DD's mocks results are a disaster - what can I do now?

Slightly of subject but something I have been wondering for a while. Is a C at GCSE comparable with a C at old O Levels or is an old C equivalent to a new B now there is is A*?

lainie 15A*s and one B would not be a problem..but that's not where this young woman is at.

A mix of grades, with more As and Bs than A*s, just isn't going to be enough. Especially if the applicant has attended a decent school, especially if the applicant is looking at one of the super competitive courses.

Young people with their eyes on Oxbridge and a number of other highly competitive universities need to made aware of this so they can eithert a. reconfigure their expectations or b. pull their finger out.

Welcome to the realities of adolescence.

5-6 months is tonnes of time to improve. I thought mock exams were supposed to be a wake up call to the more horizontally inclined? If she's clever, she really doesn't need you to help her improve, does she? And so what about potential? It's HER potential, not yours. Rebellious people are only happy if they achieve their potential THEIR way, not by towing the line throughout their lives. The more you push, the more you take her achievements away from her and put the credit onto your nagging.

Bearing in mind she won't have finished the courses yet and won't have had 5-6 months of exam practice, these results are excellent. She should go up by at least a grade per subject with the GCSEs. Leave the poor girl alone.

I understand why you are upset, my year 10 child was supposed to be getting As, now his grades have been revised to Bs.

Not the end of the world but you want them to do as well as they can, I will be looking into getting a science tutor for him after Christmas, just no real idea what to look for

I am sure she will be fine if she knuckles down for the actual exams, maybe some past paper practice would be good

Nobody has said that one B would eliminate you from the first Oxford sift. But the grades listed most definitely would.

No one has said that but they are going to want excellent all rounders who do can do well in science GCSEs. Realistically you are not going to get to Oxbridge with Cs in science and French.

Where is it set in stone that a B eliminates one from the first Oxford sift?

What if you have 15 A*s and one B? Bit harsh.

Hopeful- you did see that the OP's daughter is aiming at Oxbridge, didn't you? Under those circumstances, the results are concerning, and the reasons for them need addressing. If one of the reasons is that the Oxbridge dream is the mother's or the schools's, then so be it, but if it is actually the dd's, then she needs to do something and quickly.

Those results are fine - I will be delighted if my children achieved them . Your attitude on the other hand is appalling !

Make sure she knows you're proud of her for working hard and improving, not only for getting A*s. I agree with the previous posters - if she's been labelled and praised for years for being 'clever' then she may be shocked now that that's not enough and she can't just sail through with little work and get great results anyway. At the same time she may not really know practically how to fix that problem if her study skills, self-motivation and so on have never really needed to be good before.

If she's going to succeed through A levels, let alone any university course, she mustn't count on getting brilliant results with little work - even if that used to happen, it probably won't ever happen again now she's past primary and the first years of secondary.

Instead she needs to learn to feel pleased with herself every time she works hard at something, even if it doesn't lead to "ooh aren't you clever" glory, and every time she improves at something even if it doesn't take her past a clear winning line such as a brilliantly high grade. That's the attitude you need for the long-haul of studying.

Get her to be as pleased with the jump from C-standard to B-standard work as she will be eventually with the jump from A-standard to A-standard. Feeling that anything less than A at any stage is a disaster if she's afraid she won't make it - she needs to feel that all improvement is good, not only the last step to her final goal.

The reason for suggesting a science 'tutor' is science isn't simply a load of facts. You can revise to the cows come home, but if you don't understand the basic concepts and can't chain those facts together into a coherent story you won't get good marks.

The tutor can be a parent, family friend, student, it doesn't matter, what matters is that she is able to talk through the science with someone who 'gets it themselves'.

Even friends your own age can help. I was tutor for my peer group, DD1 is for hers.

Also make sure the school has gone through how to answer the styles of questions, DD1 says the wording is horribly specific. Describe means Describe, etc. Her teacher has drummed it into them make sure hers has too.

Speaking as the mother of a child who was predicted A and A* grades throughout secondary and ended up with a handful of A-C grades due to stress-related illness, I would say the important thing is how you handle it now.

First of all, deep breath.

