Year 11 support thread - keep on keeping on!

Dingit that's tough for you - good luck for both your DC.

At DS's school they have to get 8 of which four must be at least As, a science subject and Maths and English at A*-C - they aren't allowed to do A Levels in the subjects unless they've got at least an A grade.

Hence the need for a back-up option...just in case. Quadratilla it is reassuring to know there is one BUT I'm not sure DS will see it that way. Let's just hope it's not going to be an issue for either of our DC.

I was thinking back to my own 'R'(esults) Day - many many moons ago. I am not sure I really had the faintest clue how I was going to do (I didn't do brilliantly - did much, much better in A Levels). I don't think we had scrutinised grade boundaries to work towards and not even particularly convinced that we were given projected grades. And even at a grammar school the grades to get into the sixth form were standard (rather than inflated) ones.

There does seem to be so much more pressure on the DC these days...

Argh! Wasn't worried about gcse results day until I read this thread. Mind you, we have the small matter of a level results next week.

Yep, that's it, Tiggytape. Standard (minimum) requirements, really? If you don't get 6 Cs, you're not really A level standard?

To do maths A level, not to get into sixth form!

normal for a school to decide the A level timetable before the GCSE results are out?

Yes, completely normal. Schools will have been putting together the whole school timetable for months and they can't do that if sixth form stuff isn't set. Teachers need to know what their timetable is for September and the rest of the school need to get theirs first day back. That will all have been done before the summer.

teddygirlonce, yes I suppose that could be it. The teacher said that he'd arranged the timetable based on what the majority wanted to do, which made it seem a bit unfair given that they don't know how everyone has done yet (though I suppose they have a good idea with a lot of the pupils) Oh well, I suppose things will be clearer on results day!

mynotfinkso maybe it depends on the teachers they have (and what subjects they can/will teach), so from that point of view could already be written in stone?

Gosh that's a bit harsh, Danglingmod - your DS having to get a 7 in Maths to get into sixth form.

Is it normal for a school to decide the A level timetable before the GCSE results are out? Dd's school have done this and are saying they won't be changing it. As a result, dd can only do two of the A levels she wanted to do. It just seems a bit inflexible given that they don't have the full picture yet.

No back up here. I don't think any of the sixth forms have any different entry criteria. Six Cs to include at least Bs in your chosen A level subjects, except A/7 for maths which is not one of ds's subjects. So if he doesn't get that, he can't go anywhere!

gazzalw - Ha! the look I got when I suggested she go to the backup induction day. She is also sticking her head firmly in the sand and assuming she will get the results to stay where she is!

I find it reassuring that we have the back up, even if she doesn't.

We strongly encouraged DS to have a fall-back additional sixth form (with lower results expectations) option just in case...He didn't go to their induction day in July though. So he's either buried his head in the sand or is confident that he did do well enough to stay at his current school. Hopefully it's the latter! He hasn't been the most consistent or diligent of pupils (although rather upped his game in Yr 11) so it's not entirely easy to predict how he will have done!

Think it would be nice to just get the results done and dusted to move on with enjoying the remainder of the hols. Once they get into the sixth form they will be hitting the floor running, I would imagine!

Dd's school insist (well, advise VERY strongly) that all pupils have a back up sixth form place. She has visited her backup and will go if she fails to get into her sixth form.

It's better than last year - results on the Thursday and most schools or colleges started back the Tuesday after (after a bank hol). There's an extra week this year!

Three weeks seems an age to wait though...

Three weeks to go...

Very true. Although if a re-mark results in a higher grade then the fees are refunded (or were in the old system). And really you should only be looking for re-mark if you are v close to the boundary, in DS case he was 0.5% from the boundary to the next grade, so it was eorth a re-mark - which came back with 6 extra marks on the paper!

I might also add that the whole 'remark' issue only applies if one can afford it. So again parents and children from better off backgrounds more likely to request and pay for them.

So what's the answer?
Presumably there are points that need to be covered in each answer to earn the marks, plus points for the actual essay style, again marked against explicit criteria. So why such variation in marks?
Does anyone know how the marking and re-marks in the iGCSE system compare to the GCSEs? Can we learn anything there? Or compared to other the systems in other countries?
Seems bonkers that we have to accept a poorly marked paper as the final result of 12 years English teaching!

Actually I'm more concerned now having read Noble-giraffes link as the paper we had re-marked was a Physics paper!