AIBU to think Bs at GCSE are ok?

[catwalker]

Some issues with DS and GCSEs/6th form. He didn't get the grades he was predicted (As and As) but then I didn't expect him to as he doesn't put much effort into anything apart from his x box. He got mainly Bs, a couple of As, a couple of Cs and a couple of Ds. I was quite happy until I started reading the secondary education forum where people are tearing their hair out because their dc's didn't get straight As and may have blown their oxbridge chances. I get the impression that anything less than an A just isn't worth the paper it's written on. He could have done loads better but Bs are OK aren't they?

Same here OP we had same questions swarming in our heads,:Are B's good enough?, we have two very similar DS's.
Going by what I have read on various University websites and also been advised by some of the other mums here on MN, it looks as everything from now on depends greatly upon his A levels, if those are A's, importance of those B's at GCSE level will greatly diminish.
Also there is nothing wrong with these B's he got, providing they are not in his key subjects, subjects he is planing to for his A levels, gist of things or belief is that anything less then A at GCSE in chosen subjects, my prove very difficult and hard for student in question to get in grips at A level.

I didn't put that very well *senua, just rattled it out.

I think I feel quite strongly that if a parent has to push, maybe those aren't the right places for the child.

I also get a strong sense on MN that Oxford and Cambridge can be seen as vindication of the parent, dressed up as wanting what's best for the child. That's got to be wrong.

I agree that if the parent has to push then Oxbridge is not the right place; the push has to come from the student. DS was on the school 'maybe' list at one stage but decided against it as undergrad life there seems far too much like hard work.

Rather worried that at 11 the only educational establishment my children expressed any interest in was Hogwarts!

I wonder if Fabby meant Uxbridge, which is now Brunel University.

YANBU.

Oh, ffs.
There are 480,000 Uni places this year (approx).
No more than 3% of those places are at Oxbridge.
So 98+% of young people who even want to go to Uni, won't get a look in at Oxbridge.
There are about 700,000 18-19 yr olds in the UK at any one time.
The average result is a C at GCSE, yet the majority of young people go to Uni anyway. That's leaving out those on apprenticeships and in other quality career development paths.
The stats speak for themselves.
Your DC's results are FINE, OP.

More detailed breakdown on distribution of this year's GCSE results.

I was ill for 6 months of my final GCSE year so only took 4 GCSEs. I got: history A; english lit. & lang. B; & german B.
In lower 6th i got C in maths & biology GCSEs.
Then i tried A levels but they weren't for me so i got a job & took a vocational NVQ. I now have a good job that i enjoy. My parents are very proud of my achievements - and are happy as long as their children earn enough money to live on & enjoy life.
Out of my friends there are 2 types who are happiest - those who are naturally academic & enjoyed exams, now working as doctors / solicitors etc; & those who were less academic & so went to work in shops / offices because they wanted to or who entered trades eg. hairdressing, carpentery etc - with the backing of their families. The unhappiest are those with pushy parents who weren't allowed to make their own choices or mistakes.
OP - be proud of your son's B - guide him but allow him space to find out what is right for him. Be wary of the school putting pressure on him to go to uni - they often don't have the pupils' best interests at heart.

Thank you ragged

The GCSE grades were 2 A stars, A and b. 3 A stars at A level. Cambridge were more interested in her home education background and how she interviewed

That is after she got her 3 A* at A level ;)

Do that and they won't give a sh*t about GCSE....

I agree cat64 not that unusual and not necessary in my opinion.
Even 12 GCSE I found too many on some levels for DS and I know for a fact he would have rather concentrated on his key 7 or 8 GCSE's and have all of those up to top mark standard.

Thank you GothAnne . :)

I deal with students coming in with their GCSEs who want to take A levels. Some come in and say "I have 15 GCSEs." Turns out they have four BTEC courses which they have passed (ie not with a Merit or Distinction) which they have been told are worth 4 GCSEs each. I wish the schools wouldn't tell them this. They are usually on the BTEC courses because they are not as academic, so to come out with 15 GCSEs is patently ridiculous.

