To be angry at school predicted A level grade

[user29]

How can DD be predicted a lower grade than she has proved she is capable of achieving (by a margin) in her mock?

I understand exactly how you feel. DS got great grades in his mocks, is always close the getting the most marks on test papers, gets good marks on home work.

then before at the end of term in July on his report they were crap! we are hoping that for the UCAS grades they do a true reflection of what he is more then capable of getting. Because other wise he won't be able to apply for the uni's he looking at(they are not AAA unis courses) but realistic on what he can could comfortably achieve.

It's to avoid helicopter parents who are too involved asking who is going to take the blame when their kid doesn't get the A* that the school admitted they were capable of.

Push.

DD was given teacher assessed grades below what we thought were right, but we said nothing.

DD was predicted less than we thought she would do for A levels. We pushed, but not much. We were put in our place.

Finally, on the first externally, objectively marked exams, she got 3 A*s.

Predicted grades really matter. They are the hurdle your DD must clear to get a conditional offer.

Grade boundaries in 2023 are going to be utterly BRUTAL. The exam boards will be putting the boundaries up to 2019 heights, maybe even higher. The 2022 Covid cohort had the advantage of SIGNIFICANTLY lowered grade boundaries to compensate for lockdowns (-8% in my A level subject). This cohort will get no compensation at all. Many students will get a major shock and it’s actually a duty for teachers to prepare students for this shift.

There could be an administrative error.

They could be power hungry tyrants.

They could have given your Dd the wrong mark for the mock.

They could have plucked the grade out of thin air.

You won't know till you ask them what's going on. Or your Dd asks them what's going on, so let's carrying on guessing.

They were having a bad day?

They were joking. Funny prank teacher, you got me good!

They were hand written and the star wasn't included?

Is this to apply to Oxbridge? I think the Russel group unis require A for Biology rather than A star

I mean the Russel Group ones apart from Oxbridge. Dd didn't apply to Oxbridge

I suspect they will shift it with your evidence. I find the whole predicted grade thing mighty strange.

Your daughter is an A level student and as such, particularly if she wants to progress to university, she needs to follow this up with her teachers to understand why this is their prediction and then get advice. Being 'angry' is not particularly helpful for your daughter. Encouraging her to talk to relevant people and get an understanding and advice is. I doubt the predicated grade has been 'plucked from thin air' and her current teacher will be able to give an explanation. As a parent, your role is to model an appropriate response and advise that she seeks clarification.

It’s not uncommon OP. Can she not apply once she has her grades?

Yeah it’s such a waste of time no other country I know of does it.

She needs to ask them really

Was the grade 9 GCSE a teacher assessed grade?

Given that in a year's time your dd will be at university and will need to stand on her own feet, perhaps she should ask the teacher?

Moaning and gathering evidence for your 'case' might be pointless if there is a very good reason. It could of course be an error or it could be the teacher balancing the mock with the classwork and homework done by your dd. They may well be open to changing it especially if spoken to normally and politely.

One of mine got shockingly low predictions across subjects. She had moved schools at 6th form so other than her (very good) GCSE grades, they didn't really know her as well as the kids who had been there all along. She was I think distracted by the new social life, and even though she was doing ok on her mocks, the school was very ungenerous in their predictions. We asked if she thought the predictions were right and she said no. We knew the school was likely off, but didn't think there was much point in pushing back, so decided she would take a gap year without doing any applications and see how things turned out. In the end, she got 3A* and a Cambridge place- I think she was somewhat motivated by wanting to prove them wrong- and did some really worthwhile work experience and volunteering during the year. Would yours consider something like that?

Just to add, in your shoes, I would make sure it isn't some kind of error.

Am I understanding correctly that she has been predicted an A and she needs an A*? And that the mock exam in which she performed so well was an AS paper and she is doing A level?

My guess would be that the department is reluctant to predict As. In my experience, the way this goes is that the student goes to see the teacher and says, "I really need an A prediction for my university choice - remember how well I did" and the teacher gives in and says "Okay, but please understand that this doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get it", but that's dependent on the school obviously.

Kids ask for a bump in their predicted grades all the time. No idea why you're making such a big deal about asking.

I know it's not what you're asking but frankly I think it's utterly bonkers that someone needs to get an A* in the subject they want to study at university.

Surely a student who has a B or above is intellectually able to study a degree in that subject.

I'm so thankful it wasn't so harsh in the early 90s. I didn't do well in my A levels, got into an average uni, did very well and have had a successful and rewarding career in the field.

I'm on the app so can't follow easily - are you saying she needs an A star prediction but has an A prediction? With the other subjects she has A star predictions?

If so I really won't make any difference to her offers. If she's aiming at Oxbridge then she'll have sat UKCAT which is arguably far more important than the star.

Bear in mind the grade boundaries next year will be far higher than for this year, so predicting one grade lower than the one achieved on this year's paper seems reasonable.

Dd was predicted A for Biology and got offers from 4 Russell group unis with that to do Biology. I assume op is applying to Oxbridge?

When I spoke to dds college end of last year they said the predicted grades were given by the teachers before they did the mocks. The mocks weren't there for that reason. It was based on class work and general standards throughout the year. It was opposite way round for us. Dd got consistent a* thru the year in class but flunked the exam. Thankfully her predicted grade was ok.

Yeah

How is she going to manage at uni if she can't ask a teacher a simple question? I'd be less worried about what uni she goes to, and more about how she's going to thrive once she gets there. (And I have quite a bit of experience of students who have had helicopter parents)

Maybe she actually didn't make the grade?

Based on what you’ve said it does seem straightforwardly wrong. I would query it ASAP. Ask for the head of department to explain their logic. It could just be an admin error by the school office somewhere. It certainly doesn’t seem to make sense.