Y11 2023/24 thread 5 - results!

Is it scotland where they have already had results?

Hi all! Hope everybody's summers are going well. Two weeks to go... like others have mentioned, have tried to put results day out of my mind but it keeps bubbling up! Good luck to those who have older siblings collecting A-level results a week today - hope they all get what they need for their next steps.

I really recommend Monzo. Both of mine got it once they turned 16. It has a good app where they can set up saving pots. Plus it is very good for using abroad on holidays.

Thanks that's helpful

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz
DS has a normal current account (happens to be Santander because mine is, and it was easy).He has had it since he was 11. I get a weekly text statement and a message if he spends more than £50.
Now he is 16, I could turn all of that off, but I haven't.
He also has a Halifax savings account, which I also have oversight of, but he could have full control of that, too.
If he asks, we will talk about it, but I won't be raising it 🤣

I feel like I’m wishing his holidays away waiting for these results. This is the first ‘proper’ wait for us, with the eldest ds being tags due to Covid.

Halifax current account for 11-17 year olds. Doesn’t allow the account to go overdrawn, if the money isn’t there the payment won’t go through. Can use Google or Apple Pay on their mobile phone which is really convenient ( who goes anywhere without their phone these days ). When they are out somewhere and need money sent, you can just send instantly via online banking. Made our lives so much simpler. I imagine all high street banks will have similar.

Hello folks hope all's well? I've not been back since last exam so hope your young people (and you!) have had time to wind down after that slog of a summer?

I see some are talking about bank accounts etc ... DD currently has a HyperJar card attached to my account which has worked well as it's a deposit account I send £ to and she spends. Think she needs a proper current account now tho as while she obviously isn't spending it on alcohol etc it blocks any transaction in say, a coffee shop that also sells booze so not helpful.

Can I ask for recommendations please? Won't be a salary of any sort or regular wages going in so needs to have no minimum funding

Thanks x

Ok who’s idea was it to put gcse results at the end of the summer 😜🥹🤭 It feels like a very long wait now.

DD gets £75 per month. She has fund her social life, makeup, presents for friends and her own clothes with this. It seems to work ok. She has a very part time job that pays very little but I think once she turns 16 she'll look for something a bit better.

I know she'll be extremely nervous for her results. She wants to go and get them on her own but she's still very much undecided on A-level choices as two important exams didn't go well at all so I am hoping I will be able to go and help her. She's staying on at her current school.

Ds has never been much of a spender, we give him £30 a month for sundries but he’s happy to wear his older brother’s cast offs - they’re usually sports tops, and also likes a charity shop haul. His suits are all already bought - prom and work experience necessity and we had to buy his bus pass at the end of last term. His only weekly expenses are lunches and we top that up as needed.

He worked for a good six weeks at the start of the Summer, rubbish hourly rate but still managed to make about a grand and somehow got paid £350 for his week of work experience 😱.

He’s stuck most of it in a savings account, don’t think I’ll need to sub him for a while!

Happy belated birthday to your DS @gingercat02 I hope he enjoyed it!

All the schools in my area set bridging work @Muchtoomuchtodo Although my friend is a chemistry teacher and says that in her experience only about a third of students actually do it.

We have agreed terms with DS. He will get £75 per month and from that he pays for his sports kit, socialising and non-school clothes. He will also be expected to contribute toward the cost of any sports tours he goes on. We continue to pay for his phone, all school stuff, tennis lessons and memberships. He needs new rugby boots so there goes the first month's allowance immediately!

We have built a "keep room tidy" clause into the agreement @Tebheag and he does stack and unstack the dishwasher (mainly because he eats three times more than anyone else so uses more crockery).

Good on your DD for getting a job @bluefineliner and good luck for the shopping trip!

Luckily my DD16 got a job which started as soon as her exams finished and she is loving it and the money she is earning. As she doesn't have siblings her own age she would be very bored by now if she wasn't working.

DD's new 6th form is business wear too, but not suits. I am taking her shopping next week for hers, which will probably be stressful as she is so picky about clothes!

Is anyone else counting the days down to results yet? I have already been through both GCSEs and A levels with my oldest DD but don't remember feeling so preoccupied with it then, as I do now. I think I am trying to prepare myself for the avalanche of emotion DD16 will have on the day as there will be little I can do to make her feel/react any more calmly if her predictions for certain subjects are realised. I am busy working etc but still have this little ball of worry in my head constantly.

DS only gets £10 a week which goes straight to his savings account he then transfers what he needs. For that he has to wash dishes once a week, hoover downstairs once a week and keep his room tidy. He can make more by doing other jobs round the house. We pay for gym and phone. He has no interest in clothes except for trainers!

DS doesn’t have any bridging work which is fortunate as he’s far too busy enjoying his long summer of fun!

