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Original poster

Poor AS results

30 replies

bettina46 · 26/08/2013 10:00

I need your advice. My daughter got U at Maths and Biology AS, C at Sociology and A at French. I didn't know what to say. She had all AA at GCSE except for Bs at English Language and English Literature. English is our second language. We've lived in UK for 5 years and DD started her education here from Year 8 with a basic knowledge of English. She is very good at languages, she's learning Japanese at home and thinks about. studying it at SOAS. Last year she did excepionally well at sciences - A at Triple Sciences so taking Biology for A level was an easy choice. She also wanted to take Chemistry but it was in the same block as French so she had to take Sociology instead.
Her school wants her to continue French and choose other subjects. DD is depressed and doesn't know what to do now. I have always thought she's the academic type so I'm really suprised with her poor results.

OP posts:
WorrySighWorrySigh · 26/08/2013 13:10

Sorry, forgot to add, we too have experience of changing country and language so do understand just what an achievement your DD's GCSEs were. Also, she has done extremely well to achieve an A in French and a C in Sociology.

Dont forget to celebrate the successes.

It can feel like you only get one chance at each stage but that certainly isnt the case. Some rethinking now will not mean that your DD gets left behind.

RegainingUnconsciousness · 26/08/2013 13:06

WorrySigh the Khan Academy stuff for chemistry is brilliant, I've used a lot of it this year.

RegainingUnconsciousness · 26/08/2013 13:05

Same with biology, the sciences are incredibly different from GCSE to A level (this is necessary).

If she enjoys them and wants to continue, some YouTube channels such as Khan Academy (this link is to the biology playlist, there's a lot of maths on there too but I don't know anything about maths!), and Crash Course Biology can help. There's probably some British made A level ones around for her particular exam board.

If she doesn't enjoy it, then there's no harm in starting something better and taking an extra year over A levels. I did this after I was pushed into subjects my parents wanted me to do. (Not saying this applies!)

Good luck to her.

WorrySighWorrySigh · 26/08/2013 12:57

Hi bettina, my DD is in a similar boat having really crashed in Maths & Chemistry (though did well in Biology).

This isnt the end of the world! There is still time to turn this around.

How does your DD feel about her results? Is this a case of failure of understanding or is it more to do with a failure of study and exam technique?

I started a thread here as well and have had some excellent advice.

First off, there is a big jump from GCSE to AS and then A2. In the sciences one of the big problems is the use of language. There is a specific vocabulary to be used. DD learnt this for Biology (and therefore succeeded) but didnt so well for Chemistry. This didnt matter at GCSE but does at AS.

One of the big things we have all learned with DD's results is that doing all the set work at GCSE will get an A. Just doing all the set work at AS gets you an E. One of the big learnings for us is that DD will have to do a lot more independent study and also an awful lot more exam question practice.

DD is going to have to resit specific AS papers alongside her A2 studies. This means a lot more work.

What does your DD want to study at university? Is there an opportunity to resit the year but start again with some new subjects?

creamteas · 26/08/2013 12:47

It is really not that unusual to get these results at AS (especially Maths!). There is a really big jump between GCSE and AS levels.

If she is enjoying it, I would say it is probably worth carrying on with sociology alongside French and only picking up one new subject.