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Original poster

Help! How do you help Year 12s take A-levels seriously?

38 replies

EekArghEurgh · 25/03/2025 09:03

DD is 16 and in Year12 and doing three A levels. She got great GCSE results and is predicted three A* - but as her teacher pointed out this is based on her GCSE results and while she could/should be getting around that, her recent exams and class work aren't really heading in that direction.

She is bright and articulate but the transfer from Year 11 to Year 12, and the difference in the work needed seems to be proving difficult for her. At parents evening they love her but kept saying she is unfocused and were begging her to take part in the discussion more as she makes great points when she does. We have tried to suggest that the more she puts in the more she will get out of classes.

Realistically she hasn't really been putting the hours in, nor does she really understand how to do self-guided work. She has the next round of exams coming up in April/May and is now very anxious with self-study and homework and revision to do.

It's hard to work out what is excuses (or even laziness), what is simply not getting it - yet (she is really struggling with Hamlet for example), what is a cycle of anxiety, overwhelm and fear of failure and what is maturity and needing to learn how to study. The thing is she is simply not doing the things that would make a difference like reading - regular fiction for English and fiction, radio, newspapers and magazines etc for French.

We are trying to encourage consistency and staying engaged, but she has that classic teen resistence and keeps saying she "can't focus" and she claims will definately do badly. These next exam results I guess will inform her predictions for her UCAS application, so looking at even ABB requirements is making me worried. She wouldn't do the EPQ and any thing that requires "extra" is roundly rejected.

Part of me feels this will all come as she grows up, but we have also read advice that if she doesn't nail the Year 12 work, there is not time to catch up in Year 13. But also this year is about learning how to study (again).

Any tips or magic to help her understand that waiting to be motivated is not going to work? I know what successful kids do and there are many accounts on here of mums whose kids do that, but how do you get there at this stage? And yes I suspect many things have come more easily to her, so making an effort feels uncomfortable - but she also had to work hard (in the end) for her GCSEs.

OP posts:
Original poster
EekArghEurgh · 25/03/2025 09:55

These are all great suggestions and we have attempted a fair few, though I think we need to all focus on getting off screens more.

How much she will allow us to help varies greatly - so I have asked how she wants to do it and responded accordingly, helped with a time table and gathering relevant materials and resources. The only thing I haven't done is listen to French TV and radio - I will add it to my list of slightly irritating things that she will balk against!

I fear a lot of this is just teen brain development and she simply isn't there yet. I think GCSEs and A-levels come at the worst possible time for many teens.

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Original poster
EekArghEurgh · 25/03/2025 09:49

LikeABat · 25/03/2025 09:35

The requirement to actually need to put extra study hours in is especially hard if she is someone who cruised through GCSE without too much difficulty. Help to schedule in 5 hours per subject per week of distraction free study time. Could be at home or school/college. Hopefully she'll get more focused soon. It'll be even worse at degree level if she doesn't.

She didn't cruise, we basically had the same pattern - she got a lot better in Year 11, but this time I really don't think you can leave it late and cram in Year 13.

OP posts:
OxfordInkling · 25/03/2025 09:46

EekArghEurgh · 25/03/2025 09:14

So this is exactly what we are trying to manage and help with - more confidence and application without the fear and anxiety! How do you encourage healthy and productive study without piling on the pressure?

Show quote history

You step in to help.

first off - detox for a week. During that time you (not her) get things prepared. She’s overwhelmed and unhappy so needs a hand hold.

I didn’t see what subjects she’s doing, but if there are languages - make vocab flashcards for her. If science - make or buy revision cards.

for English - go and see the plays (or get them on screen). Schedule family quiet reading time and turn off all screens for it.

help her sleep better by making her go out for walks with you. Shut off the WiFi and make everyone (including you) leave phones downstairs overnight.

use car journeys on trips to other places like a day out at a city, to chat about her books/subject side by side - so she doesn’t have to look at you. So plan a day out and use the time productively. Once you get her talking don’t butt in with your ideas, but instead ask open questions about her ideas. Never cast doubt on anything she says - this stage is to build confidence and happiness, not to fix problems.

if she won’t talk, find podcasts on topic/about the general topic and play those while in the car. Don’t let her hide in her phone.

sneak in learning everywhere you can, without it being too obvious.

LikeABat · 25/03/2025 09:35

The requirement to actually need to put extra study hours in is especially hard if she is someone who cruised through GCSE without too much difficulty. Help to schedule in 5 hours per subject per week of distraction free study time. Could be at home or school/college. Hopefully she'll get more focused soon. It'll be even worse at degree level if she doesn't.

