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Secondary education

Starting Y13 (y12 support thread contd)

999 replies

AtiaoftheJulii · 18/08/2014 08:08

Well, I filled up the other one, so here's a nice new one to get us through dropping subjects, Uni open days, personal statement writing, and UCAS applications Grin

Plenty of Wine and Brew and (nicely-intentioned) Biscuits available!

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MrsRuffdiamond · 18/08/2014 09:37

I like the nicely-intentioned Biscuit! It's a shame that it's used as a no comment emoticon on here. Confused

mumslife · 18/08/2014 10:48

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muffinmonster · 18/08/2014 10:51

Glad to see a follow-up thread. DD is being allowed to continue to Y13 despite a D in Physics (which she intends to do at A2). Seems like she's got a mountain to climb and now I am thinking that repeating Y12 would be a good idea, and not (as I considered it pre-results) the worst possible outcome!

mumslife · 18/08/2014 11:06

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RabbitOfNegativeEuphoria · 18/08/2014 11:19

I'd like to stay on this thread, even though DD1 is only going into y12 so is now going to be behind you lot - I've been with some of you since GCSE days! And because DD1s application will need to be in v early in y 13 (because of auditions) she will be doing some open days this autumn - and may miss out in some altogether so it will be good to hear others' experiences. Also, she will be doing one or two A2s next spring (GS certainly, CT maybe). Plus the EPQ this year.

Fairenuff · 18/08/2014 11:35

Thank you so much for all your help on the last thread. I will be an expert by the time ds is doing this and hopefully will be able to pass on some of your collective wisdom Thanks

Atia those links were perfect. DD is indeed one mark away from an A in her french - she got 47 out of 48. Not sure whether it's worth a resit/remark. How do they remark an oral, is it all recorded?

Fairenuff · 18/08/2014 11:40

Doh! Of course it's recorded, forget that Grin

AtiaoftheJulii · 18/08/2014 11:45

Just posting those grade boundaries links again for easier finding again:
Edexcel - //pastpapers.edexcel.com/content/dam/pdf/Support/Grade-boundaries/A-level/1406_GCE_A_level_Grade_Boundaries.pdf
AQA - //filestore.aqa.org.uk/over/stat_pdf/AQA-A-LEVEL-GDE-BDY-JUNE-2014.PDF
OCR - //www.ocr.org.uk/Images/142071-unit-level-raw-mark-grade-boundaries-june-2013.pdf

Don't know how they remark orals (might be useful for this year - dd2 is going to do French and Spanish A levels). One thing to consider is that this year's grade doesn't matter, it's only the total ums next year that determines the final grade, so changing that one might not make much difference?

Rabbit have you nc'ed? :)

muffin - guess your daughter will be working hard at the Physics then - but being down to 3 subjects might help? Is she doing Maths? Did she do M1 last year? (A maths tutee of mine did Physics AS last year and really struggled with the Mechanics paper, but was doing S1 in maths. This year he has done M1 in Maths, resat the Physics mechanics, and found it far more straightforward.)

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RabbitOfNegativeEuphoria · 18/08/2014 11:50

Attia - frequently! My names are usually linked though. Working a cabin pressure vibe at the moment obviously.

RabbitOfNegativeEuphoria · 18/08/2014 11:54

I know things have changed massively in maths since my day, even though DD1 isn't doing it, I can see from what I read on here - BUT I never cease to be surprised at the lack of joined up thinking regarding mechanics. In my day, they ensured that the physics and further maths bods (which included me) were in the same maths group, and we did the mechanics stuff first, so that the FM people could then move on, and to give the physics people the basics they needed. It seems mad that some physics AS people have had to do their whole AS (which includes mechanics) without having done the mechanics in maths first.

AtiaoftheJulii · 18/08/2014 12:24

Yeah, it wasn't great for him, and I was never sure whether it was because he had decided at the last minute to do FM AS as well, so hadn't ended up in the best group, or whether the whole cohort were out of sync. At my dd1's school, if you're not doing Physics you do S1, if you are doing Physics, you do M1. (They have several maths classes, so easy to arrange.)

