2015 Yr 12 support thread

Thanks for that about Durham and GCSEs SecretSquirrels I thought I'd read somewhere that for the History course, because it's so competitive, they expect the string of A*s that the Oxbridge people have. Really hope not. I was going to prime ds to ask about GCSEs at the History talk on open day but suspect he would find that too embarrassing and I'm not going to it as I thought I shouldn't take a seat that another student might be desperate for.

Ds says half the examination hall was yr13s repeating in the C2 exam. But do this yr12 get to resit at all? Are ASs actually happening at all next summer? Think ds will be redoing C2 if so. Only the Further Maths people came out saying they could do it - but that it was hard.

TranquilityofSolitude I wonder whether it's to do with the new A level courses and the fact that some schools will be dropping AS altogether?
As far as I know all schools make the student pay for a re-sit. At DS's they don't get any teaching for them so the preparation for a re-sit is entirely down to the student. Which is why it's not unusual to do worse at re-sits.

That's odd. This is the last year that can do resits AFAIK. I've already spoken to DDs school about resits, after lasts weeks mishap and they said wait and see what results are but resits are there if need be.

My DD is saying that school will not allow any resits, so I'm curious about others being able to redo exams. Why might some schools allow it and others not? Surely those who can't resit are at a disadvantage?

Oh poor her, Attila, hopefully she's being overly hard on herself and it's gone fine. It's so bloody hard. I think they should do two exams and then use the best result to genuinely get the true picture of what our DCs actually know.

DD said C2 (Edexcel) was simply awful. She said we'll add it to the other resits with a half smile.

I did offer to test her on her times tables on the way in this morning but my kind offer was declined

Looking forward to a long break before M1, good luck to those with exams over the next few days.

Poor DD Atia, what a day she's had. Hope she feels a bit better soon.

DS has returned and actually said C2 went well, which is a huge relief after he dropped nine marks for not finishing C1. Almondcakes he only ran out of time on the last sub question of the last question, so was pretty relieved! The general consensus among his mates was that C2 was better than C1.

Hearing about what you're all doing I definitely think we're going to too many open days now! I may trim it down a bit. Am a bit cross that Bristol and Bath are two days apart. It would have been easier if they'd liaised and arranged them on consecutive days so people with long journeys who wanted to see both could do them with a one night stay in between!

DD has open days booked at Bath and Bristol.

Oh, dd2 really miserable about History :( I'm putting my head in the sand until August.

Dunlurking I've never heard of Durham being that interested in GCSE grades. Unless it's medicine of course which seems to have it's own bizarre rules. DS1 got an offer from Durham based on his AS grades (they do ask for UMS). His GCSEs were not all A*s.
I forgot Lancaster. DS2 has a summer school there so isn't going to bother with an open day.

Ds texted also to say History went really well. Thank goodness as I was all set to cancel all the open days after the C2!

We've booked Durham but I don't think they will look at him because he has more As than A*s at GCSE. He would probably have a better chance at Cambridge (but doesn't want to consider it). We are going to Lancaster, school are taking them all to Newcastle (can you tell we live in the North west?) We will go to York in the autumn, and Exeter if we have any money left in the bank to get us there. Possibly Warwick....

Yes DD also happy with History. Mind you, given it was her last exam and she's on 'study leave' till mid-June, I think she'd have been happy with anything! Seems to think it went well though...

Just heard from DD1. She said history was 'good'.

Morvah, DS said the worst questions on c2 were at the end, so if yours didn't finish, at least they only missed questions loads of other students were probably failing to get marks on anyway.

Re open days - don't worry if you haven't done many (or any), many places will offer open days for those who have applied and received an offer. These are usually in late winter/early spring.

C2 was good apparently. His texts are always very brief.
He has some open days planned at the end of June. He went to a taster day at York and has crossed that off the list as he really disliked the campus. He's been to Nottingham before and liked it plus they do a course he likes so he is going back for a second look. Also on the list are Durham, Manchester, Sheffield, Oxford and Warwick.

It's at times like this that I really regret living where we do. Everything is so far away.

