GCSE 2019 support thread 6

My DS is also interested in Mathys, further Maths, Physics and Computing but his college advises him to take only 3 of those 4 subjects.

They say that all Uni's (including the top ones) are happy with 3 A levels. And adding a 4th is unnecessary, and it's better to fully focus on 3.

hmm, ds is doing maths, further maths, physics and economics.

His school is a super selctive grammar and pretty much all the kids do 3 A levles, EXCEPT those doing further maths, who do 4. But if he was to drop one, it should be the further maths, because the impression I get is that it is the further maths that is considered to be the add on extra.
For what it is worth, he got 8 in maths, which is a requirement for them for further maths, and a 7 in physics (although was predicted an 8)
that is basically A's, so no reaosn for them not to do well with those marks.

I wondered if anyone here can help me understand the grade boundaries for AQA Business Studies GCSE.

filestore.aqa.org.uk/over/stat_pdf/AQA-GCSE-GDE-BDY-JUN-2019.PDF

We are considering a remark but I wanted to check that DS's mark isn't too close to the boundary for the grade below so I took a look at the AQA boundaries document for GCSEs. It has a section for the total and then the two papers separately. The two papers have a maximum of 90 marks each but the total has a maximum of 200 marks so I was wondering where the other 20 marks come from. Am I missing something obvious? I've already emailed the exams officer twice this morning about other things so would rather not do so again!

Hi everyone - I deleted an earlier post with regards to remarks, because in hindsight I put too much detail . We are looking at a couple of papers, with the help of the teachers. They have breakdowns of each question, and marks given, which is really helpful.

Just wanted to say belated BIG congratulations to all.
To original posters thank you for being there throughout the "journey". Onwards and upwards to all .

With the re-marks, it really depends on the subject (maths v unlikely apparently but design subjects more common as obviously down to interpretation) and the distance between the grade boundaries. But of course they can go down as well as up.

My DS was 16 marks off dropping down to a 2, but 4 marks off going to a 4. Having a 4 will make things infinitely easier - he won't need to attend extra English lessons, resits etc and then it is out of the way. Maybe it will stay the same but for our circa at least I don't feel like we've much to lose.

I don't know whether there is any more covert discrimination against sociology say rather than history

I've been reading some of the University entry requirements and Sociology is listed as not being a valid A level subject for some courses... maybe that's it.

Solitude I can't answer for Juniper but my DD is similar in doing 4, Maths, Further maths, Physics and Music. It seems to be more common with Further Maths. He can drop one if he wants too, plus the FM can be done over 2 years as an AS.

There is crossover between the Maths/FM/Physics which helps.

That was badly phrased! I mean obviously it's not stupid to do history if that's what you really like and are good at, but if it's one of a range of choices there seems a rationale for doing something easier!

DD moved away from facilitating subjects, she's looking at social sciences / humanities, and when I looked at possible uni courses she might want to do there didn't seem to be any she would be overly excluded from based on her choices. I don't know whether there is any more covert discrimination against sociology say rather than history. In some ways it seems stupid to do history in which it's much harder to get an A/A*, though is this taken into account by admissions?

@onaroll thank you so much, that is brilliant to read. Well done to your DS!

Just a note on re-marks, as mentioned upthread. My dds friend got an exam remarked last year. She had a 6, wanted a 7. It went down to a 5. So it does happen.

JuniperOakPark

My DS is also interested in Mathys, further Maths, Physics and Computing but his college advises him to take only 3 of those 4 subjects.

They say that all Uni's (including the top ones) are happy with 3 A levels. And adding a 4th is unnecessary, and it's better to fully focus on 3.

Saying that, my DS did not get 9s, but he did get 8s for Maths and Physics.

Just curious if it is your DS or the College/6th form advising to do 4 A levels?

It's hard for DS to choose between further maths and computing that's why I ask!

@strongthighedbargeman
@maydayredalert

Regarding the BTec enginnering, I for one would say fantastic !

Upthread, I have mentioned that my DS on his results day got kicked out from doing A’levels at his 6th form because of his ‘failure’ grades ?

He went onto do the Extended BTec in Enginnering (started with A level maths alongside, gave that up after 2 terms).
His final result was D D D * - which was the best he could of acheived ( became his college pin up boy on website ).
This gave him the UCAS points for many choices at Uni.
Instead he took up a 5 Year Degree Apprenticeship (after a gruelling application process). He is halfway through his degree , loving the work, has so many opportunities, has a raft of industry qualifications outside of his degree.
Weekly he is headhunted by over firms wanting him to go to them, this week he was offered a ridiclous sum of money to do so. (staying where he is until whole apprenticeship & qualification happened at least).
'failing' (he never failed but not top grades) his GCSE's and not doing A'levels was the BEST thing for him, it gave an 'alternative path' that has led to him being in such a strong position to his peers (now mostly away at Uni).
Not many offer the Btec Enginneering so I'm wondering if we're local 😂
Good luck to both your boys and their choices.