GCSE results are important for Oxbridge and for medicine/dentistry. Some unis won't accept applicants with one grade C. DD has a string of A* and A's but a C in drama so that would let her down. She doesn't want to apply to Oxbridge anyway, far too stuffy, leave it for the private school kids, they will fit in better .

Word of warning, she is at a school who's sixth form is rated as 'satisfactory' and even though she had A* in her A level courses her AS results aren't brilliant so there is no way she will apply for medicine now even though her GCSE results are good enough. She will have to put some seriously hard work in this year to get A2 results which will get her into a good uni.

cat64 I'm utterly amazed at the stupidity of a school which thinks 15 GCSE's taken in two hits is a desirable option and I've had three just finish the system and have two in the Sixth Form and three below that, so I'm pretty up to speed on that front. I'm still amazed. What a duff way to go.

The standard number at school is 11, though linear and all taken in one go. 15 is pointless.

My DD1 will probably end up with 14 GCSE passes at the end of year 11. This is because at her school they are now starting GCSE in Y9, finishing them in Y10 and then spending Y11 doing additional courses or starting A-Levels.

Currently she's doing 12, she'll have completed 8 of 'em by the end of Y10.

I think it's bloody stupid TBH.

Not sure if she's 'oxbridge' material TBH, I can't understand parents who decide that when their kids are 10 or 11 (and I have actually met some folk like that!!)

I'd expect to be guided by my kids/their school if they wanted to go to Oxford or Cambridge.

As for warwick allegedly not being 'up there'...well it's got one of the strongest maths/computing departments in the UK and their research in fields like AI/neural networks etc has been internationally leading for the past 2 decades.

If one of my kids wanted to study maths and got a place at warwick I'd be delighted.

I got that cat, but why do these schools think more is better once you get past say 10 ? Poor kids. I'm just glad our school is a bit more grounded.

Oxford Brookes is NOT a crap university. Most Oxford graduates I know are stuck up little shits. All the normal people went to Brookes.

Can someone reassure me about something please?

My DS is just about to embark on year 11. He is studying 8 subjects and is predicted to get As and Bs in them all. English, Maths, Double Science, Geography, History, Italian, RS and ICT. He is also taking a "short course" worth, I believe, half a GCSE, in Philosophy and Ethics.

This is the maximum number of subjects that pupils can study at GCSE in his school. It is a very oversubscribed non-selective comprehensive, which gets excellent A level results, and gets lots of pupils into Russell Group unis and a few into Oxbridge every year.

I just don't understand why so many posters have DC who are taking 10 or even 12+ GCSE subjects. Is this normal? Will "only" taking 7 academic subjects (I don't think ICT counts as such) screw up my son's chances of getting into a decent uni? Why are some schools and not others entering pupils for so many different subjects? At my selective grammar school 30 years ago we were only entered for 8 subjects at O level.

Mrs Flittersnoop, when GCSE weighting is high on a uni application they usually are only interested in the best 8 subjects so doing 12 plus is excessive and pointless.

catwalker I couldn't find it in my heart not to congratulate him for his 'achievements' and help him celebrate. Maybe I should have expressed my disappointment . . .

No absoultely not! He did really well and he should be congratulated. I think not getting predicted grades happens a lot and there can be lots of reasons for that, a lot of which wouldn't have been anything to do with the amount of effort your son put in. It could have been a change of teacher, teaching standards or even your ds being predicted too high in the first place. Please don't be hard on him. I remember getting a grade which was a lot lower then what everyone expected and my parents were surprised but that was it. I was gutted! Imagine if my parents had made it know they were dissapointed in me! There is so much to life and to a person then their academic achievements. The will to do as well as possible (for him) has to come from your son, all you can do is support him. Please don't pressure him as that will lower his confidence and self esteem.

I think the issue here is that he was predicted As and A*s and he got B/C/Ds. You need to put it in context of what he is capable of and measure it against that. As a teacher that would concern me when looking at sixth form applications. Bs are good for someone who was aiming for them. Because your DS was aiming for more I would be disappointed with the grades you say he has got. It all depends on if he is going to put more effort into his A-Levels.