Y11 2025-26 Results Day and Next Steps

Hooray!!! So pleased to be helpful.

Thank you MrsHamlet for your advice. We submitted a retrospective special consideration and my teen has found out today they have been awarded extra marks which have taken them to the next grade 🙏

We did get positive news!! Thank you for your support at the time.

Just had AQA English Language GCSE review back, up 4 marks so enough to get the grade she wanted! Sorry meant to post this on the other thead but was too excited.

DD hasn’t spoken to school about changing options yet, which means she’s supposedly doing the subjects she’s thinking of not doing today. Will see how that’s gone when she gets home

i do wonder if some of it is about free periods as others have said. I’m guessing she’d prefer to have the same ones as her friends and she’s so easily influenced in that respect.

DS now has a bit of independent learning but it’s all things he has done for fun for years anyway. It’s read the FT, listen to politics podcasts and the today programme. Hopefully they’ll be something more soon as he is not sure this is work yet, but early days

We’re booked for Southampton, Nottingham and Birmingham over the next couple of months. I’m excited! Dd is keen on a specific course but I’m hopeful that we’ll do a few subject talks.

Thanks @Roseyposeypie!

DS is also keen on Warwick so we'll go and see that one in October. He's only ever visited Cambridge and Oxford so I'd like him to take on board that there are other very good options.

I'm planning on taking DD to Birmingham open day in November to see a campus. Then hopefully a London subject specific one at some point (we're in London) before the main summer ones next year. Want to spread them out, narrow down if she's keen on campus/city and maybe inspire her with different subject talks as she doesn't know what she wants to do.

@Stowickthevast That’s a good point about what if he starts to find FM too difficult. He got a 9 in maths and distinction in FM GCSE but I do worry about it.

@NotDarkGothicMama
I think the reading list was with the intention of broadening horizons rather than just directly for the course:
• Can’t We Just Print More Money by Rupal Patel
• Economics: The User's Guide: A Pelican Introduction by Ha-Joon Chang
• Cracking Economics by Tejvan Pettinger
• Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Levitt, Steven D., Dubner
• The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford
• The Euro by Joseph Stiglitz
• Capital in the Twenty First Century by Thomas Piketty
• Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
• GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History by Professor Diane Coyle

There was also a list of films which I thought was fun:
• The Big Short (2015) – biographical drama-comedy film
• Margin Call (2011) – drama film
• Rogue Trader (1999) – biographical drama film
• Boiler Room (2000) – crime, drama film
• Wall Street (1987) – drama film
• Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) - documentary
• Inside Job (2010) – documentary

The reading list would be great, yes please. I have a few economics books knocking around from my own studies but that was quite some time ago.

I haven't actually spoken to DS's sixth form at all about his subject choices. I'm worried in case he can't hack FM but the only other subject he's interested in is Physics, which doesn't look much less intense. They're having a parents information evening this week so I will find someone to ask.

Thank you and fingers crossed for her!

@makemineadecaf at her old school, they had to do 4 for the first year so she was always in that mindset.

But in her new school, only the FM people seem to be doing 4. Like yours, her view on what she may drop seems to be changing each time she has a different class and teacher. Slightly worried she'll stick with English as it's got most of the cool girls in!

@Stowickthevastdd’s sixth form all start with four and have to do at least three weeks before dropping which I think is sensible. Dd was set on her top 3 out of the four but that has already swerved after two days!

@Roseyposeypie I was reading a thread about this on the WIKAU FB page earlier today.

I think the consensus was that It's ok for uni - there were examples of people going to RG unis, e.g Warwick & Durham, with 3 A levels including FM. But schools don't like them doing just 3 to start withbecause if FM becomes too hard, they can't drop it so the advice is generally to start 4.

But I know the workload is a lot. DD has started 4 (not FM) with the view to dropping one and is already saying she needs to decide sooner rather than later as she's worried about the work, and I think seeing everyone else with more free periods.

