Disappointing Gcse results

It's perfectly reasonable to be disappointed with a result that is lower than expected, or delighted at a higher. Whatever the level.
If you say you shouldn't be disappointed with a A if predicted an A* then by the same argument you shouldn't be thrilled with a D when predicted an E.

Dm taught maths to all levels including degree, and still reckoned her greatest success in 40 years of teaching was one child who got a G at GCSE. There was a child in the same year who regularly got 100% in practice papers and sp she would have been disappointed if she hadn't got an A (no A*).
It's relative.

Read back now and there are a lot of reassuring posts. I also realise it looks like I was disappointed - I really wasn't (there were 2 that didn't think were a given C/pass). I am delighted she can do the next step but sad that her reaction on opening the envelope was sadness and disappointment.

I haven't read back but dc1 had similar - predicted 7s & 8s but got 2 7s, 1 6, an A, 5 Bs and a C. They know they are a good set of GCSEs but having had smoke blown up their arse that they are an A* student for the past 2 years, it is disappointing. Thankfully friends and most family have reassured DC1 that they are good results and most importantly,allow them to study the subjects they want at 6th form.

Just to let you know, riceuten:

University of Bristol: "You can find out what weighting we give to GCSE grades in our admissions statement" (for each subject).

Medicine: 15%, Mechanical Engineering: 40%, MFL: 30%.

What utter rubbish about Oxford and Cambridge. At least of you are ging to say something, try and make it remotely factual. Their statement gives a profile of the typical student but says A level results count more and you can make up for lost ground. This will not be much different to Bristol with the weightings above. A levels count for more, but GCSEs are in the mix at the premier institutions. They willno longer have As levels so look at what the student has achieved at the timeof application. They also, believe it or not, weight Personal statements at some universities too.

Yep - my DD is disappointed with a 9, 2x7, 3A,3B - because SHE thought she could do better. (I am bloody delighted she got good grades)

We point out to her that she has done marvellously well, that her grades enable her to follow whatever future she want, she has many choices available to her - we went out for a meal last night to celebrate her achievement, but she still felt a bit down.

Her friends all had a spread of grades A* to D - but she said - "that is fine for them, I know I did better than most of them, but MY better was not good enough for ME".

Which is fair enough I suppose - if she had coasted to top results in everything, then there would be less incentive to push revision etc for A levels, now she knows she has to work harder to get to the top - which is what she strives for, she has ambition - her disappointment with good grades is just part of her.

I don't want to change her, so cannot say to her she is wrong to want to have done better , just that she does not yet realise that she has actually done blooming well.

Oxbridge do

They also look whether you went to the "right" school, the clubs your father was a member of, and whether your mother was a whipper in of the "right" hunt.

And for that reason, I'm out

I think half the problem is that they are predicted high results, so they almost get too relaxed about it and think they don't have to put the work in to get them. You say you think he coasted, that's something he can't afford to do at A level if he wants to get into a good uni. He really needs to hit the ground running and maintain a really good work ethic all the way through. He certainly sounds like he has the ability to do well at A level as long as he puts the work in. My DS found doing past papers the best form of revision at A level, he used to literally do them every night and go online to mark them. So many students in his year group got really poor marks at the end of year 12 (they don't do AS anymore do they?) and it was simply because they didn't appreciate the jump from gcse to A level. Once he has his A levels his gcse grades won't seem so important!

" if most of your friends are celebrating strings of A*s then it's ok to feel down if you don't."

I think it is OK and natural to feel down and disappointed if you got lower grades than you expected and were predicted, when you did the necessary work etc

However, if your friends got a galaxy of A*s it is important to pull out and look at the bigger picture, because 6As and 3 7s is , IS, a GOOD RESULT. Better to look at your results in the bigger picture, where they are a good result, than look at your friends and feel, as the OP says, that your 'results are worthless'. Those results are NOT worthless, not by a long chalk, The are A level entry results, Russell Uni promising results, I don't know much abut Oxbridge, but again, if anyhting other than Oxbridge is 'worthless' then again, you need to look at the bigger picture.

However, OP, I do sympathise with individual disappointment.

I assume his predictions were based on sats and if he worked hard, which you say he didnt. Id ask him if he thought he deserved the highest grades, which he expected, based on his actual work? And ask him what he needs to do differently at A Level in order to improve. Then go from there.

Oxbridge do.

I don't know of any Uni that looks at people's GCSE/KS4 grades - A Levels is the rate determining step.

I think a lot of the problems come from predictions by schools that are way off beam because the teachers are too generous about the quality of work they are seeing and the oddities of exam questions year on year that children cannot cope with.

Predicted grades seem to be based on: "if everything goes exactly to plan, with a following wind, you arrive in the exam hall calm and collected, and then you see perfect questions that you have revised accurately for, or, as your teacher, I have accurately predicted will be on the exam paper, and you write down everything you have been told to legibly leaving no important detail out and you finish on time having used your knowledge to answer the applied questions and memorised the texts you need for English ". Does not happen for lots of children.

