Y11 2025-26 Results Day and Next Steps

@Anonymousemouses I think you can’t really not let her iyswim? It’s her choice really and if school are happy to take her and she’s as aware as she can be of potential challenges then it’s up to her.

what does she want as a next step? Does it need top grades to progress or are Bs and Cs ok?

anecdotally friends kids have done fine with 7s in maths and science. May not have got A stars but have got as and bs and got into good unis or apprenticeships (Manchester, Lancaster, Big 4 scool leaver placements). She sounds like a hard worker so she’ll do well I’m sure.

I posted above that my DD is doing maths. She couldn't do psychology as planned, as she dropped a grade from the mocks, but got enough from physics and she was 3 marks off the next grade up for chemistry, which would have qualified her.

I've looked at the secondary school requirements for psychology and she would have qualified at ALL of them, but she is at a grammar, and their entry requirements for all subjects are much higher than the secondaries.

She is excited about doing maths, has been acing all the algebraic equations and quadrangle (sp) thingies.

She got a 7 in maths, she got a 5 in her mocks, but her teacher told me it was a blip and the workings were right, but she forgot to transfer the answer to the box, or she had the answer but didn't show any workings.

I dud think about moving her, but she is determined to stay, she is also excited about maths - she chose it originally, but the mock 5 scared her. Her teacher said she is capable of A Level maths, and Physics was always her best science, especially the maths questions (according to her teacher).

I have been terrified by advice on here though. Terrified that it is an impossible task.

I am also mindful of the car crash my life has been, due to being risk averse and listening to others opinions.

I was a mature student when I did A Levels. We had to do a test when we started, given by a careers person. It was verbal reasoning, spacial awareness and other things. The careers advisor told me I couldn't do psychology as my maths was too weak. He advised journalism and some other things.

I did the psychology A Level and got a B - - not great, but now disastrous for someone with awful maths skills.

Later I also did Nutrition and Health and got an honours. That was a lot of science and maths. But I WANTED to do it.

So maybe I should let her? She us focused, determined and ambitious. She went from a predicted 3/4 in Spanish to an 8 in the GCSE (Edexel so higher grade boundaries than AQA Spanish), and jumped 2 grades in both geography and maths from her mocks - so she can do it if she wants (and she didn't revise until the last minute, and realises he error).
I am so conflicted and confused.

Ds got 4445558.
One of the 5s (English lit) may become a 6 as only one mark away.
He is due to do French (the 8) and History (predicted 6 but got 5) and an extra GCSE or two.
I'm worried about History. I know they'll let him do it as the min requirement is just 4 for English and 5 x 4 or 4 x 5 to do A Levels generally. But History is notoriously hard. The alternative is Politics, which I think would be hard in a different way (he has some strong opinions on certain topics and they're more likely to come up there).
He has no interest in any of the applied options (criminology, business, food, sport).
I can't attend the final course confirmation as its students only which I do understand and agree with but..

@myladyjane handhold. We’ve had a rough couple days. 10 gcse pass with total of 54 but yet not enough for some options.

@Monr0e, @FlyingPandas this is really helpful/reassuring. @Monr0e this is my point with dd as well. She is a very bright girl but the pressure of an actual exam makes her mind go blank - she told me yesterday that happened in history - predicted a sold 8 with 9 potential and got a 5.

we’ve had another chat today and she does want to try the a level if she can but will consider the btec at college number 1 rather than a levels across the board at colleges 2 (3 is off the table now). Thinking is they have higher entry standards and better uni outcomes so she may be able to access better support if needed whereas college 2 has lower goals for its students so would probably happier with ‘fine’. They also don’t offer core maths and I think she’ll need that to stand any chance of success realistically.

feels like a good compromise so wish us luck for Monday.

DD is doing 2 A Levels and a Btec which I think will suit her really well.

She gets extremely anxious around exams and even though she did even better than expected for her gcse's, she doesn't want that level of pressure again for her A Levels.

My child is also going to a college where they don't know anyone. Its quite a specialist college so takes from a wide geographical area with about 20 different bus routes of student transport provided by the college, so its likely their friends will not be that local.

They love the subject they have chosen and its the only place in the area that offers this so they are firm its what they want.

My child goes from excited to nervous at making friends but I've encouraged them to talk to people both on the bus and on the course. I'm hiding a lot of anxiety but I am excited for them too!

@myladyjane and anyone else with DC thinking about BTECs - they can be a great option and I know several YP who have absolutely smashed them including my own older DS. An A level/BTEC combo can work really well, and for some students the coursework element of a BTEC - not having everything riding on stressful exams - can suit them much much better.

Bear in mind too that many if not most universities accept Level 3 BTECs - I mean you won't get into Oxbridge or or the top London ones with them but most people aren't aiming for Oxbridge or top London unis anyway. Plus lots of university courses are coursework based, so BTECs can be excellent preparation for those.

The one note of caution I would sound is that there is no B or D grade equivalent in the L3 BTEC and grades are awarded as follows:

Distinction star (equivalent to A star at A level)
Distinction (equivalent to A at A level)
Merit (equivalent to a C)
Pass (equivalent to an E).

So just something to bear in mind. It feels like a big drop from a Distinction to a Merit. But other than they are that an excellent option and can work really well.

