Y11 2025/26… come and join

Thank you so much. I will ask for copies. Previously he has always got grade 5-6's so it is a big shock. Did you speak to school about the harsh marks? Do they change it if its affecting sixth form entry criteria?

Not going well here. Problem is DS1 has no sense of time. Worked out it was 120 days to his first exam which freaked me out - his response “oh that’s ages actually” calculated that was just over 17 weeks “yeah, months, chill mother” I was not chill!

I spoke tonight about limited time now to knuckle down ( I hadn’t worked out 15 weeks!!) and got told school are telling them the same now. I don’t recall my own Yr11 being so intense. And to a teen Jan to May is an eternity. It does all feel too much. But can’t tell them that.
This year group didn’t do SATs. As much as I loathe SATs at least my other (lazy) child did them. Forced to revise for SATs and got exceeding. He’s now got no excuse as we know if he works he can perform ..

Mine are revising parts of 1 or 2 subjects a night, but no set duration or revision timetable at the moment. Think they are trying to do bits and pieces.

2nd round of mocks late Feb/early March.

they’ve been told today at school there is 15 weeks till exams and school will do a ten week revision countdown with suggested revision topics per subject.

parents evening next week.

I am now starting to think of the acquisition of 2 prom dresses which might be as painful an experience as the revision! 😂. Wish me luck.

have a feeling some parts of this year are going to fly by and others are going to drag on.
glad we have this thread to keep us sane.

Yes. If I nag they push back and refuse. If I try bribe it lasts a day at best. Tried every argument & reasoning & threat. It’s infuriating as they could get 7-9 grades if actually revised properly. Has to get 6s & 7s for college they want and A levels. Will get way lower in subjects least interested in. Due to attitude not aptitude. I feel like time ticking past me

@splenda I agree it's worth asking for his mock exam papers so he can work through reviewing them with his tutor.

He's the oldest cousin unfortunately and his friends also seem to be the oldest siblings in their families. The school got him a year 11 mentor when he was in year 10, but DS said he should have been the mentor out of the 2 🤦‍♀️

@wonderstuff I’m in same page as you. Child in denial

Hi all, need advice. DS did well in mocks except English—marks look like grade 3. He works hard and has tuition, but results seem worse. Would it be worth asking to see his papers? His English teacher gives very brief feedback at parents’ evenings, so I feel a bit anxious. He’s feeling dejected. He’s dyslexic but not eligible for extra time. Thank you. x

@NotDarkGothicMama I thought the GCSE process was absolutely brutal last year - DS1 had 24 exams in total , did work and was exhausted by the end . Does your DC have older siblings or cousins / friends ? input from them maybe more useful . DS2 obviously saw DS1 at work last year so kind of knows what to expect ( not sure if it’s helped or hindered though as they are very different and at different schools / working at a different level )

Ditto. DS can't be bothered to revise and resists all attempts to make him. I let him off over Christmas. We have parents evening next week. My plan is to have a crystal clear chat with him after that and then start confiscating devices. He's not in danger of failing, thankfully, but he has his sights set on Oxbridge and he's not getting there if he carries on pretending he can wing his exams and still come out with top marks.

My current DS2 is pretty unmanageable , he revises when he wants and I imagine it is all going to end in tears . If I do try and intervene then he gets a whole lot more upset and nothing happens . I imagine that he will manage decent grades in the subjects he needs for a level and all other subjects will be tenuous 4s ( if we are lucky) .

DS1 ( last years GCSE victim) did a set amount on 2/3 subjects each night - I think it was 45 mins - with Friday and Saturday off . He started revising 3rd week of January . He was pretty motivated and worked hard , but ran out of time with History and scrapped a 6 though predicted a 9. I made sure he had breaks , but didn’t need to push him
to work .

At this age I think it is very much on them .

Hi all,

Thank goodness for this thread! My Year 11 DS has traditionally done well at school but has been feeling quite sad recently, and I feel the pressure is worrying him. He is at a large state secondary.

He needs some structure & support - but also a lot of reassurance and care.

May I ask what your after school days look like at the moment? Are they working a bit each day? How do you manage their need for rest and time to see friends?

Thank you x

Yes, one more to go in February.

@FlyingPandas my DS also starts next week (Tuesday) - no coursework here, though!

Hi all, happy new year - well done to all those who have mocks out of the way already. DS starts his next week, so it's been a Christmas of trying not too nag too much to balance revision with a bit of relaxation time. Not to mention work on the DT NEA which is still rumbling on and which I for one will be very glad to see the back of! No debating about sixth form options here as he will stay on at his current school - vast majority stay for sixth form - so that has made life a bit easier. A level choices were submitted before Christmas so he just needs to get head down and get through the mocks.

DS seems quite relaxed, possibly because he did Latin GCSE at the end of Y10 so knows what to expect re the regulations, expectations and so on. We'll see how the exams go though!

It might just be the exam conditions @GucciGin. Does he have another round of mocks? If so, that will help him get used to the exam environment and hopefully he'll do better.

Hi all. The year had arrived!
Well done to those that did really well in their exams.

My son unfortunately didn't do really well in his mocks. Enough to pass. However he has been practicing papers over the holidays and his getting majority of them correct. Ive marked them and his getting 8's, so not sure what his getting wrong.
I will up with emails to school asking for further support, any advice on what's going wrong?

It seems so harsh having mocks bang after Xmas. I’m grateful ours were in November. Our alevel mocks will be at that time though . Give the poor kids a break!

That said dd is delighted ive booked her onto an intensive revision camp at Easter!

Amazing results @UncomfortableSilence- I know what you mean about not being able to boast anywhere else!

It feels to me like this is their last chance to properly relax for another six months - we’re trying to enforce DS taking this week entirely off from work as it’s his last chance for a while for a full week off. He keeps saying all his friends’ parents are making them do revision! He can do work next week but I feel he needs a good break.