2015 Yr 12 support thread

Some of ds' scripts are already back! Whilst his teacher believes he might have been a bit more generous in marking, the risk of losing marks and dropping below the grade boundary means he wouldn't advise a remark. Waiting on history now which was rather more problematic.

Some positive news - DD2 went into school today to chat to the 6th form team and was told to still carry on with her Cambridge application as all was not lost with a B . Plus the school is requesting all the papers for the "bad" subject be recalled as they're not happy with the overall grades DD2 didn't suggest it was poor teaching rather than poor marking thankfully but have recommended we apply ourselves for a remark of both her papers, plus get the script for one other paper which was lowish. Not sure about a remark on that one, as she's two marks below the A, but only three marks away from a C, so a bit too close to risk unless we're sure.

I think though the school may be looking at their publicity for next year (x number of students applying to/gained places at Oxbridge) plus expecting a lot from the extenuating circumstances form, but she'd happy to give it a go. Another course she wants to do also interview, so any interview prep she does won't be wasted on a speculative application.

General feeling around here is that the marking has been harsher than everyone was expecting, and people haven't been getting the grades that might have been expected. Could be a school thing though, as we've had a lot of change and disruption over the past couple of years, and quite a bit turnover of staff bloody academies programme.

Really? DS2 has ound AS physics really interesting

Good news dunlurking it sounds like that Maths will be straightforward.
Interesting about the Physics. My two are at none selective sixth form college. Both DS's went in to A level with A in GCSE and loving Physics. They both found the AS year extremely dull and uninspiring. DS1 went on to do A2 Physics and said the second year curriculum was much more fun and he got A.
DS2 has also found the AS boring. He got full UMS on one Physics paper but is dropping it for A2 and won't reconsider .
So maybe it's not the teaching but the curriculum?

Thank you for all the advice on here on remarks and resits. When ds rang last night to discuss his results we had a cheerful positive conversation. He had reflected on them and was amazingly mature about it not my little boy anymore I gather that the tutors actually recommend all the Maths students repeat the C1 C2 and other (S1 in his case) in year 13 anyway! They recognise that doing C3 and C4 makes it likely everyone can improve their marks in C1 and C2 and hence their overall grade. With this being standard at the school he felt it quite likely he would be predicted an A. We will order photocopies of his papers anyway to see what his problems were.

On another note. WHY is Physics teaching so bad in schools? Ds is at a state grammar. He may not be naturally brilliant at Physics but a D! Was predicted an A (which I was doubtful about). We will get photocopies and consider a remark even though dropping it anyway. He really thought it would be a B, C at the worst after sitting the papers. My friends dcs also dispair at the Physics results at this school. It should be delivering 100s of our dcs to STEM subjects. My dd is just starting year 10 and wants to do Engineering so we will get Physics coaching organised asap! How is this country going to produce more engineers if we can't teach Physics in schools? Sorry! End of moan!

Presumably one of the reasons that teachers can predict a higher A2 score is that A2s have the potential to receive an A grade and AS only goes up to A - thus if they have an A at AS that's the highest possible grade, so a similar mark on an A2 paper would be an A. Don't know if I'm just rambling now... :)

DS1 did well today, four As but a 'low' A for further maths which has disappointed him as he really wants to do maths at Warwick, for which he'll need an A* in further maths or a level 1 STEP. It seems mad to be disappointed with four As, but there you are. He'll drop computing which he got over 90% UMS for despite not having a teacher for over half the year. He did even better in physics but still wants to do maths... 1st world problem and all.

Oxford will not consider DD because she did not get enough A* at GCSE
and she did not like Cambridge when we visited
so the other options are being chosen carefully

Meant to say - for posters concerned about 'low A's' and Oxbridge. Don't know about Oxford, but Cambridge more likely to take a view and at least invite for interview. They seem quite flexible and genuinely more interested in individual potential than metrics. DD missed her A2 grades last year, but her first choice college still took her because her supervisor "really wanted to teach her" and she's had a great first year. So still all to play for!

They don't want the kids with the best A level score.They want to offer to students who they think have the potential to do best on the course as long as of course they meet the entry requirements.

Has anybody got their head round this 'mark equiv' malarkey? Is that the same as 'raw marks'? DS got a C for Eng Lit - bit of a shocker, as expecting a A- and we're wondering if it's worth going for a re-mark, but if 'mark eqiv' is the same as raw marks, then he's just inched into the C grade on one paper , so maybe best to let sleeping dogs lie. Most grateful for any shared experience/ advice.

No need to apologise. I know exactly what you mean. It's not unreasonable of her to be concerned.

I know Madam! If it went down any more that would put the bloody tin hat on it! She did come in the top 3 of a Cambridge essay competition in her subject-am hoping that might help. It's just awful to see her so disappointed today.

Apologies for harping on about the AS results equivalent of a first world problem.

Marni, I don't think they will care much about her 'low A'. Any offer-even if based on 4 subjects would require A at most in her weakest subject.They will be much more interested on her aptitude test and how she comes over at interview.
I think a UMS remark is very rsiky.They may come up with a lower revised score!!

Thanks Dunlurking and LIZS. Yes there would be an exam at interview so that may help. It's frustrating that her strongest subject can't be counted in the average-usually they use best 3 results but she only has 3 so no chance of the low UMS subject being jettisoned.

I guess they'll know whether it's worth a re-mark when they see the script. My worry is, as they all seriously under-performed, it's less likely to be marking error. Really don't know-it seems very odd.

A couple of Ds peers were asking for a remark to improve ums for Oxbridge.

Marni I can understand that disappointment. Does she have some Cambridge exams to do for her desired subject that would make up for the lower UMS mark? Perhaps a remark will do the trick?

Well done to all DC who got what they wanted and commiserations to those who didn't. At least there's a chance to put things right next year.

Bit of an odd day here. DD got 3 A's (4th subject-the one she is applying to Uni for-is a Pre U so no AS Level) but one of the 3 was a low A and way below what she was expecting in terms of UMS. Apparently the whole class got much lower than expected in it, think she was the only one to get an A.

None of this would matter except she was really hoping to apply to Cambridge and this has brought her UMS average down quite drastically. School have already requested all their scripts back so they are obviously concerned about all the marks. It's put a bit of a dampener on things really.

Thank you SecretSquirrels, Needmoresleep and Jellybean. All really helpful and I'm making notes for the conversation with ds later. It sounds like I need to contact the school tomorrow for photocopies of his Maths papers and we go from there.

Fingers crossed for everyone else coping with fallout.

dunlurking I have no idea whether the practice of only predicting 1 grade higher is a national directive to all schools, but I suppose you can understand that teachers do have to he realistic otherwise they could predict As for everyone so they get offers from better universities.

Any idea how long the scripts take ? Are admin errors ( i.e. when the scores are entered or omitting a questions' marks) possible in the process? Ds' mark on one paper was so unexpectedly low we are wondering if only one of the two questions was marked and entered.

DD and I have formed a strategy today. We have requested copies of two papers and she will review them with her teachers when they go back in September. She will almost certainly rest those two next year alongside her A2s.