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

Btw, it's 6 subjects she's not underachieving in, not 2. You don't expect students to get their target grade 6 months before the exam.

I'd be worried if the school my dd attended had not completed the teaching of the GCSE course by the time of the mocks to be fair. Jan - April should be about reinforcement at school and exam technique. That's what they did when I was at school; that's what they did when DS was doing this three years ago and that's what dd's school does. If a school is doing different I'd be asking serious questions. Very serious questions. How can schools possible predict and judge if they haven't covered the course work.

The As are fine, you'd expect to go up a grade between December mocks and the real thing. The C/Ds need a bit more attention. The teachers should have already given some advice to your DD about what is needed to be done to improve, but I would probably also phone the school and ask to speak to the individual teachers (unless a parents evening is upcoming). They should be able to tell you what the problem is and how best to address it. You could ask them about getting a tutor and what areas the tutor should focus on, and also whether there are any websites/books they recommend.

But don't say to your DD that all her results are appalling, because that's not true and will probably make her just switch off, or become completely overwhelmed. Focus on the problem areas and come up with a plan of action. See it as a problem to be solved rather than simply berating her for wasting her potential.

Op - I don't think you would be getting such a hard time if your dd had been predicted Cs and had a clutch of Fs in her mock results.

Yes, there is a big gap between her results and her potential, but I agree with posters who say this could be a great wake up call. Is the school willing to discuss a plan if action with you and her?

What do the teachers think?
If the mocks are past papers, and he course isn't finished, it may not be possible to get A*.
I remember last year when DD did hers, told in maths at least, that with the work covered, not possible to get higher than an A in the mock. She got a B, although predicted A but that was seen as 'right', prediction stayed same and she got her A in the real thing.

I would be concerned about the sciences - is she not getting how to answer the questions? Were there practicals included in these results or was it just the exams?
Possibly also French - was it all 4 elements being tested on? Is there a weak area?
Do you have a parents evening coming up where you can address concerns?

Will her oredictions remain the same?
This could be important in subjects she may want to do at A level, especially if applying to external 6th form.

FWIW, my DD (not straight A, and a bit lazy when it comes to revision) always performs better in the real thing. And its worse at the start of the AS courses when they come home with C's and below in subjects they did get A at GCSE in.

How much revision did she do?

My DS has just had mocks but they did not have any specific revision time and were expected to complete normal prep unrelated to the exams in the run up to the mocks. This meant that his results fell short of his predicted A's and A*'s.

However if that was your scenario think of it like this- if she got those marks with little revision/exam practice, imagine what she can achieve after weeks of study leave!

But the most important message for you is to take a step back. You cannot force a 16 year old to work and constant nagging is counter productive IME. She needs to want to get better grades, she needs to want to revise, she needs to see FOR HERSELF the bigger picture (A levels, Uni etc).

Was your dd shocked or disappointed too ?

With those predictions I'd have been disappointed at her age and that would have been the wake up call I needed. Had she revised at all or just coasted until now?

Those of you criticising the op saying they're great grades, surely it's all relative? To get a d or e when predicted to fail is fantastic. You've worked hard and done your best and surpasses your expectations. Whilst a b is not a 'bad' grade, if you're capable of an a* but laziness means you.ve done little work then IMO you've achieved less than the grade d student who was on course to fail.

Surely there's a difference between pressuring our dc and encouraging them to reach their potential.

Those grades are great

Perhaps focus on French and Physics.

Have you congratulated her on her performance?

Your poor dd. Being academically successful and successful otherwise is not just about grades. It's about the whole package. Is it possible that your dd has been talked up throughout her time as secondary school and that this has taken the edge of the fact that she is inclined to be lazy and therefore might not fulfil her potential.

My dd is projected 5A*s and 5A. We are amazed at that prediction. Her mocks are in January. If she comes home with results like your dd's we will be loving her, supporting her and trying to boost her a bit. That is our job and ultimately she is the daughter we have and we cherish her for what she is not for what we would like her to be.

Wow.

I'm not surprised you're worried, OP.

My ds is predicted all A*, so I'd be really disappointed with those mock grades.

My god daughter failed 80% of her mocks last year & went on to do really well. The mock results gave her the fear!

I'd agree the CGP books are great. My ds doesn't rate BBC bitesize, but I think it's pretty good.