Had a text off DD2 to say C2 was good - which I am pleased about after yesterday's awful physics B paper. She has started booking open days but still unsure what she wants to study! Had booked Cambridge but I think that might be in the bin after the physics EMPA and unit 1 going so bad; Sheffield, Durham, Leeds so far. She went to Nottingham, Manchester and Birmingham last year with DD1.

DD1 has already been to open days at Guildhall, Trinity Laban and RCM. She really needs to go see Royal Northern and possibly the Welsh. She know plenty about Birmngham already so can probably skip that. Of universities, she has done a thing at Cambridge and is going to an open day at her first choice college (should she apply) in July. She did have a York open day booked for late June but won't be able to make it (I'm going to be in Brussels, unavoidably, and DD2 has show week for a show she is in so there is no way that DH can take DD1 up there and cart DD2 along too even if DS was prepared to stay home alone (which he wouldn't be)). DD1 going on her own just wouldn't be an option I don't think, it's a bloody long way. She thinks she could but the trains are just too unreliable and too expensive and take way too long. And flying is really no better since you then have to get from Leeds to York. I can see her applying to someuniversities withouthaving visited them, to be honest - but since they would be below plan C I don't think it's that much of an issue, I think it's highly unlikely she would in the end go to any of them, she'd prefer to re-think. So maybe she will end up just having 2 or 3 universities on her UCAS form (but with the 5 UCAS conservatoires AND the Guildhall as well). Autumn is looking like it will be a time of hell for the whole family - DD1 will have auditions interviews and tests, and I will probably (it looks like) be overseas (and really far some of the time, USA and Africa, not just Europe) most weeks in Sept/Oct and Nov. Nightmare. Although I think DD1 is cool about that - but it will bring real organisational headaches I think. Sigh.

I keep looking at my watch to see if the history exam is over yet. It isn't. I don't really expect DD1 to text/email the minute it is over...but I kind of hope she will. Even if it's only our customary code for 'I'm alive' (I don't know why we don't just say 'I'm alive' but we don't. Instead we quote lines from our favourite song and manifesto for life 'Rage of Thrones'). anyone who pinched our phones would think we were mad. Possibly not incorrectly.

Dd has booked a couple of open days in June, we will leave the rest until the autumn when we have a better idea of what is achievable.

Still nothing from DS and as I've got a meeting this afternoon I probably won't find out til about five thirty! Not sure I can bear the suspense but it really doesn't sound good . . . . . .

We're going to open days at Oxford, Cambridge (he can't decide which but if the maths was that bad we may cancel them!) Bristol, Bath, Imperial, Southampton, Surrey and Exeter. He is also considering Manchester and Birmingham but we haven't booked those as I was getting a bit panicky at the number of days to be spent driving the length and breadth of the UK! It's going to be a bit of a long haul. I think we may have booked too many.

Maths C2 "was not great" which means a disaster. But I'm not surprised given DC's extremely laidback approach to revision

DD has History this afternoon too - British politics. She went off this morning with all her mindmaps etc that have previously been displayed around the house. Quarter of an hour ago, I went to the downstairs loo, and almost started panicking because she'd left her Clement Attlee mindmap up in there! Suppose there's an Attlee question and she hasn't revised it!!!! Then thought I may be a little too invested ... Well done for sitting through the 16th century stuff!

She is supposed to be booking open days. She has been to a thing at Cambridge, and is going to another thing there, so isn't going to bother with a formal open day she says. She did Leeds with me and dd1 last year, loved it. She is going to Durham and Newcastle I think, with dh - they are on consecutive days so they are making a weekend of it and seeing some bike racing on the way back :) Possibly Manchester or Cardiff?

Hi, just sneaking in to say I've been following the thread to keep me sane. Thanks all! Ds texted me after the C2 Math to say it was awful - and everyone else said that as well. Fingers crossed on the grade boundaries. He has History this afternoon (he's doing 16th century and it's French history paper today - I have no idea what board it is ignorant mother but give me credit for sitting through at least 5 hours of 16th Century history being spouted and explained to me in the last week anyway I'm distracting myself with looking up open days and history courses at uni. Off to check out some reference books at the library this afternoon - HEAP 2015 is the one to check out I hear (except it should be HEAP 2016 I expect). Just want to get my head round the UCAS process and steer ds to some reasonable unis and courses at open days
Anyone booking open days yet? Where are you going?