is she planning 'A' levels?

[NigellasDealer]

not really appalling no i think you need to chill out a bit maybe get a tutor after christmas? does she go to a pushy kind of school ?

[IHeartKingThistle]

If she's not working she needs to work. Chances are she will. In 12 years teaching GCSE I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of students who don't improve between the mock and the GCSE.

Bear in mind there are a lot of students, many of them children of parents on this board, who are praying for Cs so their child can get into college at all. I can see where you're coming from, but that's probably why you're getting short shrift.

[3bunnies]

Appalling that the poor girl is under so much pressure. Ease off on the criticism and sit down and listen to her. Does she even want to go to Oxbridge?

[IHeartKingThistle]

Sorry, didn't, not don't!

[BillyBanter]

Maybe she doesn't want to go to Oxbridge and the only way not to be pressured into it is to not get the grades?

[SomePeopleNeedHelp]

First thing is to go through her papers. Did she mess up timings and just not answer some questions? Is there a topic she can't get to grips with?

Then she needs to practice, practice, practice past papers and worked answers. There is a knack to answering exam questions. And mocks are always harder than the real thing (in my day anyway).

Don't panic and reassure her that you believe she can do it. She has to take charge of the revision though, you can't force her to do it.

[ChristmasCareeristBitchNigel]

I don't really think there's much you can do, OP, I'm sorry.

I coasted my way to 10 As at GCSE (back in 1992!) and assumed that i could do the same at A Level. I had always breezed through every exam with an A, no matter how little work i had done. Made my teachers very frustrated.

Opening the A level envelope amd realising that my "can't be arsed" attitude led to 3 x B rather than the straight As i was more than capable of was a horrid shock, my first realisation that sometimes you cant get away with the bare minimum. I still have recurrent nightmares about it.

Unfortunately at this point nothing you can say or do will make your DD pull herself out of it. She will have to learn this difficult lesson for herself.

To those posters saying "why are you moaning, those grades are great" obviously haven't taught or lived with someone very bright that refuses to live up to their potential. My parents and teachers found it infuriating.

[NigellasDealer]

those posters saying "why are you moaning, those grades are great" obviously haven't taught or lived with someone very bright that refuses to live up to their potential
well oddly enuff that is exactly what i am living with but destroying our relationship for the sake of high grades at GCSE is not really worth it tbh

[exexpat]

I presume she just hasn't been doing any work, because she is so bright that normally she doesn't need to (been there, done that).

But of course getting As in GCSEs isn't just about being bright, you have to know what examiners are looking for and hand it to them on a plate - you could write a 3rd-year-undergraduate level essay in an English literature GCSE and still fail, because you wouldn't have ticked all the boxes you needed to get the marks. That means learning the stuff you need to learn, and also getting the hang of exam technique.

Do you think she was shocked by those results (even if she tried to be blasé about it)? In which case she may buckle down a bit next term. I would guess that her teachers may also be putting a bit of pressure on if they know she is capable of As but is not doing any work.

But ultimately, I don't think there is anything you can do to make her work - she has to be motivated enough to do some work herself. Does she have any idea about A-levels/degree subjects yet? If there is something she wants to do that will require good grades, that might be enough to get her a bit more focused.

I have a bright (predicted straight A*s) DS in year 11 who is getting fed up with the whole GCSE thing already; I am trying not to put any pressure on him (it wouldn't work anyway) but point out that every little helps when it comes to revision, and remind him that the better he does in these exams, the more options he will have later on when it comes to doing things he will probably find more interesting, ie at university.

[VanitasVanitatum]

My mock grades looked similar and I got straight a*s, don't panic. I think mocks are marked hard. This should give her due warning to maybe make a bit more effort.

[NoComet]

Science would worry me, the rest I wouldn't care about unless she wants to study French.

Talk to her science teachers and see why she got such poor grades.

Get her the CGP science books and point her at BBC bitesize. Get her to go through the science in small chunks writing fact cards or mind maps for each section. Get her to talk to you about each section. Explaining science out loud is a fabulous way to learn it.

If you are a totally non science family a tutor may be a good idea.

All A* is are stupidly stressful predicted grades and if done off CAT scores daft.

DD1 is liable to get an A for Maths and, only with luck and a huge amount of work, scrap a B for English. Her numeracy and verbal reasoning scores are totally the other way round.

[Earningsthread]

Thanks all. I will try a tutor for the sciences and get the CGP science books