To not let DS sit AS Levels?

[bluebellpillow]

Ds has always been a high achiever with little effort, was predicted straight 8/9s at GCSE. He barely did any revision, laughed and joked about not wanting to 'peak too soon' and that he would be fine. Results day he got all 8s bar one 7. In honesty we were disappointed as for him he could have done better, which the school wholeheartedly agreed with. He promised to knuckle down, had learned his lesson...

I will add here that due to where we are (without outing my location) he had to move to a fee paying school in order to pursue science/maths A levels. We did this before GCSE in order to make the transition for A level as smooth as possible. Ds knows that for us this is a sacrifice we are making.

Fast forward to now and his exam results have been terrible. First set he got B,C,D,U and most recently E,C,U,U. I phoned school to discuss this, according to them he is a role pupil who just isn't working up to his full potential . He is polite, does all his homework etc so no concerns.

Ds has lofty ideas about going to top unis which whilst are within his reach are laughable at his current performance. I have told him that if his next set of exams do not significantly improve that I will pull him out of school and he can get a job until he is willing to work harder for his exams.
AIBU? I'm just so annoyed and disappointed that we are paying for him to piss it up a wall.

“Perhaps he should consider an apprenticeship”

I wish people wouldn’t view apprenticeship as a second class alternative to degrees. Round here you have to have good A levels for many apprenticeships. Often they are affiliated with the local university and the employee studies a degree as well as working. It isn’t an easy option.

“By the way, I think straight 8s and one 7 for GCSEs are amazing grades, can't understand people saying with such "low" grades he can expect B and C's at. Best for a level...

Really?!”

I agree Babygrey

“They're not 'low', but for someone with aspirations of studying a STEM subject at 'top' uni, they are not 'amazing'.”

They are probably the equivalent of DD’s GCSEs. She took hers 2 years ago and achieved 5A, 3A and 2 B. Then achieved AAA at A level and is going to study a STEM degree at a highly regarded Russell Group university. I think we areso so blinded by the media only talking about straight A students that anything less than that is regarded as failure. This is not healthy.

I’m confused here. By your “translating” you have rendered the results meaningless.

Is your son in the first or second year of A Levels?

Is he taking actual AS exams or not? Is he taking four or three subjects?

Also, I would be utterly shocked if your school told you (especially two years ago) that your son was on track for multiple 9s. There was no idea what would get a nine.

The OP clarified it was one A*, seven As and a B, not 8s.

Private schools still offer proper GCSEs with proper grades

I wish pp would stop spouting stuff like this and presenting it as fact.
@JockTamsonsBairns it would be fact if the OP was in England. I think that has caught some people out.

I can't get over people calling a group of A grades 'low' and saying he's not suited to a levels. What needs to be done to impress you people?!

For what it's worth, I got 1 A*, 7 As and a B. I got AAB at a level. The key is effort, I wouldn't write him off because As are poor grades!! If he refuses to put in the effort, that's a different story.

Private schools still offer proper GCSEs with proper grades

Like the English iGCSE, which is significantly easier than the current GCSE English.

Is he aware that his results are so poor? Have they given him a kick up the arse or is he thinking they'll magically improve?

When DD sat maths iGCSE in January 2016 it was considered harder than the GCSE. At her school the top set sat this as it was considered better preparation for doing A level maths.

I think the issue is one of whether he is serious about wanting to get into a "top" university for STEM. The course my younger daughter did requires AAA at A level, and this is the case for all the top Russell Group universities for that subject (Physics). I notice that Durham requires AAA (!).

Those grades aren't going to produce themselves, so he needs to review his attitude right now and consider what he wants to get from his A level courses.

That should have read: Durham = A A A*

He is a smart kid but was only doing nine old style GCSEs Only getting 7 A's in those easier exams is indeed a poor result for a clever child.

He has already ruled out a top Uni with those results. If he is doing AS levels in 6 months and gets E,C,U,U he wont be getting into any university.

He needs to drop one subject to just do 3, end the Saturday job and extra sports, he needs to be revising and you need to be helping him.

Take him out of private school and restart new subjects on a proper 2 year A-level course in a state school/college with more realistic expectations. You are just wasting money right now, better to keep it and help him look at alternatives to Uni, which might not be for him.

He has already ruled out a top Uni with those results

Bar Oxbridge and med/vet schools, do you have any evidence for this assertion?

Those gcse grades are ok. Not 'low', not 'amazing' but certainly not bad. Its where he goes from there on that matters. Some kids have less than stellar GCSEs but then hit their stride when they're just doing A levels in the subjects they have an aptitude for, and don't have to spend time and effort on the others. Some are 'all rounders' at GCSE but come unstuck at A level.

His actual AS grades will matter, as will his predicted A level grades. As many have said, it's too early to tell yet, one term in. OP - one question which I'm not sure if you've asked is how he's doing relative to the others doing his subjects.

