Year 13 -2025/26 - Support, discussion and looking after each other (new thread from y12)

Geography yesterday sounds like a mixed bag. It sounds like the boards were very different? Estuaries does sound niche but I have no exposure to geography so should probably not comment.

I hope paper 2 is better for everyone 🤞

DS has English literature today. Apparently in the morning (I thought it was afternoon but I’m still “need to know”).

Good luck to those taking English literature and Business Studies today!

I’m glad it’s not too bad in the Ansible household @ComingInByAnsible- long may that continue! Also for you @Tebheagand everyone else with two or more children taking exams.

Same here @MysticCatLady. I hope the children are able to “switch off” from what is going on outside and concentrate on their exams. Hopefully they have good support.

This is DS s last exam this week - three next week I think. He has actually done some revision though - hallelujah!

Same here.

Geography aqa also challenging here. Shame as he felt well prepared and so as his first exam has got it all off to a slightly shaky start. However he seems fine and has gone to do a sport tonight.

That was the one DS didn't like, but he has since decided what he wrote was OK

@Ventress, we should market the exam advent calendar under the Ventress brand, in recognition of your existing practice! @Fabfabfab, I haven’t come across Treatbox before but it looks great!

The A Level/GCSE combo hasn’t been too bad so far (touch wood), they’ve been quite sweet testing and encouraging each other. But we are only a quarter of the way through both - fingers crossed it continues as the inevitable exhaustion sets in!

DS pleased with today’s physical geography paper. A few weird questions but he felt he could work around most things. Now a pause for him until next week, when he has three (macro econ, history crusades, and human geography).

Good luck to English and Business students for tomorrow!

Yes, apparently estuarine environments are a niche topic on the spec, and the AQA candidates were surprised to get a 20-mark question on them. (According to school chat - not one of my DC’s subjects).

DD’s first exam is tomorrow (business studies) but one of her friends sat Geography today and was surprised by a question on estuaries… a bit baffling as we live in a town on the Thames estuary so it’s our very local geography!

Feedback was one annoying question in geog.

Dd had geography and didn’t like it at all. We were both feeling good with her prep beforehand. Just feel deflated now

Good luck to everyone! The first one for DD is tomorrow (English lit) and is the most dreaded one. Then there's a long gap until the beginning of June. All the other papers are quite cramped together.

Politics aside, I'm feeling a bit sorry for Keir Starmer and his family today. I think his children are the ages to be starting A level and GCSE exams this week.

DS said Geography went well, there was one question he wasn't sure of, but post exam discussion has reassured him.
You never really know. He's done papers that he thinks we're great and we're just OK, and vise versa.

Has anyone heard back about Geography ? sounds like DS did not enjoy it said he had never seen some questions before.
Got 1 kid sitting 2 gcses today and 1 just sat Geography.

I can’t think about having one doing GCSE’s and one doing a levels @ComingInByAnsible- what stress!

I love the idea of an advent calendar too., or an exam survival kit! Wonderful ideas 😊

Good luck to our Geographers today!

DD said micro was okay, she said she locked in for the full 2.5 hours which she thinks is record concentration! She said she was so exhausted she needed 3 chocolate bars today! Whatever gets her through.

@JessyCarr he’s OCR. I know very little about the different exam boards tbh!

@ComingInByAnsible love the idea of the exam advent calendar. Great business idea! We are doing just the one gift (treatbox). Having a DC doing GCSEs at the same time sounds tough - hope you are managing to stay calm in amongst all the teenage stress!

DS was very positive economics 1 today (Edexcel) which is good.

Glad to hear most people who took found it ok.

FM on Thursday.

I always do an exam survival kit. Bath salts, calming stuff, little inspirational sayings, and food, (mostly food, he's a 17yo boy)
He still digs out his positive tomato from his GCSEs quite often.

People on WIWIKAU are saying that AQA was both easy and not particularly time-pressured, so perhaps he took that one? Good to come out pleased, anyway!

DS is also pleased with how microeconomics went today. Glad to hear it was a good start for others too 🙂

What a lovely idea to do gifts, @Ventress and @Fabfabfab! I’m afraid I haven’t even thought about it beyond an end of exams gift. But then we have both A levels and GCSEs happening simultaneously so not sure we could pull off gift per exam financially or mentally! Maybe there’s a market niche for exam equivalent of advent calendars?! 😁

Great to hear @JessyCarr and @Ventress. DC is also really pleased with how Econ went today. He somehow managed to finish early (maybe it was all the adrenaline) despite usually struggling to get through the whole paper but although I initially thought maybe he had missed a section he reassures me he answered everything and that it was 'easy'. So it seems it was a great start to the exam season and will give him a bit of extra confidence for Wednesday's English exam.

@Ventress how thoughtful you are with all the gift ideas. We have ordered a nice few things from 'Treatbox' which should arrive tomorrow.

Same here @JessyCarr. Lots of time pressure but DS seems quite happy with micro econ - phew! Glad your daughter found her exam okay today. Always good to get that first one out of the way!

Hope your young economists and English language and literature students found their exams good today.

English lit (Hamlet and poetry) on Wednesday for DS. I offered to take him out for lunch but DS has headed to his room to do timed English essays.

I have been a little ott as I’ve got DS a small gift for after each exam. Today is a new pair of tennis shorts 😊

Well DD seems happy enough after Econ 1, of which I have received quite a detailed rundown! Time-pressured and she didn’t have a chance to proof-read, but seems to have got her ideas down and now quite pumped (finally!) to get prepping for the next one. Nothing more here until Econ 2 and Politics 1 next week.

And they’re off! DD has finally gone (fortunately school is only 10min walk away). If there was an A Level in faffing and anxious hair grooming she’d ace it. Best of luck to all those with exams today.

Good luck to all those starting their exams today.

DS doesn’t start his until June 1st so he is still pretty chilled, though he has dropped a couple of shifts at work and isn’t training as much with his favourite sport. It’s so different for everyone. He’s still waiting to hear back from LSE then can finally confirm his first and insurance choices - phew! It’ll all be over by June 12th. Then I can start worrying about him and his friends on their first foreign holiday without any parents….

Good luck with Econ exam today everyone! We set 3 alarm clocks just to make sure we got up in time. DC is looking much calmer than I ever felt during my own exams!