2015 Yr 12 support thread

I strongly suspect DD1 has done somewhere between very little on nothing on both her EPQ and her PS. I think she is waiting till the AS results come out. Not hopefully. More in dread. Sigh.

DS is also getting very stressy about next week and is convinced he has completely messed up his maths. He has his heart set on a course which is perfect for him at Southampton and is now certain he's blown everything.

Glad to hear others are behind on their PSs too. He has jotted down a few things and done a couple of draft paragraphs but says that they've been told so much that they shouldn't say that it doesn't leave much else.

He has also done a teeny bit of his EPQ and about half of his maths and about a third of his computing work. And an awful lot of flopping about on the sofa watching YouTube videos, playing golf and getting up just in time for lunch.

Next year, the results are almost a week later I think, which will be an awfully long wait.
I did encourage DD to try and spend half an hour on her personal statement today but it didn't happen! Instead she has been practising her driving, we have been out for a walk and then played on bikes. It's very rare for her to have a whole day free for me....and tomorrow she is back out with friends for the day.

DS2 has started the self doubt process too.He had no idea results were out on Thursday,bless him!
But they do seem to be very early this year, don't they.

ds3 not written a word for his PS either - think he's waiting to go back to college before thinking about anything serious - he's just ambling the summer away gyming, cricketing, footballing and doing the odd shift at pizza express - oh to be young and carefree

Thanks Dunlurking.
Secret - DD2 hasn't done her PS either. She is on work experience next week and says that once she has done that and got her grades, she will look at it not holding my breath

DS felt reasonably okay after the exams but has just started that process of doubt which seems to precede all exam results days. He is also dithering again about his subject choice for university and has yet to write a word of his PS.......

Thanks hellsbells I will pass that nugget onto ds. Good luck to BOTH your dds for next week. Glad to hear dd2 is relaxed about it all. Hope dd1 makes her offer.

Dunlurking - DD1 got her chemistry teacher to predict an A for the reasons you stated and has retaken 1 of the AS papers alongside the A2 papers. We will find out next week whether she has done enough to meet her offer which states an A in chemistry is required (offer AAB).
DD2 is waiting for her AS results too and says she knows that she hasn't done bad but is not sure how well she has done. She is quite laid back about it all having seen DD1 go through applying to universities etc and knowing that as long as teachers will predict good grades then most courses/universities are possible as long as you then get the A2 grades

Anyone else find they are revisiting those tricky questions in certain papers with their dcs all of a sudden? Maths C2 springs to mind. Was it enough to get an A or a B? Could they persuade their teacher to bump the A2 prediction to an A even if they got a B at AS, on the grounds that they always got As in practice C2 papers etc etc.

This next week will drag. We can't seem to focus on anything in our house atm. Wish we'd planned to be away until the day before the results.

DD1 has dyspraxia and AS and has also struggled with unrelated health issues, so it's not like she isn't used to being the odd one out (she goes to a school full of super confident brain boxes but it's a state school so she doesn't feel socially disadvantaged other than due to her issues). But I think the supreme sense of being a master of the universe in waiting of some of the kids she was with over the last two weeks has phased her a bit. I guess they expect things to work out for them because things always have in the past. She also doesn't see how she could compete with people like that if it even got to interview/audition stage. Sigh.

DD isn't looking forward to this day next week much.

I'm expecting tears and resits but at least she knows they went wrong so has very low expectations which has to be a good thing.

We are in the depths of despair here (I say we. I mean DD1). She is now utterly convinced that not only will she not have good enough UMS her grades will fall far short too. In theory since she has a plan B which would require much lower grades, you'd think she would be all out focussing on that. But no. Just mooching around in the doldrums. She had a great time on the two residentials she has done in the hols but I think mixing with super confident super accomplished posh school types has further dented her confidence. I'd like to be able to think she's wrong but I'm not an optimist at the best of times. And this isn't the best of times.

Good luck to your DD in UKCAT Needmoresleep.

Starting to get nervous for results day now. DD is away at a summer school so is hopefully too busy to be thinking about it much. It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have bloody UMS to worry about...(or maybe it would)

hellsbells here are the moneysavingexpert current figures for loans - you will see that London is getting an increased maintenance loan as well if that is the issue. I don't know what the calculations are for the proportion that a parent contributes but the fact that the proportion you can borrow is now of 8200 outside London, and £10,700 for London rather than the previous £4000-£5000 and £8000ish has to be good news.
www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/loans/2015/07/summer-budget-2015-student-grant-and-loan-system-faces-overhaul

Hello all - I hope everyone is enjoying the summer.
DD2 won't be looking at London partly because of costs but also because she wants to live near the university and probably will choose a campus one.
I am not going to encourage a gap year as universities will be allowed to increase fees from 2017 to include inflation.

My DC has ruled out London because of the high living costs which is a real shame

I think the figure of 8200 will be for those studying in London - if it turns out to be the case then thats not much of an increase on the current grants/loans total available :(

Thanks - damn

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-33444557

The line above the subheading "Deterred by debt"

Links please.

Where does it say the loan is for lower income students?