Then try to assess the situation. Are these grades likely to be due to laziness, panicking, not having done all the work yet or simply having had overinflated grades in the past? Each of these scenarios is going to need a different approach so it's important to stop and think before you wade in.

There is no point in us MNers trying to tell you what has happened based on our experiences with our own children. You need to talk to your dd and encourage her to come up with a plan. Try to use calm, unemotional language as much as you can: teens can be very sensitive to anything they see as overreaction. Put the ball in her court as much as possible: what do you think happened, what are you going to do, what is your plan now.

Does she want to be an Oxbridge banker? Is is possible she felt the school had her future all mapped out for her without consulting her?

If the predicted grades (A* for everything) are a fair reflection of her ability, you don't need a tutor.

The thing is that if you are predicted an A*, GCSE's aren't that hard.

Buy her the Letts revision guides, and tell her that's all she needs to know - it's all in there. You could also print out the syllabus for the exact exams she is doing.

Then (and this is the bit that was never explained to me) explain that, actually, GCSEs are quite important. And make her feel that she can do it - I don't think letting on that you think her mocks were a "disaster" will help (and I think you mean 'mildly disappointing' rather than "disaster")

She needs to find her own way to learn if she's going to do A levels and further. You just need to give her the tools and the confidence.

And as for pressure. Please don't assume everyone feels like you. Your DD may not.

Many high achievers sail along quite happily. My own DS is positively horizontal.

We don't kbnow that the OP's daughter feels any pressure to perform. Whatsoever.

And I don't thik we can blame the OP too much for feeling peed off. Her daughter is capable after all.

What is your DDs reaction to her results? Is she upset?

The problem with bright children is that they find everything easy therefor never have to put in any effort its only when they get to GCSE/A level that they realise that brains alone wont get them the A*

I think the science results are a bit odd for someone choosing triple science. Even without much work I'd expect at least all C's. OP what were the Summer exam results and course work results?

I presume she must have stopped working/revising and without that she's not going to get the A*.

Some children are capable of A* without any extra work due to a combination of intelligence, hard work and being able to answer exams well.

For this massive drop in some subjects it would indicate that she's been working very hard to be A* standard.

It seems that she just didn't study for the mocks.

but I would get a science tutor!

If one of my DS had achieved those grades I would be extremely proud!!!

fairy I don't want to give the impression that the GCSE grades are the only important factor.

Not at all.

But they are the initial sift. They feel the corrolation between good GCSEs and degree result is a strong one.

Oxford interview fewer candidates than Cambridge, and make fewer offers. But those offers are often lower than Cambridge. If you've made it through the sift and the interview, they pretty much want you.

Cambridge however interview a lot of candidates, and make more offers (statistically speaking), but those offers can be very high.

I might be bothered about the physics- a D there suggests she doesn't "get" it.

But it does also look as if she hasn't done enough work- the subjects where she's done well are the subjects where brains and bluff can get you through and the ones where you actually need to know stuff have gone less well. But there's still time.

We don't know whether the OP was putting pressure on her DD before the results. Perhaps the DD thought she was going to sail through, and didn't, and the OP was complacent as well. I think we all project from our own experiences here. All we know is that the DD underachieved. Can she do better in the actual exams? Of course she can. If I were the OP, I would sit down with DD and see what she thinks.

Sometimes, if children have always done well with a minimum of effort, they then struggle when they have to work. If she has always been praised for being clever, she may not want to apply herself, as she may fear she will still fail. She'd rather not work and fail, than work and risk getting "only" As and Bs, which would expose herself as not being the clever girl everyone thinks she is.

Or perhaps she's lazy or arrogant and this has come as a nasty surprise. Whichever way, the OP needs to get on the same side as the DD, and work out a strategy together to sort it out, with DD suggesting her own ideas.

Incidentally, in my DCs' school, the initial GCSE predictions are based on the CATs scores in Y7, so getting all A*s isn't necessarily an accurate prediction.

As others have said, remember that these grades mean nothing. They are mocks. They are designed to help show a student where their weaknesses lie so they (and their teachers) can help fill in the gaps before next year.

Freaking out on your DD's behalf won't help - she will either panic too and get all stressed out about her real exams, or completely switch off. Just stay calm and try to subtly encourage her (easy to say I know).