Cherries this In private schools, teachers only focus on the best students at A Levels is bollocks.
I teach in a private school. We do our absolute best for all our students, and in fact have more students with Additional Needs than the national average. It may be true in some schools, but I would suggest they would struggle financially if their results weren’t good, which means all students doing well...

I haven't read the full thread but you start by saying he has all 8s bar 1 7, and then say he actually has one A* (which is a high 8 or 9), mostly As (which are 7s, and only possibly low 8s if they are top As), and 1 B which is a 5 or 6.

A level Maths and Sciences are properly hard for those who don't have 8s and those with lower grades often get lower grades in the early stages but the school should have him on an intervention list and be working with him to improve things. They don't want him to fail.

There is a world of difference between the old IGCSE and the new GCSE in terms of content and preparation for maths A level. Even the new IGCSE doesn't have the problem solving needed for A level now so the school needs to be very on the ball as to how they are teaching the A level to incorporate the teaching of problem solving. Are other students getting high grades for their maths or is it just him?

If you don't think he is working well then have a frank discussion with school to see whether they think he is putting in the required effort and ask how they are going to support him and what they need you to do. Come up with a plan together. This may mean opting for his best three subjects. Even with Further Maths, it is acceptable to have three A levels. You might well need to monitor homework etc but I don't think withdrawing him is the right option.

@LoniceraJaponica The old IGCSE was slightly harder than the old GCSE but stitting IGCSE in Jun 2017 orJan 2018 was a lot easier than entering students for the new GCSE. Despite covering a little calculus, it has a lot less topics than the new GCSE, leaving a bigger jump to A level. Schools might have said it was harder (due to the calculus) but it was only better preparation for A level if students also did Additional Maths of some sort or the school taught all the problem solving and extended students off the syllabus, I'm afraid.

The AS exams start in 4 1/2 months, whilst it might be theoretically possible to turn E,C,U,U into top grades. It would take a monumental change.

I think a reality check is needed.

In private schools, teachers only focus on the best students at A Levels

What complete and utter bollocks.

Thank you for the explanation MathematicsTutor. I believe that maths was one of the last subjects to become linear at A level. I think DD's peers were the last to do maths at AS (2016) and A2 (this year), so maybe the new GCSE has tied in with the new linear A level?

Your DS is clearly and intelligent and bright. However, that's not going to mean very much unless he starts applying himself.

DS(16) is very similar in that he is very bright but lacks the self-discipline or motivation to put any work in. Me and DH were very worried about how this would affect his GCSEs. So we put in place quite a strict routine for homework and revision to keep him focused.

He had to do a minimum of 3 hours work(homework and revision) each weeknight with 6 hours over the weekend. This increased to 4 hours and 9 hours as exams approached. DS wasn't the happiest when we told him but he was actually very grateful when he got his results, and acknowledged that he wouldn't have fulfilled his potential under his own steam.

Perhaps giving your DS an ultimatum- he follows a strict revision routine which you set and supervise, or you pull him out and he has to get a job, might give him the motivation he's lacking.

How old is he?

Surely it's not your decision to make.

What do you mean not her decision? She is the one paying the school fees!

Sounds a bit like me 10 years ago tbh except I wasn't at a fee paying school. He's bright enough to realise those are poor results and he's old enough to make his own mistakes. Not sure what to do about the wasting money part though as that isn't very fair on you at all.

Ignore me.

I would be very careful how you handle all this with your DS. I was considered the brightest student in my year at school, and coasted through till GCSE, at which point I got grades that were good but did not reflect my ability (though probably reflected the little effort I had put in to them). I found the transition to A level hard. My A levels included Maths and Physics and I was not prepared for the difference in level or the work needed. I was also not accustomed to failure and had a complete confidence crisis, which led to a change in college and A levels. I failed Maths completely. I felt like I had let everyone down, I felt embarrassed with my peer group, some of whom had done much better than me and who I felt probably enjoyed seeing me fail (I probably imagined this!) I went off the rails and mucked up my chances deliberately after the first tastes of failure as it felt better to rebel than it did to admit that maybe I wasn't as clever as I had thought.

I did end up retaking it 10 years later and went in to get a 2.1 in a maths related degree as a mature student, as well as another 2.1 in statistics, but the confidence crisis severely affected my belief in my own ability as well as my career prospects as I have never completely regained the confidence I had in my teens (though there were other factors too).

My parents didn't handle it terribly but didn't do much to help either, I think my mum just left me to make my own mind up and my dad told me to join some more clubs to make friends. My teachers were no use either. I felt very lonely at the time, as technically an adult but not really very mature, looking back. I have no advice to give you really except to try to be kind to your son about it as he is likely feeling very embarrassed lacking in confidence.