We are having a tough time here and I’m not sure how to advise dd and if she’ll even listen.

she did ‘ok’. Passed everything, raised her grade in maths to a 6 which was a real achievement and got a 9 in her favourite subject. But she was actually on track for 7s and 8s in quite a few subjects so to get 5s and 6s wasn’t great. She also totally ploughed a chemistry paper in combined science - her average without it was a 7/8 but she got a 6/7. She wants to do a science a level (not chem!) and her preferred college wants a 7/7.

shes always struggled a bit with exams and I am wondering if she actually may be better off doing a human biology BTEc with 2 a levels rather than biology

one one hand she is doing core maths to support and i know her science teachers at school thought she was bright enough to do a level. Her biology marks give her a 7.

On the other, a quick google tells me the typical unis and courses she would be looking at take btec as an option and I wonder if a higher coursework content would suit her better.

she has places at 3 colleges and got the marks for 2 so has options. Also her preferred college had given her a strong indication that all will be fine and shes going in on Monday to talk it through.

bless her, it’s been a v tough few days and not over yet. All her mates did as expected or slightly better as well so she’s feeling pretty down in the dumps and isolated.

My DD is also heading to college knowing very few people. She does have a couple of friends going but they are doing different courses and with the college being the biggest in the area (over 3500 students) she is unlikely to see much if anything of them day to day.

A few of her closest friends have stayed on at school 6th form but DD was so ready to leave school she would much rather go somewhere new than stay just for the familiarity even though she is very nervous

Most other students will be in the same boat. And even if they are going with existing friendships, these quite often change at college as they all start to mix with new people.

Mine is now thinking 2 Alevels and BTEC AppliedSci instead of biology.
cant take two science As as missed a 7.
i think it will work out great long term

Mine will be. She dropped key grades so has had to switch college. It’s a brilliant college it’s just she says she knows no one at all going

DS is going to a college where he knows no one at all and finds it incredibly difficult to make friends due to his autism. It's natural for your daughter to be worried but there will be lots of people in the same boat I'm sure she will be fine but how you persuade her of that is a different matter. Good practice for Uni though if she is planning on going. Good luck to her.

@BeasKnee i think @noblegiraffe is primarily discouraging maths from a grade 6 . She does have a thread again this year if you search for it . Pretty sure she shares some data . Will share if I can find it again

I would imagine that a 7 with the risk in mind and a plan if help is needed is very different to sailing in with a 6 and no idea how hard it’s going to be

DD’s school does core maths in year 12. They recommend it for lots of science courses, including psychology and geography, if you aren’t taking maths a-level. Having looked at it, most of the same universities that drop an entry grade requirement with an EPQ do the same for core maths.

Personally I think core maths would be a better move for DD, as does the school, but she is completely set on doing the EPQ. She’s already had to change 2 of her a-levels because she got a 5 in maths so wasn’t allowed to take biology or psychology (now doing geography and politics instead) so I think the sense of being in control of her own choices is important enough to let her go ahead.

My DD now has her college place confirmed for a UAL extended diploma in Art and Design. She is happy but now that the reality has set in, she is very nervous about going to a college where she knows literally no one. She did it before starting secondary and it was ok in the end but took a long time to make friends as most were in groups from primary. She’s worried the same will happen again. I’m trying to say it’s a small college and much more normal at 16 for people to head in all sorts of different directions and turn up not knowing anyone. Is anyone else’s child going somewhere where they don’t know anyone at all in the whole college not just on their course?

Thanks - he loves physics (the 6) but everywhere needs a 6 in maths as well

he did fail a couple as he was doing 11(!) but I’m not to worried about those.

engineering BTEC will suit him I think

This is the poster @noblegiraffe

I’m sorry for your ds that he feels so despondent but he passed everything! Is he really close to any grade boundaries for remarks particularly the essay subjects as easier to find extra marks.

Is he able to still do the same or similar subjects at the college? I bet once he’s there and settled he’ll have a great time.

A stressful couple of days as DS didn’t achieve what he wanted 6555544 and is now coming to terms that 6th form at his current school is not an option which means leaving his mates etc despite having been top sets, triple science etc

now looking at college options for BTEC but not certain of a place yet

he only got 5 in math and 4 in English where he had been hoping for 2 grades higher (and solidly producing 6 and5) so that limits options

I actually think college could be good for him but so disappointing that he’s not achieved his potential and his next 2 years will be very different from what he had planned

i know learning to accept accountability, deal with set backs etc are also good life lessons - I just hurt for him right now

Core maths is compulsory for certain subjects at our sixth form if you're not taking A level maths.

Thanks, I'll get her to find out about that. It sounds familiar so I think college do offer it. She's really not an essay student at all so it's hard to know what she would swap to if she didn't go science route. But so many posts about maths scare me off encouraging her to do it, I can't remember name of the maths teacher poster but I think her posts suggested that if you are level 7 at GCSE (no further maths) then very unlikely to get a good a level grade.

God, bit terrified about DD not being allowed her choices now reading about others not being able to do their preferred combinations.

Originally put in 4 choices: geog, bio, maths, physics. Had already half decided to drop maths and physics but results confirmed it (7s rather than predicted 8s).

Filled out school form Thursday afternoon with geog, bio and chemistry (which she only got 6 for so doesn't qualify BUT was a only few points off and had godawful teacher). Back up choice Latin (bit random but got an 8 and enjoyed it). Asked for a call back to discuss but hasn't heard anything at all. She'd like to start 4 and then drop one. Aargh.

Also want to ask them about mark reviews. Was 1 mark off next grade for bio, and a few marks for chem and physics. Think it's worth trying for bio and also chem to try and get the 7.