Year 12 - 2024/25 - Support, Discussion and Looking After Each Other (Thread 2)

Chemistry done and he seems happy! That's us all finished with exams until Y13 woo hoo! Hope everyone else's DC are doing well.

Phew, found you all - I thought the other thread had gone a bit quiet! Re open days - is it doable to go to York and Sheffield on same day (booked into York, but not Sheffield but could get a feel for town maybe)? So many open days seem to be on 21 June, why?! Awaiting mock results here.Good luck to those doing exams/driving tests/wrangling with uni choices!

Good luck to your DS today @SunblockSue !

Good luck to all those sitting mocks at the moment - my DC's don't start until the w/c 16 June and is only being tested in one subject because his actual maths A Level paper 1 is tomorrow. Eek! Scary.
(His third subject FM is all taught in year 13 so no mock this year)

DS much happier about Physics today, it was a 2.5hr exam but he seemed more upbeat about this one.

DS said he felt like crying after the disastrous January mock. This one I don't think he did the last question, didn't have a clue. Another one he said 'I've either got 1 mark or 13' 😬 He is actually good at maths, even if it doesn't sound like it, but can panic a bit.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn It is disappointing when they've worked hard but thrown a curve ball in the paper. Sounds like your DS is like my DD though and although think they have not done well, usually have! Hope the results are what he wants.

DDs favourite subject at GCSE was maths, she was very good at it, first paper had a tough few questions at the end and she fell apart, even had to go out of the exam as she was crying 😬. Was on track for a 9, convinced she'd ruined any chance of a good grade, luckily still came out with an 8. If anything I'm hoping she learned that falling apart and catastrophising was pointless and not indicative of her result. I keep reminding her of the dreaded maths paper when she worries about difficult questions on these mocks. It was a definite life learning episode for my DD. My DD is a massive drama queen though so will overreact more than other kids 😂.

@bluefineliner I think they threw in some really nasty questions, he’s been doing lots of practice papers and doing very well so went in quite confident (not like him!) but came out quite down. Hopefully he’s done better than he thinks.

@JessyCarr we are going to Manchester on 21/6, you can see the schedule for the day by downloading their app Visit UoM and choosing the day which leads you to subject talk guides etc.

DD started her mocks well it seems, chemistry was ok, hard but she felt confident with most of it. Psychology was 'great' apparently exactly what she wanted so she's had a good first day. Biology on Weds which will be her most challenging I think.

DD dropped maths for psychology and gosh is she glad about this now! she would have given herself a mountain to climb doing maths too, and will be much more able to get a higher grade in psychology which will help her uni applications because they don't need maths specifically.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn was it an unexpectedly hard paper? I can't even begin to think how difficult A level maths is.

DS just back after maths, not very happy....

Thank you so much @JessyCarr I will forward those to him right now (although I suspect he will be at the pub by now celebrating 🤔)

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn

Another good employer of young law graduates is the legal publisher Chambers & Partners:

https://chambers.com/products/careers

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn The legal charity Advocate have been recruiting for caseworkers. Deadline was this morning, but may be worth a phone call if DS is interested?

fhttps://weareadvocate.org.uk/work-for-us/caseworker.html

Edited: actually I wouldn’t bother with a phone call as they operate a voicemail service but may be worth putting in a late application just in case.

We're doing Bath and Bristol too, honestly we need some kind of carnation in the buttonhole thing to spot our fellow MNers.😁

My DS1 has officially finished his degree after his final exam this morning. He is now unemployed so I if anyone needs a law grad just give me a shout, I need him to start paying his on bills! 😂

@Lalux here’s the Exeter open day brochure so you can get a sense of the timetable - though obviously it is not necessarily a reliable guide to what will happen elsewhere!

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/v8media/recruitmentsites/documents/OpenDayBrochureMay2025.pdf

Has anyone seen a timetable for the University of Manchester open days in June? DD is registered for 28 June but hasn’t seen anything to indicate when her subject talks would be. We are in London, so it makes a big difference to travel plans if she needs to be there first thing.