Muchtoomuchtodo · 25/03/2025 09:31

How does she learn best? Knowing what kind of learner you are is key to learning and revising effectively.

Will breaking the curriculum for each course down into chunks help? Focus on one part, then move onto another. It might seem more manageable. Teachers can probably advise on where to start.

If thinking about university is too overwhelming and anxiety provoking, park those discussions for now. If she’s not ready to think about the reality of grades needed, moving out etc then having a year out really isn’t the end of the world. She can focus on her A levels and doing her best, then apply based on what the grades that she achieves.

As an aside we have AS levels for year 12s in Wales which I think is immensely helpful - they know from starting their courses in September that there are mocks in January and full exams in May - in reality there’s only 8 months to cover everything so they know that there’s really no time to coast, or not deal with anything that they’re finding challenging.

Original poster
EekArghEurgh · 25/03/2025 09:28

@ShriekingTrespasser we have been. I have worked through a schedule with her and looked at the self study hours she needs to be doing - we looked up what is needed and the advise was one hour of self-study for every taught hour - but with a fair amount of flexibility within that.

I guess we need to go through together and look at how revision will fit in and what needs to be done in the holidays. The issue is more that she simply won't stick to it, insists she has done more than she has and then panic because she hasn't done as much as is needed.

The bottom line for me is that she needs to just sit down and do it, even if it's ten minute bursts.

Argh. I know people will say leave her to it - we have actually done that too. Both approaches result in late night wailing and despair and I don't know what to say.

We are really sypathetic and try to reassure when she is very anxious but then she does absolutely nothing to change her pattterns.

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Avatartar · 25/03/2025 09:26

Is the lack of focus linked in anyway to prolonged or frequent digital use where the opportunity to flick from one item to another without settling and concentrating on one thing, a possibility. I think our DCs have butterfly brains and I’m sure it’s too much scrolling but am fighting the tide in changing it

ShriekingTrespasser · 25/03/2025 09:21

Ask her if she’d like you to help her manage her study. Sometimes someone else helping and managing can free up head space.
Or ask her what would help.

Original poster
EekArghEurgh · 25/03/2025 09:19

@ShriekingTrespasser & @YellowSunRays yes she really does want to go but seeing the required grades has triggered the current anxiety spiral - she then wants to give up and I don't know what to say other than you need to do the work.

She is getting clearer on what she wants to do and we have been looking at some great courses in socio-lingustics and Liberal Arts courses.

I thought the BCD she got in February would spur her on and the encouragement and clear direction she got at parents evening, but its only ever a temporary spur.

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Original poster
EekArghEurgh · 25/03/2025 09:14

BestZebbie · 25/03/2025 09:09

If she is not getting it and as a result is feeling anxiety, overwhelm and fear of failure (to the extent of brain-fog when she tries to force herself to address things head-on), then perhaps the issue isn't 'not taking it seriously'?

Not trying is a classic defence response to perfectionist fear of failure (as then you can tell yourself 'I could have done it if I had actually tried'). Perhaps she needs less pressure/fear-mongering, not more?

So this is exactly what we are trying to manage and help with - more confidence and application without the fear and anxiety! How do you encourage healthy and productive study without piling on the pressure?

OP posts:
ShriekingTrespasser · 25/03/2025 09:13

Does she want to go to university? I’m using the fear of low predicted grades for my ds.
We’ve looked at unis and what they want.
He’s managed to pull himself up as he wants the grades for his chosen universities.

YellowSunRays · 25/03/2025 09:11

Does she want to go to uni? Even if she's not sure what she wants to do, looking at some unis, seeing what uni life might be like/opportunity to move away and be independent, etc might be attractive.
From there she can see what grades she'd need and that might be the motivation required.
DS is Y13. Many of his friends didn't really work for end of Y12 exams and got a nasty shock with results. It was the realisation that they wouldn't be able to apply to any of their first choice unis that spurred them on to work.

BestZebbie · 25/03/2025 09:09

If she is not getting it and as a result is feeling anxiety, overwhelm and fear of failure (to the extent of brain-fog when she tries to force herself to address things head-on), then perhaps the issue isn't 'not taking it seriously'?

Not trying is a classic defence response to perfectionist fear of failure (as then you can tell yourself 'I could have done it if I had actually tried'). Perhaps she needs less pressure/fear-mongering, not more?

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