Maximizing chances of GCSE grades at 8/9 is essential

[Elizo]

Interested in views:

A child is heading for 7-9s. In a school where 8s/9s not v common.

Two views/ options:

Getting high numbers of 8s/9s is essential for top unis. Tutors/ work flat out and maximize chances of 8s and 9s. YANBU

or

7s are great so as long as they are on the cards no need to stress. YABU

Only a certain proportion of children will get 8/9s it is crazy how 7's -an A in old money - is starting to be spoken about as not good enough by some.

Don't forget there has been grade inflation for a few years due to Covid so grade profiles will start to settle down to more normality. Their grades might not be quite as high as they'd been in the last few years but they will be competitive agaist each other in the same cohort (not saying those children who got GCSEs during the Covid years didn't have a tough time and experience disruption to their education by the way just saying grade inflation happened during that period.)

It's quite competitive from what I've seen and I'm in grad recruitment.

Get the best grades you can I'd say.

However, do remember to maintain balance and do the best you can within your abilities, no need to dig oneself into the ground as there will be various options post school.

For teaching, yes.

My DS has been predicted the same. I'm fairly chilled about it and have asked if he would like a tutor in any subject, he said maybe 1 subject next year which is his weaker subject. Outside of school he participates in alot of sports and hanging out with friends. I hope he does well, but know that they get quite a lot of pressure from school to get top grades and I don't want to add to that (I had pushy parents). I also think our children will have about 50 years of work ahead of them, I think there teenage years should be about having fun.

Most Uni's don't give a toss what GCSE's you got (as long as you have a pass in maths and english) it's the A level grades that matter.

I'd be interested in peoples thoughts on how much children should be studying above and beyond their actual school time going into Year11 to achieve 7s and above?

I know it's partially dependent on the child and subjects but would love to hear some effective tips for how they can maximise study and exam success in GCSEs.

If you can afford a tutor and it will help them improve their grades then why not?

It’s not essential to get 8’s and 9’s but i wouldn’t be happy that a child capable of it wasn’t taught to their potential. 7’s will be fine for most good unis but to go for Oxbridge and the top courses in the top unis then it may be a disadvantage not to have them in some subjects. Also our school won’t allow you to do A level maths physics or chemistry without 8’s in maths GCSE

At GCSE? Post uni all they wanted was Uni grades and potentially A level … and maybe maths and English gcse

@Sunshineonararainydayyy my DD’s school expected 3 hours every night from February onwards. Dd did 2-3 with one weekend day off completely for well-being. Her grades in mocks showed she wasn’t where she needed to be so needed to put the work in.

She should be getting 7s and 8s but they were very sketchy in the mocks… got a 9 in English for one then got a 4 in English in the next one a few months later 🤷🏻‍♀️ as a parent I didn’t know what to do with that kind of inconsistency.

7's are absolutely fine, BUT, ideally they should be getting 8s and 9s for subjects (especially Maths and Sciences) that they wish to do at A level. The leap to A level is huge in a lot of subjects, so the more they learn and understand at GCSE will massively benefit them and help stop them falling behind in the A level years and help them to get better A level grades.

Uni's are more interested in A levels, but some are started to take more notice of relevant GCSE grades too.

At the end of the day, I'd say that if someone is working to grade 7 standard without too much stress and extra hours, then they're capable of 8 or 9 with a little extra effort, and it'll be worth it in one way or another. However, if they're working at grade 5 and they "may" hit a 7 with extra work/effort, then pushing them even more to 8 or 9 is probably too much of an ask and would cause more harm than good!

I would focus on what the kid wants to do at university, both academically and socially, rather than whether their university is a 'top' university. With that in mind, GCSEs at grade 7 in the subjects most relevant to the student's preferred degree choice are fine, because that's what will help to determine their A-level choices and subsequently what they end up studying at university (if they choose to go).

I completely understand why parents get hung up on 'top' universities and the Russell Group and all that, but it actually matters very little to the vast majority of employers where a candidate went to university.

I often interview people for jobs in what is a relatively competitive field for new graduates. The information I see about the candidates doesn't include the name of their university. I know what subject they studied and what class of honours they were awarded, but not where their degree is from. We simply don't care, because the calibre of the university doesn't have any bearing on how suitable the candidate is (and in my personal experience of interviewing and working with people over the past 20 years, it is also not a reliable indicator of how innately bright someone is) and redacting it is a good way to reduce unconscious bias. Lots of other organisations also do this, and it will become increasingly common.

Depends what Uni your child wants.

GCSE's are not ignored for some and will be part of the decision making process for some courses.

All dependant on what DC wants to do.

For teaching, yes.

Isn't that more to check that the required grades have been achieved for certain subjects rather than caring about whether/how much they were above that or the grades of other subjects?

YABU
Any DC on track to get an A or higher in GCSEs (7-9) is doing fantastic.
Even the most selective state sixth forms with students going on to Oxbridge only require a 6 to study at A level.

Time to encourage the child by telling them they are doing really well and keep it up.
Not time to pile on pressure and say 7s aren’t good enough.

We paid for DS to have a tutor for GCSE English since the start of year 11. He defo needed one as English was a weak subject as his year 11 mocks were a 5 in Language and a 6 in Literature. In the real thing he got an 8 and a 7 respectively.

Stress kills. I’m always on the side of ‘minimise the stress if you can’t cope’.

Maybe worth noting that getting a place in lots of very good unis is getting easier again at the moment.

www.thetimes.com/article/98a6845f-1d5a-4596-ad54-109a710a8c54?shareToken=cf598b90cfb655b07baaffd3a18bb119

Personally i think anything over a 7 is wasted effort unless it comes very naturally.

My DD gets her GCSE results in 2 weeks and it'll be a mixed bag of 5's, 6's, 7's and 8's. The 3 highest predicted grade subjects are her A Level choices (where I would agree that high grades are v. important)

Yes now it is very different for Oxbridge

I went to Cambridge in the early 2000s and they said explicitly at my interview that they weren't particularly bothered about GCSEs, within reason. Mostly As and Bs in old money would have been fine, as long as the predicted A Levels were AAA-ish. Having established that, most of the focus would then be on everything else: 80%* how sharp-witted and clever you were at dealing with the interview questions, turning questions upside down, critical reasoning, and 20% interesting extra-curriculars, like being a grade 8 violin and champion rower etc.

*I'm making these percentages up! But this was the consensus at the time.

Ah fair enough then. But back in the 2000s they really did used to almost pride themselves on not looking at GCSEs too much.

My DD got into Cambridge for 23/24 intake for computer science.
They didn’t care about her GCSEs. It was:
A levels- need that A* in maths or further maths
Entry exam score
Interview

Think about technology 2000 -2020
2020 - 2040 is going to be mind blowing. The jobs our kids will do have ‘t even been dreamed up yet.

Max on all subjects and keep options as wide as possible. You don’t want to have regrets when you get an opportunity and your high school subject choice and grades of all things hold you back.

Yes now it is very different for Oxbridge

There's no such place. Cambridge doesn't asses things the same way as Oxford.