DD's drama teacher is requesting her paper back but she hasn't said if she feels it should go for a remark yet

DD was very close to the next grade up and as it is one of her favourite subjects wants to go ahead with it, but obviously we have no idea if it will make any difference. This was AQA

Hi, please has anyone ever heard of GCSE drama marks going up or being lowered after a remark or appeal? Trying to decide if it’s worth risking marks going down and school not saying what they think either way. DD still upset in her grade 5 was predicted 8 and got that in all mocks. Thanks.

Just realised that my post was kind of similar to yours @NotDarkGothicMama , although my DS claims to love maths. School issued an economics reading list which I can share if it might be helpful. DS is currently enjoying freakonomics. Did your school have any concerns about the double maths/ economics A level combo?

We’re having A level choice wobbles. He signed up for Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Politics but he wants to drop politics as he thinks the work load for 4 is going to be too much. I think some of it is he’s seen how many free periods others have in their timetables, plus, whilst he’s really interested in politics, he hasn’t historically excelled at things with lots of essay writing (got an 8 in history GCSE but a 5 in Eng Lit). Anyway the head of sixth form didn’t have chance to discuss it today but has suggested that they tend to avoid people doing 3 A levels where two are maths because of cross over and limiting of uni options. He might change his mind but he currently wants to do Economics at uni. Any thoughts?

@NotDarkGothicMama - DD is similar with Maths. I think she wants to do something else instead but she is naturally very good at Maths and I feel like maybe she should at least give it a go. I’ve suggested that she asks school if she can start with 4 A levels (timetable permitting) and drop one by the end of the month once she’s given the two she’s wavering between a try. She’s not keen on that approach though.

History though, she should absolutely do that. She is so interested in it and did really well at GCSE (strongest subject after the Maths that she didn’t even bother revising for)

@JustOneMoreMargarita I'm having a similar situation with DS, although less drastic. He told me at the weekend that he finds maths really boring but he's taking maths, FM and economics because he's very good at it and it can make him a lot of money in the future. While I applaud his pragmatism, I'd prefer him to do subjects he really likes. However, he doesn't really know what he likes so he's sticking with what he's good at. Hopefully he doesn't change his mind or crash out midway through the next two years! He has until the end of this month to change his subjects if he likes though so I've suggested he has a chat with his HoY and careers advisor.

I went through Cambridge's Economics reading list to get some books for DS, who loves reading that sort of thing. My goodness, they're expensive! And most of them are really quite dull and out of date. I know some of the core economic theories go back centuries but I was hoping for more modern thinking, especially with the contextual reading. Even the most recent stuff is pre-Brexit.

I think we’ll do uni open days in the summer when hopefully DD will have actually made a new plan.

I am actually fully supportive of her doing the subjects which make her happy (she LOVES History which is what she’s trying to change from Chenistry to do), I’m just less enthusiastic about her half hearted attempts to sort it. School like them to do it all themselves so I am staying out of it.

We've been to my brother's graduation ceremony at Cambridge years ago (which was entirely in Latin!) and although my daughter was quite little she still remembers being impressed by the pink with white fur vet graduation robes, so that's the dream she's had ever since 😂👩‍🎓

Going to one uni next month just to give DS a flavour of what uni is like! Had a couple of others booked but have cancelled them as it would mean leaving the house before 5am with around 6 hours travelling in the one day and none of us can really be arsed.

Would have loved to do Cambridge or Oxford but didn’t want him missing a day of lessons this early into A levels

DD went back to sixth form yesterday. Decided in the morning she wants to change subjects… basically rethinking her entire future plans. She’s been set on something in the medical field (not Medicine) but has now decided she doesn’t want to do Chemistry and probably not Maths either (which is her strongest subject). She didn’t actually talk to her head of year yesterday but hopefully will today.

so yeah… there’s that. Definitely not thinking about open days when she doesn’t have a plan