My ds is doing his last mock today. I am dreading the results!

The schools always mark the mocks harshly. You have 6 months to work on her sciences and French which is long enough to pull her grades up.

Is she doing double or triple?

If shes is doing triple I would think about just doing the double if science is not her strongest subject.

Science would worry me, the rest I wouldn't care about unless she wants to study French.

Talk to her science teachers and see why she got such poor grades.

Get her the CGP science books and point her at BBC bitesize. Get her to go through the science in small chunks writing fact cards or mind maps for each section. Get her to talk to you about each section. Explaining science out loud is a fabulous way to learn it.

If you are a totally non science family a tutor may be a good idea.

All A* is are stupidly stressful predicted grades and if done off CAT scores daft.

DD1 is liable to get an A for Maths and, only with luck and a huge amount of work, scrap a B for English. Her numeracy and verbal reasoning scores are totally the other way round.

My mock grades looked similar and I got straight a*s, don't panic. I think mocks are marked hard. This should give her due warning to maybe make a bit more effort.

I presume she just hasn't been doing any work, because she is so bright that normally she doesn't need to (been there, done that).

But of course getting A*s in GCSEs isn't just about being bright, you have to know what examiners are looking for and hand it to them on a plate - you could write a 3rd-year-undergraduate level essay in an English literature GCSE and still fail, because you wouldn't have ticked all the boxes you needed to get the marks. That means learning the stuff you need to learn, and also getting the hang of exam technique.

Do you think she was shocked by those results (even if she tried to be blasé about it)? In which case she may buckle down a bit next term. I would guess that her teachers may also be putting a bit of pressure on if they know she is capable of A*s but is not doing any work.

But ultimately, I don't think there is anything you can do to make her work - she has to be motivated enough to do some work herself. Does she have any idea about A-levels/degree subjects yet? If there is something she wants to do that will require good grades, that might be enough to get her a bit more focused.

I have a bright (predicted straight A*s) DS in year 11 who is getting fed up with the whole GCSE thing already; I am trying not to put any pressure on him (it wouldn't work anyway) but point out that every little helps when it comes to revision, and remind him that the better he does in these exams, the more options he will have later on when it comes to doing things he will probably find more interesting, ie at university.

those posters saying "why are you moaning, those grades are great" obviously haven't taught or lived with someone very bright that refuses to live up to their potential
well oddly enuff that is exactly what i am living with but destroying our relationship for the sake of high grades at GCSE is not really worth it tbh

I don't really think there's much you can do, OP, I'm sorry.

I coasted my way to 10 As at GCSE (back in 1992!) and assumed that i could do the same at A Level. I had always breezed through every exam with an A, no matter how little work i had done. Made my teachers very frustrated.

Opening the A level envelope amd realising that my "can't be arsed" attitude led to 3 x B rather than the straight As i was more than capable of was a horrid shock, my first realisation that sometimes you cant get away with the bare minimum. I still have recurrent nightmares about it.

Unfortunately at this point nothing you can say or do will make your DD pull herself out of it. She will have to learn this difficult lesson for herself.

To those posters saying "why are you moaning, those grades are great" obviously haven't taught or lived with someone very bright that refuses to live up to their potential. My parents and teachers found it infuriating.

First thing is to go through her papers. Did she mess up timings and just not answer some questions? Is there a topic she can't get to grips with?

Then she needs to practice, practice, practice past papers and worked answers. There is a knack to answering exam questions. And mocks are always harder than the real thing (in my day anyway).

Don't panic and reassure her that you believe she can do it. She has to take charge of the revision though, you can't force her to do it.

Maybe she doesn't want to go to Oxbridge and the only way not to be pressured into it is to not get the grades?

Sorry, didn't, not don't!

Appalling that the poor girl is under so much pressure. Ease off on the criticism and sit down and listen to her. Does she even want to go to Oxbridge?

If she's not working she needs to work. Chances are she will. In 12 years teaching GCSE I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of students who don't improve between the mock and the GCSE.

Bear in mind there are a lot of students, many of them children of parents on this board, who are praying for Cs so their child can get into college at all. I can see where you're coming from, but that's probably why you're getting short shrift.

not really appalling no i think you need to chill out a bit maybe get a tutor after christmas? does she go to a pushy kind of school ?