Continuing Year 13: January 2016

Glad to hear the Biology and Geography papers weren't disastrous. The Maths today sounds to have been a bit mixed, Fingers crossed as well for those who did English today.

How did your DD get on, hellsbells? DS said that the M2 was a very hard paper but he did all the questions and is cautiously optimistic. But doesn't think he's got in the 90s which is a shame as his latest practice papers have been really good. He said D1 was OK.

Thank goodness that afternoon's over!

I don't think my DD thinks any of them have gone particularly well, and is a bit "miffed" as she felt she had done the work.

Didn't have time to check her English today, which is unusual for her!

snowy Hopefully after a long summer break she will have forgotten the pain of exams and be excited at the prospect of going off to uni.
It is hard on them though isn't it. This is their 3rd consecutive year of important exams (4th in some cases if they did early GCSEs).

OCR FP3 this afternoon which had a really really hard last question. DD is getting fed up of hard exam after hard exam and is seriously thinking she wants to think going to uni next year .

Ds is done ! English went ok he thinks.

Hope English goes well for your DD Leeds.
DD has 4 next week and 1 the week after ......and then it's all over!

3pm start is horrendous, Friday or otherwise! Good Luck to all those doing this.
My DD has English this morning, then 2 more next week.

Morvah - DD has the same this afternoon. She is not impressed that the 2nd one won't start until 3pm on a Friday!

snowy sorry to hear about your MIL. What a worrying time for you.

DS has M2 and D1 this afternoon, back to back which is a bit rough I think. Luckily the M2 is first as that's the most important and the D1 is part of his FM AS. He's knackered already so goodness knows what sort of state he'll be in tonight! He's decided to have the evening off revision which is very sensible I think.

DS happy with both Geography and Biology today. Biology could have gone a lot worse, he told me! I fear he is buttering me up to prepare me for him missing his prediction of an A. Nearly there, only one more Biology exam next Thursday!

Dd did biology and found it to be ok she says.

Now heard from DD. Her view was that first half of geography paper was OK, but second half was "strange". Was annoyed with biology as the questions didn't seem to be focused on what they had learnt. Apparently, whole class found it like that and not just DD.

Yes Leeds DS says Biology was "good".
That is as much as I will ever be told unlike DS1 who would give me a question by question analysis together with his opinion on where the grade boundaries would fall and his likely UMS

I know that most of the marks are method marks in STEP, and in practice Qs DD has felt she was getting nowhere and when she has looked at the answer found she was very much on the right track but had just overlooked something small.So amybe there is still some hope

Anybody's DC have any comments on today's Biology and Geography papers? Haven't heard from DD yet, although she will no doubt be pleased that Geography is now over!

STEP 2 sounds horrible. I'm glad DS didn't take it. His friend found it really hard. I hope it doesn't knock their confidence for the A level papers, Bethan and Snowy. I guess they will seem really easy in comparison, hopefully?

The thing about Maths exams is that they generally seem to come out with a fairly accurate idea of how they did. When DS1 did STEP a couple of years ago he was pretty spot on. The first two went ok but after STEP 3 he knew he had not done nearly well enough. The good thing about this was that he was able to come to terms with missing his Cambridge offer over the summer before results day and start to look forward to going to his insurance (where he is very happy). In a way it seems harder if it's borderline and there is the long uncertain wait to find out.

DD found step 2 really hard today too. She reckons she has got a low 2 at best , and needs a 1 :-(

Sorry about your MIL's illness Snowy, hope she will be ok.

Sorry too about your bereavement Leeds2.

DS said STEP 2 paper was really horrible & he's not sure he managed to do enough - answered one question fully but only half of other five. Feeling a bit dejected but has to leave it behind & prepare for M2 tomorrow. If can manage three A* or STEP 3 goes better still has a hope of Warwick.

Sorry snowy I meant to say bereavement/ serious illness. My DD 's friend had special consideration because a family member had heart surgery a couple of weeks before exams. If your DDis upset and it may affect her concentration it is worth flagging up I think.

Thanks for that jaxxj. I was aware that you could get special consideration, but I would feel a bit of a fraud applying for it in our particular case.

well it's not a bereavement...yet
I don't know about special consideration ...It feels like benefitting from MIL's misfortunesome