Y11 2025/26… come and join

I think it’s great timing: ensures no one delays cracking on with revision until Easter holidays.

@36and3 that sounds late for 2nd mocks.
DD is getting told slowly her results so far all great. Even had a shock 9 in English Language.
She even got an apology from her maths teacher after he made another comment after she stated to him she got 9s in other subjects and had teachers telling her to do better.

Dd had first round of mocks in November and she did fine but defo room for improvement. The second round start on 16th March.

DD hasn't had her paper back and has decided not to check the app for her maths paper 1. Her best friend is a straight 9s girl, always get perfect scores in maths and she told DD that she got a 6 in her paper 1, so DD is panicking and won't check. I told her the boundaries might be revised anyway, so to forget it's there and focus on what is next (Physics, history and maths 3). I'm a little reassured by this as I think her 50% result would also be a 6, so at least she's not the only one who hasn't done as well as planned. I don't understand why they'd put on a mock this difficult just 10 weeks away from the real thing?
History is the one she dreads the most so I will be glad when tomorrow is over.

The more I think about it, I agree. The extra revision time and rest will very likely make up for the 2% extra…and yes I think it’s about 2 marks.

I would delay too @mutbee - 2% isn't much at all - It wouldn't even be 2 marks on a regular paper? I would do psychology the next morning, especially if she needs to secure a certain grade for A levels.

As the Maths doesn’t clash with another exam, she’s not allowed to do that last. The choice is between German and Psychology. Doing Maths in the morning is preferable as she needs a fresh mind for it. 😊

Would she be allowed to delay the maths as it isn't the clash? I suspect not.
Also if weak at maths better to do it whilst fresh anyway, the extra marks may well not make up for being tired.

Personally given the choice I’d do maths last if she’s weak in it and is guaranteed extra marks.

It’s week 2 so quite early in the exam season. And she’s got 3 earlier than week so a very heavy week. The three exams are Maths in the morning and then German and Psychology in the afternoon. She’s strong in German but weak in Maths. Psychology is a lot for her but she’s doing well and is taking it for A-level…so that’s the one she would either do last (for the extra marks) or roll over.

Hope she's ok @Caddycat

@mutbee I would definitely roll over. 2% isn't much for the stress and tiredness of having to do 3 in a day.

@Tebheag your school seems to be handling their high achievers marks by knocking their spirits rather than boosting them. Hopefully they’ll celebrate when the real results come.

@mutbee for your 3 exams in a day challenge. Are they subjects your dd is strong in? If one is rolled to the next day, will next day be a single exam day or a double day?
think I would go for the rollover option especially if it’s towards the back end of the exam timetable, I am guessing they’ll be really tired in weeks 4 and 5

Just had DD’s exam timetable and there is a clash one afternoon where she also has an exam in the morning. As she has extra time, she goes over the 5h 30min limit in one day. They say she has two options. Either take all three in one day and have “special consideration” in the last paper (additional 2% added to the marks) or move one exam to the following morning but isolate at home. She seems very excited about the extra marks added but it could mean that she is so tired that she loses more than 2% anyway… any advise here?

Thank you. She just gets very overwhelmed, that's all she says. She revises and then comes across something she doesnt remember/can't do (what's happening right now...) and says she'sworking so hard and not getting the results she wants when her friends work a fraction of the time and get 9s... We have tried so hard to play it all down but she's not listening. Ive helped to make sure she's covered everything, we have talked things through as she thinks it helps, she's done lots of past papers, used cognito, save my exams, rag rated all her subjects, planned essays in English, read all of her texts several times and annotated 2 copies of each... shes working so hard 😒 She hasnt noticed the mark online yet, but she's got maths tomorrow. @littletreefrog Your school seems to do it in a lovely way. Our school has mock results days, when you turn up and have your mock results in an envelope, with the rest of the year... we only have the maths paper mark because all maths results from year 7 go on a portal with which questions you get wrong so the pupil can go back and work on those topics. Someone logged on and saw the mark was in there.