Lovely to hear all the positive feedback on open days so far. Including prison references!

What did the day look like in terms of itinerary? We go to our first one in a couple of weeks and the subject talk is early at 9am so I’m guessing we should have plenty of time after that to look around and look at accommodation etc?

Good luck to all those doing exams this week. DS has one this week and then they start properly next week.

@Waspie i don’t think we’d choose 2 in one day but they clash and the Saturday is Royal Holloway so we don’t have much choice. She has been to Bath previously (and it’s our closest city so we know it well) but it’ll be a lot in one day unfortunately.

I guess it's just luck of the draw in the end @JustHereWithMyPopcorn I'm glad your elder son managed okay in halls and found great accommodation for years 2 and 3. I did tell DS to stop at 6'2" but, as usual, he ignored me😂

Good luck to your son for his exams!

We're at Bristol on the Saturday too @Muchtoomuchtodo I hope your son enjoys his couple of weeks off timetable not having to stress over exams and revision.

DS is on work experience this week, should be an interesting change for him.

We’re going to Bath on the Friday and Bristol on the Saturday. I was shattered after going to Exeter on Saturday so 2 in one day would be really hard work.

DS is having a couple of weeks off timetable now and is feeling chuffed that his AS exams are behind him. Back to music practice, sports etc and the usual level of socialising! It’s funny how the set up varies so much at different schools around the UK.

Good luck to those doing exams, whatever type they are.

@Waspie DS1 is 6' 2.5" and we applied for him to have a room with small doubles (he has a double at home) at Notts for all hall choices and an ensuite. He got none of them, got a single bed in a small room with corridor toilets and showers. He was fine though, just had to get on with it. Luckily his private accommodation for yr 2 and 3 has a large room with double bed! DS2 is just under 6'2" so will probably end up a similar height to his brother. 6'6" is another matter!

DS has his first exam this afternoon - Maths. i am praying it goes better that the January mocks and he doesn't panic. Physics tomorrow then Chemistry on Thursday morning and all done. Good luck to everyone taking them this week!

That is a very helpful .pdf @JessyCarr , thank you. DH mentioned that some of the beds are 6'9" long but wasn't sure how to identify where these would be. These long beds would be perfect for DS (although I'm not sure how I would buy sheets for it!)

@Tebheag boys carry on growing potentially until their early twenties so plenty of time for your son to overtake his dad! DS had overtaken me by the time he was 13 and DH by the time he was 14. He hasn't had a growth spurt for nearly a year so I really do hope he has reached his full height and will not grow again. Good luck to your son finding an apprenticeship!

Two in one day is impressive @TeenLifeMum. At least Bristol and Bath are close to each other. We are doing two in one weekend later in June and I think that will be exhausting, let alone two in one day. I'm glad your daughter enjoyed Exeter.

DS is doing AQA History too @PinkChaires and @BlackBean2023 . He hasn't started on the NEA work yet. I'm not sure when they are going to do this. He would like to do the French Revolution option but will be steered by the school as he's not sure if they like all the students to do the same topic.

Good luck to your daughter @bluefineliner for her mocks this week.

Predicted grades come out 2nd of july, and school ends on the 1st apparently.lots of stress about that.
anyone elses dc doing aqa history coursework?dd is a bit lost

Sounds like Exeter has been a good trip for those who went. It is a shame most of the open days are in the same few weeks in June! Ours don't start until 21 June but are crammed in from then on.

Mocks start for DD tomorrow too @Tebheag , she is currently sat talking to herself through psychology topics now, she has chemistry and psychology tomorrow, so starting with a busy day. I think she'll just be glad to get them over and done with now! Good luck to all doing exams this week too.

Wow @Waspie your DS is tall my DS is tinny 5'4. Gp said it's genetics DH is only 5'7 and I was 5'1.5 thought he would at least be same as DH.
Mocks start tomorrow got account s and business same day then nothing till Wed morning and that's him done.
Reading all the info about uni for later on for DD as DS has decided to go back to apprenticeship think he is fed up about not having a job.
@Babbits nice that a teacher picked your son hope he has a good time.