Any parents of Y12 DCs up for a support thread?

The drop out rate may become more crucial. I have been reading a book on the state of Higher Education in the US, some,colleges have fewer than 30% graduating within 6 years.

Thanks scwirrels
IsThisCorrect ds isn't doing any this weekend, as he's helping on a Scout camp - bit of fresh air and sunshine will do him the world of good, I reckon. That said and I never thought I'd hear myself say this he has been doing hours every evening.

Thanks for that BackforGood it looks interesting.
Here is one we have used, you can rank by subject, graduate prospects entry requirements etc.

DS is having a couple of days off, which he needs, he looks worn out. He has been doing 2 or 3 practice papers a day, mainly Maths because he wants to get 90% +. He is very driven, it's not my idea. Two of his Maths exams are actally A level papers because they do Maths and FM sequentially. Core 3 and Core 4.
They did the January Core 4 as a mock in college on Friday and he had high hopes as he's been hitting 90% on the practice ones. Apparently it was a stinker and many of his class left in tears half way through. He says he answered them all but it has demoralised him.

With exams just over a week away, how much revision is your dc doing at the moment, esp on the weekend?

I've been having a play around on a site someone on here recommended a while back push.co.uk

I've found it really helpful in narrowing down the massive choice of universities and courses to look at, as you can narrow the choice by all sorts of criteria, unlike on the UCAS website. Obviously by course you want to do, but also by geography, by things like wanting a University in a City or not, by how important cost of accommodation is to you (I think it even gives you the average price of a pint ), it gives you %s of dropout rate, %s of unemployed 6 months after graduating, but, most importantly (for us) you can filter by likely grades, or likely UCAS point score (and it works that out for you) so you don't waste hours filtering through universities that only offer AAB.

Just thought it might be useful if people don't know about it

Glaurung - it's okay we had a very frank meeting with the head of year 12, we have a plan of action, he has applied for one course although he doesn't have much enthusiasm for it yet. We are also going to get him to do some work after exams (not totally impossible in this area, even though it will be pretty crappy and low wage), so he has a chance to grow up.

My one relief is, if he had to have a crisis at least we're not paying £9000 for it.

Thanks Glaurung

backforgood, bruffin last year many universities took people with lower grades on results day (quite a bit lower in some cases), so don't be too daunted. They seem to advertise what they would ideally like in the prospectuses, but then take what they can get (which in many cases is a fair bit lower, even for very good courses like Warwick engineering). Also, although it's better if the AS results mirror the predictions and offer requirements, it's not the end of the world if they fall down a grade here and there either - universities know that final results may be better, worse or the same as the AS results.

mummytime, sorry to hear that - school definitely doesn't suit everyone, hopefully they will all find their paths eventually.

Gulp.... submitting/recording composition today.... after getting in at 10.30 from the school senior concert as well! He was up till very late "polishing" and finish his commentary on it. He'll be knackered!

Glaurung - Universities may prefer A'levels, but most will look favourably on BTec etc. If they are of a high enough grade, and are in a relevant subject. Which is the real issue often as A'levels are more flexible. But you can always add an A'level later.
There is a Professor at Harvard who left school at 14/15, and got to Harvard via community college.

My DS will be a sixth form drop out too. And unlike your DD is less sure where he is going next.

DS was thinking the same Backforgood DS is capable of the As and has a couple in the bag from his january exam, but what if the next few weeks go wrong. DS seems to think you have to start looking that the unis that are asking for UCAS points

ds and I have been looking at lots of University sites and course details, this evening, to get some open days in the diary. It's quite worrying how many of them demand AAB for everything.
Where to ordinary mortals go these days ?

Thank you mummytime - I am just having a bit of a wobble, but there's nothing I can realistically do in any case. I don't think anyone actually likes Mr Gove! (I do think universities prefer A levels though).

Plenty of Universities take BTec (even Durham). The Universities don't really like Mr Gove, so I think will ignore him.

dd went to sign some forms for her apprenticeship today. She only has 5 days of school left before exam leave and won't be going back after exams. No sign of revision yet and there probably won't be too much either as her offer doesn't depend on AS results. I tried to gently suggest she should ask to defer a year today, but she wasn't having it. Is it a big mistake? Are A levels really the 'gold standard'? Will BTECs/NVQs and the like be further devalued by Gove, or are they actually OK qualifications?

Thanks.
I think that she will be dropping chemistry after AS, and will concentrate on the others, esp History.
She is undecided on whether to do straight History, and then convert to law, or just to go for Law from scratch.
She has also got an A in general studies, and is discovering that some unis take this in to consideration.

hanginginthere1

Good luck to your DD with her chemistry. Is guess if she's finding A level really challenging ( even though it's a bloody difficult subject anyway) then maybe re visit her choices is the best way forward. Is dropping chemistry after AS and continuing with the other 3 subjects a consideration to get the results profile she needs for her alternative choices?

Also re history- have a good look at the courses offered. Straight " history" is really competitive and generally AAA but other variations on history are around and may have a course that interests her more and lower entry requirements simply because they are less well known and popular IYSWIM

Chemistry does same very difficult. As someone mentioned earlier, my daughter also has difficulty in exams, She seems to be doing well in the classwork/homework. She did want to do medicine, but is beginning to realise that her Chem isn't quite good enough. Doing well in biology, got an A in the Jan module. She is thinking of Law or History. We have got a few open days booked, including Liverpool, whose requirements for Law seem slightly lower, an A and two B's.

Dd tells me she is definitely doing her apprenticeship, so I'll be losing her a year earlier than I expected, which hasn't sunk in yet at all. I think (hope) it's a good scheme - just hope she doesn't regret it.

Hi Secrets - yes, I've seen "apprenticeships" like that in childcare and in catering . I didn't realise LAs did them though - I'l try to look into that for him, thanks

I wouldnt worry Secrets, my friends DD hasnt had her paper work yet, she is going to different one to ds.

I did email Imperial but they sent a terse no back. Will probably try again. Ds's Arkwright sponsor have connections to Imperial and said that they might be able to get him a bursery, but that was before we knew about the English requirement.

Bruffin do talk to Imperial, as when I talked to them they said they might look at a dyslexic student with only a C at GCSE English. They also do a lot to support dyslexic students (or so they say).

We haven't had anything from Headstart since I paid.
One of DS's friends mentioned he had got something through so perhaps I'd better chase it up.