@ECT22 ive told her that this should be enough but she feels guilty if she does less. She wants all 9s 8s and 7s and ive tried to gently say that perhaps it wasn't necessarily meant to be and that that was ok... I've convinced her to go to dance tonight so she can let some steam off.
Thank you for the support x

Wow that is really good of the school.
Wish my DD school did that. Instead Electronics teacher explained very slowly how she should have answered the question like she didn't understand on a very simply question. It was just a silly mistake but she had got 78 out of 80.
Got told by Maths teacher she didnt do well and had been beaten by other classmates still in top 5 for her year and got a 9. But made to feel like she didnt do well by the teacher. Dreading the other results if they are going to talk to her like that.

Ah @Caddycat your poor DD. For what it’s worth, as a secondary teacher I’d recommend 2 hours per night revision with one night off, and 3 hours each day at the weekend, at this stage. Obviously I’m not your dd’s teacher (I assume!) and am only one voice/opinion. It really could be worth her hearing from a teacher she respects at school that she can ease off a little, tho. Crying multiple times a day and working all hours sounds like she’s burning out a bit.

Oh dear @Caddycat that's definitely not normal and I think you possibly need to have a chat with the school about how difficult DD is finding things.

Our school isn't providing mock results until we have our one to one with Head of Year so they can give the results and explain the context and what to do next etc so kids aren't getting the results and either panicking or resting on their laurels depending. And this is a massive "requires improvement" comp.

I can only think providing results mid mocks is designed to encourage those that haven't put the effort in to start but as usual with these things they tend to negatively affect the kids who are trying and those that it's aimed at still don't care.

@Caddycat why is your DD crying three times a day ? Might be worth speaking to school if you think it will help.
DD school where also giving out results with 3/4 mocks to go. If its a school paper she could still have a high grade.

I really wished school wouldnt put marks online before the mocks are finished... someone mentioned the marks were on the maths portal for the paper 1 (which they did last monday) and DD got 50%. She's going to be so upset and she has another 3 mocks to get though 😟 This wasnt an edexcel paper but a school made one so I'm not sure what the grade boundaries are. She's been a consistent 8 so this seems very low and im so worried it's going to knock her confidence for the rest of them. She said at the time that the paper was hard but she wasnt upset with how it went. Im dreading her finding out, she's already so overwhelmed. Would you speak to school? Or is crying 3 times a day and working all hours part of the deal and she needs to build resilience?

@wonderstuff pretty much same here

I think mine is somewhere in the middle - looking forward to 15 June when it'll all be over!

At the moment, it's all about getting art finished for final exam which is the week after next, and then thinking about everything else.

She's also somewhere in between stressed and excited at the prospect of 6th form but really unsure whether she wants to stay where she is or not. Pros and cons to both so it will probably come down to what her friends are doing.

DD seems to be sick of Y11 keeps saying she wishes she just didn't have to do it.
We were thinking about whether to stop her Saturday activity (out the house for 6 hours) next term but she told me after she came home this Saturday she really wants to keep doing it so that's fine by me. She also has activities on Sunday morning, Monday and Friday evenings which she will probably keep doing too.

@Caddycat no I have not complained. She also gets comments from 2 other teachers. One who makes digs that she is so busy but really exaggerates on what she does e.g if she climbed a hill he would say she climbed a mountain no wonder she missed a question on a test bearing in mind she got a 9. Really wish I knew what to do ! Unfortunately that teacher is also the head.

@Littletreefrog I don't think he realises that this is what makes her relax. He is a stresser too, so her staying made him feel better I think. I'll make sure she goes next week.
@Tebheag that's really not acceptable, what an awful teacher! Did you complain?
@FlyingPandas could he do the same activity but on a less intense level? We gave up the associate programme and classes were she "doubled up" so she's not missing out too much, even though she sometimes doesn't go...