Y11 2025/26… come and join

Ah dd is our oldest so this is all new territory!

@36and3 … it varies but some schools locally don’t even let them do economics and business together .. also I know Maths is a better mix with Economics and Business and often required at degree level.. but he’s maths is shaky . My priority is to keep him in education , get him driving and hopefully a bit more mature before anymore big choices need to be made - he is too ‘young’ at this point . He’s our youngest - they are all very different but this one worries me the most

Why do you think it’s not a good combination? Because of doing similar pairs? That’s not necessarily a bad thing but potential for crossover maybe.

DS2 has had to pick 4 with one to drop in October - chosen Economics , Business , Sociology and Psychology. Lots of reasons that that’s not a brilliant combination for onward journey- but more important that he’s interested enough to get his finger out and work . Plan B will be a BTEC

I think 5 hours per week of actual taught lessons is normal - DS1 yr12 seems to have all subjects once a day plus various study periods ( state grammar) and a few frees .

@36and3 those sound like a good combination.

Dd is a bit of an all rounder and not sure what she wants to do. She was talking about architecture but the last 3 months of intense art to get her course work finished has put her off doing it for A level. I think she can still do architecture without it though.

She's definitely doing Maths & German, and then thinks she'll do Economics and either English or Chem. Personally I think English makes more sense with her other subjects but we'll see.

Wow totally different subjects! Does she know what career path she wants to follow?

Dd has to choose four too to drop one by October half term. She’s chosen English lit, history and psychology for a law degree, plus biology as her short term fourth subject.

I think quite a few of the sixth form colleges are 5 hours a week per subject. They have a lot of study periods for independent learning too.

Dd will probably stay at her school but they do 4 A levels and then do an AS in the one they're going to drop at the end of Y12. She needs to decide her options by the start of December but is really undecided between English and Chemistry at the moment!

Safer option: yep! DS is incredibly bright but also a lazy toad and I can just see him not bothering to study if left to his own devices. Uni might be a shock if I keep him in a school environment but at least he'll have the grades to get there.

We’re in the middle of choosing between staying on at school or going to the local sixth form college.

The school as per - lots of lessons, earlier start times, more hours; the college a few hours a week, self directed learning, more independence. The college is better prep for uni, for sure. But the school is a safer option as carrying on as normal. It’s a tricky decision!

Hmm that doesn’t sound much to be honest. Dd is carrying on at a school sixth form, so yes may well be different to college but they’ll be having 7-8 hours teaching a week. I’m not sure I’d be happy with 4.5.

Our local is about 22 per class. 4.5 hours per week sounds about right, with the expectation that they do the same again in self study.

I took DS to the local standalone sixth form open evening today. It's got pretty decent results but it's got big classes and 4.5 hours teaching time per subject, per week. No idea whether that's normal. We have two more to see so we'll be able to compare after that.

@ECT22 - I agree , the most important thing is getting what’s needed for next steps

@ECT22 I’m with you. Deep down I think mine will pull it together after Xmas but right now enough for college options will do. Application in in Jan

I feel exactly the same. It can be hard when all dd’s friends seem to be predicted top grades. But genuinely, all I want and care about is that she passes, and gets what she needs for college. And if she gets top in the subjects she adores (arts) then brilliant. But even in those subjects, it doesn’t matter. Getting decent passes would be a great achievement and I’ll be just as proud as if she got all 9s. I probably shouldn’t say this is a teacher, but there we are!

DS2 starts mocks next Monday , his revision has been quite minimal and he’s worrying now . He has good intentions and works in the holidays but is terrible once back at school.

He is largely working at 4/5 with a couple of 7s and already has a 7 in English Language taken early . He needs a 6 in Maths for his A level choices , which at the moment looks like a huge leap and he’s worried he’s even goring to pass . If he passes everything I would be over the moon .

He feels pretty rubbish anyway as his siblings are high achievers in comparison regardless of anything I can say .

DS starts mocks tomorrow. He reckons he's on for 8s and 9s in everything except French, where he's aiming for a 7. I'm torn between hoping he'll do well and hoping he'll flunk the lot to scare him into revising. They've got a second lot in February too.

Joining in, as I’m finding Y11 with my daughter very intense. I’m also a secondary teacher, which is quite a tough balance, plus I feel a great responsibility to support her at least as much as I do my students.

DD is in the middle of mocks. She has good intentions but it’s a struggle to get her to settle to revision and then to stay focused. She needs a lot of input. I’m finding it all quite exhausting. And then I go to work and have more of the same!

Agreed. At DD’s school it’s definitely uncool not to revise - thankfully!!

They are pushed very hard for us as the predicted grades are needed for sixth form and our “best” sixth form is super competitive even if it’s huge. It’s interesting to see the difference though as partly because the sixth form is super competitive the kids are all aiming for 7-9s if they can get them especially for their best subjects or if they want to study maths or science which needs 7s for science or an 8 or 9 for maths. It has swings and roundabouts as it will pull some kids up though as there isn’t a I’m too cool to revise thing, but the kids generally see a 6 is bad and a 4/5 as failing…

Oh wow! I guess it doesn’t harm to push them now. Maybe our school does that too but I’m definitely not too bothered about these ones. As long as some revision is done. But the Xmas hols will have revision too 🙈.

They’re pushed hard as being important at my dd’s school. She starts tomorrow and the importance has been laid on thick. I think it’s helpful as it makes it real. I think they only have to wait a week or two for results which is good. Countdown is on until our December holiday though!!

I think these mocks are just to get used to taking exams, the process etc. Also they help give the kids a reminder (kind word!) that they’ll need to revise if they want to do well in the summer exams. They usually do another set in feb. Not too much importance put on the results this side of Xmas. It’s not like the mock A levels, which are important for uni entrance.

Our mocks start in the last week of November, they were announced very late and we’ve already booked a weekend away in the middle. Exactly the same happened in year 10 they were immediately after the Easter bank holiday and we had booked to go away for Easter. I checked the previous years timetables and they didn’t fall on these weeks before.

I’ve said to Ds that he needs a break anyway and it’s not like they are A levels where they would count for UCAS predictions. He can also revise whilst we are away (it’s a UK break).

It’s typical though and I’m not sure why they were announced so late.

@whereonthestair at least yours allows you to ‘assist’. Mine insists I keep my beak out