DS gets £20 a week plus his phone (sim only)
He does go out a fair bit, uses it for snacks and drinks, public transport, lunch if he's out, random bits of clothing.

If he goes to the cinema, gym, swimming or Goals, etc, he pays himself.

He does have a savings account, too, and is expected to save something every month.

We pay for regular clothes and food at school and usual living expenses.
His gran often slips him £5/10 in the holidays, too.

He was 16 on Sunday, so I'm banging on about a job!

I was sad when he told me last week he was worried about results day already. It's only 3 weeks now 🫣

Thanks all. I will talk it over with DP and DS. I would love to do it the way @Zonder has, but DS hasn't been interested. He would rather just do without (he's fundamentally lazy). I'm getting the feeling it may be easier to do all or nothing. I might add up roughly what I spend on his things monthly and see what that looks like and rake it from there.

I've bought his stuff for sixth form @Countrylife2002 - he has to wear a business suit with white shirt, school tie and black shoes. I've also bought him a new rucksack, iPad, Apple pencil, text books and set texts, plus I'll need to get him a bus pass. If he gets into any sports teams he will need kit for this too. It's even more expensive than starting year 7 😂

Have your teenagers started on their bridging work yet? DS has done some for one subject but not even looked at the rest.

It should all be fine, more than fine, for DC, but every now and then I (and they) wobble that there'll be an upset somewhere that might affect their 6th form which would be awful. Honestly don't mind what else happens as long as that's ok.

Very glad we'll be on holiday for the week before.

We have given the children pocket money since they were small. We used cash at first and then Go Henry cards. It was because they wanted endless comics and crap cheap toys so they had their own budget. I feel like it's really important for them to learn from a young age that money is finite.

From about 12 we gave them a bigger budget, encouraged them to put some into savings and then they could use the rest on whatever. We included clothes in this. We pay for uniform and the basics like underwear, shoes and coats. They pay for the rest.

It has all worked really well - they buy what they can afford and save for the bigger things. Now they earn money but I still give them an allowance.

I give dd £100 a month now (since GCSEs). She buys all her own clothes (she’s going to college so no uniform) and pays for her own gym attendance (£10 a time) and all social / books etc. I’ll buy college stuff and I’ve bought her a new backpack and will buy her a new coat in the autumn. She does surveys and sells on Vinted to make more. She sells my stuff too for a 50pc commission ! I pay for her phone.

I have £100pm myself for all these things so she’s definitely not getting more!

DD has £20 per month.

She spends it on gifts for her friends or family. Any special trainers she wants. Snacks and suchlike if she goes out with mates. Any books (non-school), music, nik-naks.

She does t go out much, doesn't follow fashion etc.

I pay for everything school related, clubs, clothes. And outings if it's a family outing.

It's great for her to have her own account and card because she can go to hairdressers without me or use train etc. and I pay her back afterwards.

Thanks @Spacecowboys. Your son sounds like mine! Mine isn't really interested in managing his own money, just wants the bank of mum and dad to sort it out

I'm tentatively thinking he can pay for his own clothes and trainers and social life from an allowance and we'll cover his subscriptions (phone, spotify, chess.com) and anything necessary for school. Not sure about sports - perhaps we'll pay the memberships and he can pay for kit and social side. At school he can either make himself a packed lunch or spend his own money in the cafeteria.

I give ds £15 per week and that’s just for bits and bobs he wants such as a drink/ snack from the shop. If he’s going to the cinema or out with friends somewhere I just send him the money for those things as he needs it. He has no interest in being given money to do his own clothes shopping etc so I just pay for all that as and when. Obviously if I expected him to pay for his own social activities / clothes etc, £15 per week would go nowhere. So I’d probably increase it to about £150-£200 per month in that instance.

We've never given DS an allowance - or even pocket money. We've always just paid for what he needed. He doesn't really go out much at the moment and when he does he uses his own money (mainly received from his grandparents). He mainly spends his money on tennis stuff and trainers!

I want to change this and move to an allowance model where he has to manage his money.

I don't know where the cut off between what we continue to pay for and things DS has to budget for should be.

I'm interested to know from those of you who give an allowance, where is the line for you between what comes from their allowance and what you pay for for your children? Also, how much allowance do you give your children? Thanks!

Yep mine will too. I’ve tried to preempt by significantly raising her allowance on the basis she pays for all her clothes now. If she needs more, she can look for a job!

She’s bought a few bits and is also utilising my prolific account to earn extra ££, and has a summer job just for a week next week. But I know she will decide she doesn’t have enough clothes so she will have to learn to budget !!

i think my biggest thing is making her use the bus (or her feet) rather than call me for a lift. I always give in, it’s so irritating ! College is further than school and I really do not want to start driving there and back. I’ll take her if the bus doesn’t turn up (we live in the country so they are not frequent), but not if she misses it . I’m a walkover, I need to toughen up! I was so independent at her age.