Year 11 - how awful is it? Experiences please

Year11 had many ups and downs for me and my dd.
DD does igcse so no controlled assessments barring history and that was a stress.
It's just about supporting them as much as possible and pushing them. For a lot of under achievers mocks are a thing that can give them a kick to work harder. Our mocks were first week back in January so the Christmas holidays were tough

DS1 is about to start Y12 and I'm going to be taking a step back and letting him get on with it himself.

DS2 is starting Y10 and has a tendency to be overly conscientious, so he will need to pace himself and find a good balance between work and relaxation (something that came naturally to DS1).

I think you are making the right choice to cajole support her through her GCSEs. A lot of 15 year olds don't have the maturity or foresight to realise that they need these qualifications, especially in English and Maths.

DS1 found Y11 a bit relentless. The Autumn Term was back-to-back controlled assessments, then as soon as those finished it was time to revise for the mock exams in January. As soon as those were over, there was pressure to choose A-level subjects before a February deadline. Then it was time to arrange post-GCSE work experience. In March there was an opportunity to re-do the lowest-graded controlled assessment to try for a higher grade. Then from Easter onwards he was revising for his exams, which started in the first week of May. None of this is unachievable, but there was no let-up from September through to June.

It kind of sounds like it will be as bad as you make it with the unmotivated kid. I'm glad that you have decided that yr11 is the last year you do this cajoling routine, but then you need to be prepared for her to bomb yr12 and have some planBs if she really isn't 6th form material. You'll be pleasantly surprised if she does get her Act together for yr12.

I have a can't-be-arsed (just finished yr11) & an over-worker (about to start yr10). The over-worker is much more stressful for me. I want to throttle the over-worker for being so ridiculous.