MOCK GCSEs

[Tiredemma]

DS1 has come home with a full bag of D's an E and a G.

Wont get into 6th Form with this (needs 2 As and 3 bs)

How can it be turned around? (can it?)

[BigSandyBalls2015]

It can but he will need to put the effort in between now and may. Did he revise for mocks? What are his target grades?

[TalkingofMichaelAngel0]

It depends really. Are these grades a shock? Are his targets much higher? Yes it can be turned around if he has achieved below expected, or if it is a blip, but if he is consistently working at his absolute best then probably not.

Is he doing all his homework every night, priperly and on time? Has he started a serious revision programme?

[ChocoChou]

Good news is he has plenty of time to turn it round and pull his finger out.
What were the subjects though? If he got a F grade in maths, for example, he may end up being put in for the foundation exam and therefore no chance of getting a B!

[Chocrock]

DS reckons that his teachers say most kids get 2 grades above their mock grades at GCSE. I think he is kidding himself if he thinks that will miraculously happen without any input from him.
I have no idea if this is true or how much revision they are supposed to do before May but I would imagine your DS can get the grades he needs if he works his socks off for the next 3 months.

[Tiredemma]

Real shock as his school report before Christmas had his attainment grades at between A-C. Only 1 D which was french.

Im not sure he has revised effectively and plan to discuss at parents evening tomorrow. Im floored tbh as he has revised almost every night but I imagine that he hasnt been giving it 100%.

He is also shocked but its apparent that he left some answers out. I think his good report pre Xmas has lulled him into a false sense of security and he has obviously thought that he doesn't need to put the effort in.

I cant hide my disappointment.

[Eolian]

It depends on what grades he is actually capable of, and why he got the grades he did. Some kids do not have the ability to get above D or E. Others do, but don't put the effort in.

[Eolian]

Ah. Sounds like a lack of effective revision then. Maybe this will give him the shock he needs to turn it around.

[Tiredemma]

Biology
Effort: VG
Attainment: A
MOCK-D

Chemistry
Effort: G
Attainment: C
MOCK-E

Classical Civilisation
Effort: G
Attainment: B
MOCK- D

English
Effort: G
Attainment: 5
MOCK 5 (lang) 4 (lit)

French
Effort: CC
Attainment: D
MOCK U!!

Geography
Effort: G
Attainment: B
MOCK-E

History
Effort: VG
Attainment: C
MOCK- D

Mathematics
Effort: VG
Attainment: B
MOCK- D


Physical Education
Effort: VG
Attainment: B

Physics
Effort: VG
Attainment: B
MOCK-D


These are his grades from his pre xmas report and the new mock results below.

[ErrolTheDragon]

I reckon there's sometimes harsh marking of mocks to give pupils a wake-up call. Anyway, see what they say at parents' evening.

[TalkingofMichaelAngel0]

He needs better revision methods. The french result is telling as it is not something he can bluff his way through at all. He will need to learn it. He hasnt. Makes me wonder if they are maybe over estimating his effort as he is faking it enough in class but doing very little effoctively at home. Where is he tevalising? Do you see him?

[Tiredemma]

In his bedroom- I was honestly expecting him to get good results as we even got past test papers which I marked. The grades I got back put him at B/As
I honestly think he has just sat in the exam hall and been lazy

[ChocoChou]

Either every teacher has got it waaaaaay off the mark here or DS really let himself down with lack of revision.
When he's revising is he upstairs? On his own? iPhone/iPad to hand? Social media to distract? Does he really know how to revise effectively? So many students have no idea.. they have a past paper and will work through the questions they know and skip any they don't!
Revision is a skill and often schools just hope for the best
Let's hope this was a real wake up call!

[TalkingofMichaelAngel0]

Is he doing past papers for you in timed
Exam conditions?

[Tiredemma]

We take the phone/ipad off him as its too easy to be distracted.

I cant work it out honestly.

No point me speculating - ill have to see what they say at parents eve tomorrow.

He was gifted two years ago with a full sports scholarship and assisted bursary at an Independent School. I cant work out where it has gone all wrong.

I hope this has given him a kick up the backside

[Tiredemma]

yes- timed the exams.

[user1484226561]

sounds like he is working, don't be too hard on him.

also sounds like very poor exam technique, which schools will be working on quite hard now.

Also sounds like he doesn't quite have the maturity to do this on his own, so I suggest you help him.

