So 6 weeks before the A levels, my son tells me this (possible ADHD)

[blueshoes]

6 weeks before the A levels, my son has admitted that despite all the timetables he did, the hours studying at home and notes he has written, he has not taken anything in. He just cannot get himself motivated to study.

For his GCSEs, it was the same thing. He performed below expectations. I thought he had cracked it but he kept it from dh and I. It has got worse for the A levels😓

For his recent A level mocks, he only watched videos for 4-5 hours before the actual exam. He got A (fave subject), B and C. All below his predicted grades and below the conditional offers he got for university.

Does anyone recognise this in their dcs or themselves. What can you advise for ds?

Could this be ADHD? Appreciate this is the eleventh hour. We are willing to go private for diagnosis and medication, if that is even a possibility.

I wish your child all the compassion ❤️

You are correct but that is GCSE. The grade system for A levels is still A* - U.

OP has stated STEM

Thank you, I didn’t know that

Thank you for your vote of confidence and voice of experience and well done to your ds. We will never give up 💪

No she hasnt. She has said economics which is partly essay based.

presumably the other two are physics and maths.

You are right. He has more than6 weeks. To be fair if he revised for 4-5 hours the day before and managed to get a C in the mocks, I am hoping for good things if he could double that time.

Sorry @blueshoes rubbish with new app, meant as a reply 🙄

Wondering why they changed the gcse system to numbers but kept the a level gateway letters? Who knows 🤣

Yes Economics is essay-based. He is not worried about Economics because he finds it easy and gets A/A*.

It is Physics and Maths where he cannot seem to focus and absorb. Those were 2 of his best subjects at GCSE [sigh]. His friends have chosen easier subjects at A level.

Ask Michael Gove 😡

Unfortunately common amongst us ADHDers - we need a specific deadline to be able to do the task at hand. Bodydoubling sounds good, you could also set mini deadlines like pick 3 topics and present the information to you by this date, have a weekly diary he has to give you of topics he's covered or past papers will start on x date for revision so needs to be prepared for that.
The one good thing about ADHD is that it's amazing how you can take information in when you get to that deadline. Whilst it wasn't easy and not without stress, I survived my A levels and university studying the night before and graduated with a 2:1. It can be done!

Sounds a bit woo but I remember getting so panicked before exams my mum got me subliminal cds (showing me age) to help calm me down and the meditation state really did help, if he’s working like you said timetables tv something will have gone in he could just be panicking.

'partly' and stated the extended writing for Economics, he's confident with.
Honestly, if you can't contribute, positively, why bother 🤷🏼‍♀️

Why isn’t university the natural step? He sounds very intelligent

University costs 9 grand a year. X 3 years hanging over your head, it’s a different world now

@Inmyonesie so sorry you felt it was your fault for not being able to reach your potential. Thanks for sharing. Ds is exactly like yours in terms of how he did not study for GCSE and now A level. I also have a dd with autism (late diagnosis). She did not realise her academic potential but is now doing a creative course which suits her so much better. You are so right about well being. I worry about how the damage to self esteem may have a knock on effect on mental health.

Err get over yourself. The op hadn’t actually confirmed what the third subject was and had talked about 25 markers.

I said accurately that it’s of limited use doing past papers for essay based subjects if you can’t get them marked. That is absolutely the case.

Ds wants to be in line with his peers. They are by and large going to uni. He believes he can do it but just needs to run this frustrating final A level home stretch.

You can get the exams marking scheme with answers in line
plus the examiners report
Also you can buy practice papers with the marking scheme to cross reference
Useful for A level economics questions
Maths and physics are very hard
A bi weekly session with a tutor
School may well have past and practice papers

I hope he gets what he wants, but if he doesn’t, please explain we all fuck up to teach us a lesson and he will thrive, good luck and positive vibes to you and your family, remember it’s not about the end result, it’s the journey that teaches us ❤️

He needs to try to stop the spiralling OP. He has time. The likelihood is that if his offers are AAA they will take AAB or possibly even ABB if he’s lucky. So he needs to get his two worst subjects up by one grade. That’s definitely achievable.

Get him to try to do an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon for the first few days over the holidays. Then up this to an hour and a half if he can . Put a blocker app on his phone for those study periods to help him to focus.

I have ADHD. I’ve studied a lot over the years and my technique is studying in 45mins at a time (with a timer and alarm). I just try and bank as many 45min sessions as I can in waking hours and completely ignore all other structure (just eat when I fancy it), don’t worry too much about when I wake up or go to bed etc. The 45min chunks just gives me a rhythm that’s less overwhelming. I also try and get out for fresh air and exercise each day at least once.

The OP said 'He just cannot get himself motivated to study.'

He does not seem to struggle with other things just revision. That is why he is able to hide it so well and his teachers have not flagged it up.