GCSEs 2018 (15) The Reckoning

Ha! I bet it fills up before the 23rd when rising panic sets in from (I estimate) the Monday of that week.

How about GCSEs 2018 (17): Results looming (argghhhhh!)

Hopefully someone will be along with a better suggestion

Thanks mmzz - good to know

Brainmelt - I'm quite impressed with her inventiveness too, she doesn't get it from either of her parents!
Sticker - your dd wont be able to pick out my dd from the group of art/ photography/graphics students busy expressing themselves through the medium of dress

Yes we will inevitably remember GCSEs as relatively straight forward once the next challenge is underway, but I am going to try and remind myself how strung out and exhausted our dcs were during the lead up to exams and avoid being that person who tells her friends with younger dc "You think GCSEs are hard? - pah, wait until he/she is doing A levels"

mmzz I am surprised at what you said about GCSE listers. Its a looong time since I updated my CV and applied for a job (probably nearly 20 years) but I was at that point still listing my O levels despite having a degree and MBA - because I thought that was expected. Is it not deemed sensible to do that now? At what point to you stop listing GCSEs grades - after a degree? Do you just document the number and subjects but not the grade, or not bother at all and start with A levels? I am very out of the loop in terms of what is expected in job applications now

Teen it varys so much by Uni/Type of course. For a huge number (including many russell group) it will be automatic selection depending on whether you hit the predicted grade. For some top uni's who do rigorous selection based on tests/interviews, all that matters to them will be wider interest and intellectual curiosity and ability in the chosen subject. So GCSE s and extra curricular outside chosen subject become less important too. DD2 took all gold D of E, prefect, sports etc stuff off her Cambridge application to make more room for discussion around the chosen subject.

There may be some courses where they will be relevant, including some medicine and US course. I think DC need to either pick uni courses to apply to that match their strengths or do some research and try and get what they need. For the majority though GCSes and extra curricular don't mean a lot.

I also think extra curricular, work experience and things you can talk about at interview will be important for those like DS who may be going into work after A levels and not uni. As I allways say too they are more important for what the DC actually learn and gain from them than the benefit they actually gain on a CV/application

The firm offer is a student’s first choice. The one they will definately go to as long as they get the grades.

The insurance offer should be one that is asking for lower grades or is unconditional. A back up in case they don’t do as well as expected.

mmzz
DS1 applied to five universities through UCAS.

He got 5 offers (which was great for his confidence): 4 were conditional upon certain A-level grades and 1 was unconditional.

He had to choose 1 firm offer and 1 insurance (back-up) offer, and let go of the other 3.

I totally agree mmzz
By the time it gets to the younger ones, I have the benefit of experience, but with DS1 I feel at sea half the time.

After GCSE results, there's not a whole lot of extra stuff to do.
This is what DS2 needs to do:

• Confirm place at sixth form / college

After A-level results, if they want to go to university, there's a whole load of stuff to do. DS1 really struggles with phone calls and dealing with officialdom. There will be support at uni, but until he goes there, I have to support him.
This is what he will have to do:

• Contact student finance to inform them he's going to insurance choice.
• Apply for accommodation at insurance choice (can't be done until firm choice rejects him).
• Contact disability services at insurance choice.
• Open student bank account (may need to be done in person).
• Register with GP near university.

For DS2, I will be much more nervous about A-level results than I am about GCSE results.

With GCSE results, he is fairly likely to get what he needs to study the A-levels he wants to do.

With A-level results, it'll be more stressful. He has a shortlist of university courses and most of them give A*AA or AAA offers.

A great set of GCSE's is a credit to any DC and totally agree it will give the DC's confidence going forward to A level, but with the mass of Uni applications you need to get your DC to stand out if say all the predicted A levels are like for like.

I was keen to get DD in part time employment as soon as I could and when she went for her interview at the back up school this is what the HOS said caught her eye (DD has been working since she was 15) Its not only employment its voluntary work and sportsmanship too anything else that will make your DC stand out from the crowd enough to say I'd like to know more about this DC because comparing like for like ...candidate A has ABC and candidate B has A & B. This is assuming that the higher qualifications are predicted like for like...

There were more unconditional Uni offers last year than before and there has been some concern about this - which is an interesting factor because I wonder whether this will now tighten up.

mmzz - same here, I did a lot of hiring (saw a lot of misguided CVs) and it was frowned on to see GCSEs/O levels listed. We weren't too bothered about hobbies, either. However, the exceptions would be for jobs where we hired non-graduates - there weren't many, but in those cases GCSEs were relevant. Ironically, for any teaching job they want to know about every exam you've ever taken! So despite PG English qualifications I still have to prove I have English O level!
DS is really looking forward to A levels and I agree I think he'll forget about GCSEs very quickly. I can't believe the cycle is about to start again - DS2 will be picking options this year!

Oratory or in my case would my DC ever walk, neither even attempted to take a step until they were 18 months!!!!!!!

Stickerrocks don't accountancy firms set their own tests which weed out applicants and I wonder if this came about because of grade inflation as employers had so many applicants with A's and A* that they were unable to pick on that basis alone?

Yes agree with impact on confidence etc

This year group though will have the excuse with universities that they were guinea pigs and nobody knew what they were doing.

One large accountancy firm no longer looks at qualifications beyond checking that you have maths & English. A student with 3 A levels at grade E has and equal chance of a job offer as a student with a first in PPE from Cambridge if their personality ticks the right boxes.