(Was just checking I hadn't added 2 and 2 to make 5 :) )

OP posts:
circular · 18/08/2014 12:44

Muffin think we are climbing the same mountain Sad

Atia / Rabbit Only the FM group did M1 in yr12 at DDs school, regardless of whether taking Physics or not. Would have thought it would be better organised when they have 5 or 6 AS maths sets for the 100 or so that took maths.

Encouraging to hear from so many sources that the M1 should help the Physics mechanics click. And sincerely hoping that DD1 has not inherited my unusual maths/physics combined aptitude.

mumslife what's the grade boundaries query?

wondering how important grade boundaries are at AS?
If school will predict up to next grade if close, and include explanation in reference, is there any great problem having the lower AS grade on the UCAS application?

mumslife · 18/08/2014 13:16

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Littleham · 18/08/2014 13:19

Quite a lot of school predict one grade higher than AS result, if they think dc will work hard. So if they got a C, the prediction might be a B for that subject. Depends on the school.

mumslife · 18/08/2014 13:22

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mumslife · 18/08/2014 13:24

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Littleham · 18/08/2014 13:25

Universities look at GCSE grades and predictions. One or two eg Cambridge are fussy about AS results, but most go more by predictions I think.

mumslife · 18/08/2014 13:27

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Littleham · 18/08/2014 13:41

If you your dc gets those predictions mumslife, you could probably go for these five choices -

  1. Aspirational AAB
  2. Probable ABB (or AAB if you want to live more dangerously)
  3. Probable ABB
  4. Probable or Insurance ABB / ABC
  5. Insurance (lower backup)

My guess is that she would get offers from at least three. Just make sure she understands how random it all is & that she falls in love with one of the backup options. Re-sit worst AS module & work like crazy - she should be fine. And remember if all fails, clearing went to BBC for History (and possibly lower). Also, the personal statement is really important.
Sonnet · 18/08/2014 13:56

Can I join? - Really need some support during the next school year.

DD1 did worse than she had hoped - BBCC - she is dropping one of the B subjects (English Lit) as she doesn't enjoy it. History was a B (but a scrape). Politics was a C (2 marks off a B) and Psychology a C (Psychology paper 1 was a D which brought her overall grade down, paper 2 a B). The odd thing was that everyone in her Psychology class got a low grade for paper 1. DD1 got As in her internal and external mocks. School say they will investigate.

DD1 was hoping to do History at Uni but the grades wanted are AAA or AAB so it is looking like she may have to rethink.

She is very down and is insisting she re-sits 3 AS papers next June. Whilst I will support her decision I cant hep but feel that is a huge workload.

Littleham · 18/08/2014 14:03

Why not put at least one History choices for her five options on UCAS & also look at Ancient History type courses or Archaeology, which have lower grade requirements (but are still essentially History)?

The workload goes up at A2, so maybe persuade her to only re-do worst two modules? Otherwise she may drag down her A2 marks.

Sonnet · 18/08/2014 14:04

She has requested her original scripts back for her proposed re-sits and is hoping to go through them with her Teachers.

Knowing where she dropped or did not gain marks is vital now. DD1 seems to think her weakness is applying what she knows to the question. How to solve this will be the big question...

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Sonnet · 18/08/2014 14:07

Thanks Littleham for the Ancient History tip - she has previously said she isn't a fan of Ancient History but it would be a good idea to re think this.

I too am worried about putting her A2 marks at risk...Hopefully this will be discussed at a school meeting on 2nd September. I do admire her spirit but she has to be realistic.

mumslife · 18/08/2014 14:47

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Sonnet · 18/08/2014 15:08

exactly the same position Mumslife - DD also had a weak teacher for one part of her History and in that paper was 2 marks off a B. The only way she thinks she can get an A in History now is to resit that AS paper next June and get and A plus an A in her Coursework and an A in her unit 3 A2 exam - a very very tall order!!!

DD had considerd the split degree with Politics at Leeds but they still want ABB with the A in History.. Thanks for the kent and Leicester tips!

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