Sorry, it was daft of me to say there's 'no such thing' as English Lang A-level. It's just that it's not available anywhere local to us.

latenight I have had the facilitating subjects conversation many times with ds over the last couple of years! But he is dead-set on Politics and Media and in the end he needs to do those subjects that most interest him and that he will engage with and succeed in. The third will always be a 'facilitating subject' anyway (geog/hist/spanish), Politics always considered a 'respectable' choice and tbh I have moved from being very fairly sceptical about Media Studies to feeling that it's probably quite important in this day and age!

However given that the FS list now been scrapped by RG universities I'm not sure it's such an issue in any case.

@strongthighedbargeman thanks. I hope it will suit him more, he has never been hugely academic and really struggled with school at times so hopefully a fresh start and a change of scene will do him the world of good.

@Maydayredalert I think the BTEC is a fantastic path - good luck to your boy!

There is an Eng Lang A'level but it's more linguistics than Creative writing (but so are most Eng Lang degrees).

MaudBaileysGreenTurban
Many congratulations to your DS.
Just wondering if it is worth him rethinking choices anyway, on the theme of keeping his options really open..
With Geog Media Politics he only has one facilitating subject which might cause him problems if his uni preferences change? (I'm married to a sixth form tutor who is scarred by having to tell distraught y12s that they aren't eligible to apply for the course they have discovered is their perfect choice...)
university.which.co.uk/advice/a-level-choices/six-things-you-need-to-know-before-making-your-a-level-choices

Yes but that's too much Lit and not enough Lang for him 😄

There's English Lang AND lit?

We're off out for brunch later today; I've promised ds a huge pile of pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. He was partying last night but came back at 1am sober and sensible

College enrolment next week. It's been thrown into a bit of disarray due to the surprise 9s in English Language and History and the one-mark-off-a-7 in Spanish. He still has the grades to do his original choices (geog, politics and media) but is now wondering if he should swap some around. Hopefully college will be able to advise accordingly. At least now perhaps he can see the wisdom of his mum's nagging about doing well enough to give yourself options!

It's a crying shame there's no such thing as English Language A-level though. It's always seemed odd to me that it's essential at GCSE and available at degree level, but almost ignored at A-level in favour of Lit.

@JuniperOakPark they take the highest mark as I understand it so no risk assumed

@strongthighedbargeman my DS is doing the same, he wants to do auto engineering though.

Re mock grades vs actual results, you are being tested against a different cohort to your own and it isn't the relentless slog of, in Ds1's case, 24 exams. It is a good indicator but never a guarantee. Ds improved all his mock grades or got the equivalents (9s) but did go down in English Lit.

Ds was disappointed in his AQA English lit as he got a 7 (8 in the mocks) and really felt like he should have got an 8. He got an 8 in English Lang, 9 in History so is good at writing, he knew the books and poems inside out, plus themes, plus comparisons, watched hours and hours of YouTube. His teacher was also surprised too. I think the school are looking into it but his A levels are maths, further maths, physics and computer science which he got 9s in so I don't know whether we would risk a remark.

But as with PP it is an A, I wish I had got a sniff at As when I was at school.

@Wasrelaxing I am late coming to this but lots of sixth forms are open for registration today. So my son attends technically a feeder secondary school (part of the same trust) so he registered at his school yesterday. But anyone not in the school's trust has to register this morning. It wasn't available to them yesterday.

Lovely to hear how well some dc have done.

I agree with pp...go for the remark if the grade seems way off predicted.
It's either the marking or the teaching/moderation! Either way = you need to know!

For those dc that didn't get what they needed or just started working a bit too late...resits are not the end of the world!
And I've often found in my life that a different path from that which was originally planned does not mean failure 💐

Ds1 is ok. It's been a long, hard road for him (some sen) and he worked his socks off. Very, very proud.

Enrollment yesterday and I can't really believe it's all over!

Thank you again for the support and advice over the past few months x

We got 7 (DT), 7x6 and 5 in maths. My son has never been overly strong in a classroom/exam setting but did work really hard for his GCSE's and it's paid off, he and I couldn't be happier for him. He's now enrolled for level 3 extended BTEC in engineering (aero engineering his ambition for as long as I can remember), all coursework and evidence based which plays to his big strengths. He'll be using commercial standard machines for the practical elements and is chomping at the bit. Hopes after for higher level apprenticeship with degree. Feel very excited for him.