Download all the specificatations for all his subjects - check at parents evening you know which exam board and which syllabus for every subject.

divide each subject up into a certain amount per week, and then subdivide those amount into two or three chunks to revise one day at a time.

draw up a timetable, with two or three subjects a day, and allocate those chunks to specific days.

allow plenty of time on the time table to review

Make sure the time table is finished weeks before the actual exams, so he can move on to constant exam paper practice.

For a maximum of TWO ( ideally only ONE topic per subject) - drop it altogether if he finds it too hard - some topics would take so much time to understand for some children that it is nt worth it.

Chemistry is a concern, because it is a very low grade, and most of the topics fit together, so it is difficult to leave one out without that impacting on understanding of the others. Chemistry needs to be worked through slowly and carefully, it is better to understand three quarters of it than rush through it and understand less.

maths and English have to be priorities.

Geography is a funny one, because it is easy to understand, but not revised very well on the whole, partly because students over estimate how easy it actually is.

i would seriously consider asking if he can drop French

Can you afford a tutor? Pick one or two subjects to prioritise with a weekly tutor if you can. I would suggest maths. That is likely to improve physics grade as well, in fact a maths tutor might be able to spend some time on physics calculations too.

Good luck.

Just remember, its important but not THAT important - if smeone can't actually do it, the most important thing for them to understand is that in the end, it is NOT the most important thing about them.

xx

[TeenAndTween]

In parallel to looking at his revision techniques, I think he also needs a Plan B and a Plan C:

Plan A: A levels at current 6th form if he gets 2As and 3Bs
Plan B: A levels elsewhere if he gets string of Bs with only a few lower
Plan C: BTEC/Apprenticeship if results show he's not up to A levels.

Revision

• have a plan where all units are covered and revisited
• active revision, eg test questions, making notes etc
• you test him to check revision is being effective
• use any school revision sessions

[catslife]

Wont get into 6th Form with this (needs 2 As and 3 bs)
Which subjects does he need the As and Bs in?
If it helps my dd went up from an E in one subject in mocks to a B and from U to C in another. Most other subjects either stayed the same or only went up by one grade and that was with hard work, revision and exam practice. Other points:

1. You need a back-up plan to apply for another sixth form/college just in case he doesn't achieve the As and Bs at the end of the year. There are lots of other options that accept students with Bs and Cs. This will save a last minute scramble on results day as popular courses may already be filled.
   
2. What type of mock paper was it - was it last year's complete exam paper with questions on topics they may not have covered in depth or was it just questions on topics they have been taught thoroughly?
   
3. How did the rest of the cohort perform? Questions that weren't well answered by most of the class would probably indicate that more teaching time needs to be given to some areas.
   

And finally does he really need to take 3 separate Sciences (is he planning on Science A levels for example) or would he achieve better results if he did Double Science instead?

[Reality16]

Is getting him a tutor an option? Some people just struggle to sit and study, a little bit of external input can make the world of difference. I can't read a text book and learn, I need to be taught iykwim. It could be costly over a range of subject. But it is literally y for a few weeks and could bring him right up to the level he is capable of.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

WRT maths ,was he put in for the higher paper or the foundation? DS got a D in Maths for the higher but a B in foundation - so he'll be doing the foundation!

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

He's also doing revision classes during lunch or after school.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Does he have the revision books?

[Schoolchauffeur]

DS managed to go from D and C in mock results to As and Bs- in fact went from CD to A*A in science. He'd done a reasonable amount of work, but it was the wrong kind of work! With some school support and a Herculean effort on his part he got the grades he needed. Together we worked out a really regimented but realistic timetable which ensured he had covered all the syllabus well before exam period- all skewed towards doing every single exam question he could find!
He had a big incentive though which was that he needed high grades to move to another school for sixth form which he really wanted.

[catslife]

DS got a D in Maths for the higher but a B in foundation - so he'll be doing the foundation!
Are you sure this is the correct way round - the highest grade you can obtain on a Foundation paper is a C!
Is he taking iGCSE Maths - for this year group the GCSE is grades 9-1 and the iGCSE still has letter grades. The iGCSE isn't tiered!
Did he definitely take Higher level papers for his mocks? If he had done Foundation papers instead that may account for the lower than expected grades?

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

No,it changed this year along with new exam grading. Foundation now goes to a B and higher paper has been made REALLY hard. It's all been a bit of a shock at just how hard the maths exam was.