Any support threads for parents of students about to take A levels?

[cardy1969]

That's it really. Not long to go now and DD is not feeling very confident. She's done so many 'mocks' (had 3 last week!) with her first real exam on Monday. She's wording so hard but not really achieved above a C in any (and there have been many) mocks.

She said she feels like just giving up 😞 How do I boost morale and confidence?

[OKBobble]

Explain that many schools mark harshly in an attempt (which sometimes has an adverse effect) to make kids work harder! Those CS may in reality already be Bs. Tell her to plough on through the end is in sight!! Good luck.

[MillicentMartha]

//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/3537375-Applying-for-Uni-2019-Part-5-UCAS-offers-and-exam-season-looming

There's this long running thread in higher ed.

Good luck, my DS is doing AS levels in Y12 at the moment.

[lumpy76]

That sounds tough OP. If you DD was mine I'd be doing lots of talking about Cs being good enough for LOTS of courses and are definitely worth having over giving up - she's come this fat it's really worth doing them now and seeing what happens. The PP who said that some schools mark harshly...yes we've had that happen too! Also, what are her plans? Has she got offers? If so and she's not feeling confident about achieving them it's worth looking now at what she might be able to progress into next yr though clearing. And as a real story for her my Dbro did really badly in his A levels...the uni accepted him on the foundation yr not the degree. He did really well in that and was allowed to progress....now...well now he's earning 6 figures in a related field to his degree and lives in Switzerland with his wife and 2 children. Really - not having A & Bs at A level doesn't mean she won't succeed. Lots of luck to her!!! My DD sits hers this year too xxx

[cardy1969]

Thanks all, good advice. I think you're right about the college marking mocks harshly. They are a really high achieving college and do this to incentive, it has the opposite effect on DD and she feels like a failure.

She's had offers and has needs 3 Bs to get into a Russell Group uni, she's deferred the offers and is taking a gap year, so she does have time to reassess whatever the outcome.

Unfortunately she finds exams really difficult so this style of linear A level isn't great for her.

All I want is for her to get what she deserves based on the amount of hard works she's put in. A levels are a massive step up from GCSEs.

[PandorasWhiskers]

@cardy1969
Just started a thread to try n cope with my nerves about DS first exam tomoz.
Hope your dd ok n feeling less nervous - I think I preferred doing my Alevels to DS doing his.

[NicoAndTheNiners]

I'm nervous for dd. She's been so ill this year and only has a 60% attendance rate this year. Last year she was predicted BBB but it looks like she will fail all of them now. Thankfully she has an unconditional uni place but she's still really upset and says it will look awful on her CV.

She's really sick at the minute. Has a temp, possibly tonsillitis, her tonsils have loads of white spots, feels awful and is having d&v. But to be honest that's pretty standard, especially the non stop d&v.

She has her first exam on Weds and I'm not sure she will make it.

[cardy1969]

I know, it's hard to not show your nerves and anxiety and make them worse.

That's really difficult @NicoAndTheNiners your poor dd! I hope she feels better by Wednesday.

The difficult things with exams and these linear A levels in particular is that so much rests on what happens on the day. At least AS levels shared the pressure over two years.