So children have to manage their sadness and bewilderment when they feel rubbish. It is difficult to be bouyant when you thught you should do better. GCSEs do, and will, count at some more prestigious universities now because of the linear nature of A levels. Some courses weight GCSE results very heavily. No AS results to guide admissions tutors. Course admissions details need to be read very carefully. However, 6 As is no barrier to many courses! Just let him work out he needs to do more work in the 6th form.

Lastly, working hard alone is not going to get good results. Intelligence and talent do have a role to play. So no-one should ever think they should get all top grades. Pressure from within to achieve ridulously highly is a recipe for mental health problems and needs to be countered NOW if young people are anticipating a full basket of 9s in 2 years time and will be devastated if they do not get them.

hedwig2001 a couple of years ago my DS got similar results. Not enough to do his chosen course at college. So he went into the level 2 course (GCSE level) and has just completed the level 3 course (and finally passed his GCSE english) and is going to apply for an apprenticeship in the raf.

It may take a little longer but your DS can still get where he wants to go.

I also think the OP is being given a hard time (perhaps the thread could be reworded?)

My ds is in a similar position, predicted grades mostly a lot higher than he achieved. We live in an area with lots of excellent state schools with high achieving pupils. With the added factor of having a high achieving older sibling. But luckily ds is quite laid back about it, happy that he can still do the subjects he wanted at A Level. He does come from a long line of contented underachievers!

I suppose I am the one wondering whether I should have done more to restrict screen time etc!

And those of you who say it doesn't matter, it may actually. There are lots of universities & courses now ruled out. Obviously ds may never have wanted to apply to them anyway...

And sometimes it's good to know something has been ruled out at the start rather than applying further down the road & being disappointed then.

OP there are so many unis & courses now (if that's the route your ds wants to take) that as long as he works harder for his A Levels he will be just fine

Bugger, that shoud be Positive Mum

I also opened this, thinking this might be similar to my son's.
He worked really hard. But this is what he got.
English Language Grade 3 - Predicted Grade 5
English Literature Grade 4 - Predicted Grade 6
Mathematics Grade 4 - Predicted Grade 5
Science - Core Grade C- Predicted Grade C
Science - Additional Grade C - Predicted Grade C
Computing Grade D - Predicted Grade B
DT - Graphics Grade E - Predicted Grade E
Geography. Grade D - Predicted Grade C
Religious Education Grade D - Predicted Grade B
No chance of sixth form. Fortunately, his Plan B, College have agreed to take him, although he did not meet the conditions of his offer.
I have spent the last 24 hours being "Postive Mum", taking him to talk to the College, reassuring him. But writing this, I can feel the tears coming. I'm so disappointed for him (never disappointed with him), that despite all his work, he has little to show for it.

If he performed significantly below his predictions of course he's disappointed! Give him a day or two to get over it and he'll be fine.
My dS said yesterday that we need a word to describe the emotion that's a mixture of disappointment and relief......

As PPs have said, what is good is relative. We are just as pleased with DS's grade C resit GCSE English as we are with DD's A grade A level maths. They were equally important for what each wants to do next.

When DD1 bombed her AS levels through lack of work we encouraged her to bank the feeling of disappointment and remember it. She has worked far harder since and is now working towards a good degree in her chosen subject.

There's nothing wrong with his results. I got 3As, 4Bs and 5Cs, went on to get ABB at A Level and got into a top 10 University.

Think she just feels deflated after all that hard work rather than as proud as she should be of herself

I think this is how DS is feeling- he revised so hard, so so hard. Very little by way of any social life, hours everynight after school- long hours across the weekend. He said that he did all this and 'only' got Bs. He certainly hasn't had this attitude from me because I think he has done really well.
The attitude comes from his peer group and its really sad.

The pressure doesn't come from us or her school but from herself and her group of similarly high-achieving friends

That is so true. Dd is struggling a bit because she didn't match up to those in her group who did exceptionally well. Whereas there are others who had lower aspirations and are very happy to have exceeded them. Think she just feels deflated after all that hard work rather than as proud as she should be of herself.

The problem is that one cannot get top grades by being in the top 1% of ability any longer! Pupils have to put some effort in too!
Yes, 6As may well be disappointing if he's actually capable of 10 A*s, just because it's better than 90% doesn't mean it's a good performance for him.
He needs to buck up no, as the step-up to a level is huge, and there is no way on earth to pass those without some graft nowadays. And he needs to recognise his coasting for what it is, and learn to make an effort.
He can obviously still do very well at a level, but not if he doesn't change his approach.

From the title I thought someone was in the same boat as my DC who scrapped by with the equivalent of 4 Cs and 5 5Ds. Luckily their college place is secure, but seriously get a grip those are bloody brilliant results OP.