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 Oxbridge care about GCSE grades. My daughter is set for all 8-9’s, probably largely 9’s if I’m honest given the effort she put in and the results of her previous mocks. I think 7’s are great and wouldn’t impact on Uni, but try telling that to my daughter, she said she would be really disappointed if she gets any 7’s. She’s been unwell the last few for years too so it’s quite an achievement and all her own doing, zero pressure from me or her dad. Our DS also got 8-9’s, mainly 9’s, and 3 x A* for A level. Both very academic and self driven, their father and I can’t work out how we ended up with two kids like that but super proud of them.

Honestly I wish someone had told me at 16 how unimportant your GCSEs are, beyond a C in English/maths/science & getting you onto your A-levels/into college. What a colossal waste of time working so flat out to get my B’s to A’s for absolutely no good reason. I wish I could go back and just enjoy that time and the lack of responsibility of being 16

My DD has literally spent hours daily studying and is predicted all 8-9’s when she picks up her grades in 2wks. I think she could have done less and still achieved, but she’s self motivated and enjoys studying (I think) and so I left her to it, encouraging her to do other things but she always refused in term times. I do think a balance is important but couldn’t force her to take a break. Weekends she would study most of the day for the 2yr course, but more so in year 11.

Over 30% of children in the UK experience poverty. So no, 15% is not “good diversity”.

A lot of places that do blind applications do consider the school. Not sure how it works but our law firm software does consider doing well at a less successful school.

My dc got top grades despite having no tutoring and school being in special measures, just takes medium work, didn't work that hard!

Honestly I wish someone had told me at 16 how unimportant your GCSEs are, beyond a C in English/maths/science & getting you into your A-levels/into college

Not true...high grades in Stem is a predictor for A levels results. Colleges have data on GCSE performance Vs ALevels.

Also learning/practicing study skills by 16 is positive for any further academic study so I don't see studying for a few months before GCSEs as a waste of time.

I would encourage every child to do as well as they can and that doesn't mean having no life in the lead up to GCSEs. On results day there is nothing worse than realising you could have done better. For some a 7 is their best and that should be celebrated.

GCSE grades do matter to some top unis.

I said this at the time, Ds was rejected by Durham this year for Economics and they specify why they reject you. These reasons are listed on their website for all to see as achieved grades which must be GCSEs in Ds's case, predicted grades and subject specific qualifications.

Ds was rejected for "Achieved Grades - Less competitive than Other Applications" which can only mean his achieved GCSEs as he hadn't sat his A levels. His GCSEs are 999 999 888 7 from a state school and a contextual student too. We believe, rightly or wrongly, that the course was massively oversubscribed so an easy way to cull a good number of candidates is anyone with anything below an 8.

He does have a firmed offer from Warwick though

At no stage did either of my children work flat out or with a tutor. They had a life outside of school. They were however able to demonstrate their love of their subject on their personal statement.

Wow @DurhamNo that’s quite shocking actually. I guess it is an easy way to cull. And tbf economics is massively having a moment.

Hope your ds has a great time at Warwick.

Both of mine took the scenic route through education - one at a special school and one with home tutors - so did not have the opportunity to do the number or breadth of GCSE's that mainstream schools offer. We told them that as long as they had sufficient at good enough grades to be allowed to go to the next stage then that was enough. As soon as you get your A levels / or HND or successfully complete your apprentice then this is going to be more important to prospective employers than GCSE performance.

Yes, this is what I thought as per my previous post, ie the top universities DO look at GCSE results. I’m so sorry your son didn’t get his first choice, especially with such stellar results, but I understand Warwick is amazing for Economics!

@clary yes it was shocking to us too sadly Economics is the subject he absolutely loves and he didn't want any other finance combination.

@Rainydayinlondon Warwick was his first choice but Durham was a close second and because it was Economics he knew all of it was a long shot due to how popular it was. Luckily Durham was his only rejection. I believe top unis do look at GCSEs because those are the only exams they have all sat to the same standard and give part of the predicted grades, teacher comments on their personal statements.

It's not so much 'top unis' as 'specific top, vastly oversubscribed courses' which may need to use GCSEs if they're not administering additional aptitude tests.

@Royalmail100

There is a difference between getting a child a tutor to help them in a couple of subjects where they are really struggling and getting a child a tutor to push grades up from 7s to 8s and 9s. This is the kind of pushing and pressurising that does real damage to children.

Of course some children will need extra help. Of course I understand that teachers are overstretched and have too many children in front of them to offer the individualised support some of them need - I am one. I am not against tutoring - I do it myself sometimes when I’m asked by a desperate parent. What I am against is parents booking up every night of the week with additional tutoring for children who don’t really need it and are already doing perfectly well, but whose parents believe nothing but a string of 9s will do. Unfortunately this is quite a common practice amongst certain groups of parents and I have seen the damage it causes their children.

As a teacher I will always advocate for the mental health and well-being of a child above anything else. Some parents do unfortunately lose sight of that when it comes to buying into the ‘my child’s life will be over if they don’t get into a top uni’ narrative.

Yes, this is what I thought as per my previous post, ie the top universities DO look at GCSE results.

MN seems to love Durham, but it is no more of a 'top' university than Warwick. Overall the only metric in which Durham outscores Warwick is, ironically, entry standards. In research quality, student satisfaction and graduate prospects, Warwick is ahead.

As for economics specifically, Warwick stands above Durham in the CUG. @DurhamNo I think you should change your username to WarwickYes, there's nothing super-special about Durham whatever it might like to think!

@thing47 I change my username all the time but hopefully after next week it will be a WarwickYes! I completely agree that Durham is not as good for Econ and DC1 went to Durham and quite frankly was incredibly disappointed. They felt unsupported by their personal tutor, not listened to as a whole cohort for the subject and according to the students in the years above has been going on for years. Dc and mates didn't want to fill in feedback forms before they got their degree results for obvious reasons. Fingers crossed for Warwick for us, I hope DC2 has a better time.

For a different perspective, the ideal is for your DC to try their best and achieve their potential. This does not mean huge stress and pressure, but consistency and positivity. It is very satisfying to have worked hard and tried your best - and a hell of a lot more satisfying than sleeping into midday and lying in bed watching Netflix. So yes, aim for 8s and 9s rather than 7s. It is motivating to go for 8s and 9s, rather than settle for 7s.

My DC did GCSE this year and had two tutors - one for their worst subject to get up to a 5 - but also for their best subject as they enjoy it and there is a satisfaction in being really fantastic at something. That is why great sports people and musicians have coaches.

The tutoring was not stressful. It is a huge privilege to have such individualised attention to help you achieve your potential. No matter how universities grade your results, trying your best is a key life lesson.

That would be fabulous, I really hope most employers do!

ZThe grades they say is not the same as the successful applicants will have.

3rd option....
The child and their mental health is higher priority than their grades.
Yr 11 is tough. Look after the child rather than destroying them for the higher grade

You will pay a high price for pressurising a child.
I know plenty of friends children who have NOT been to “top universities” who are independent with great jobs. How they come across at interview (articulate, maturity, work experience ) matters a lot more than the name of a uni.

As long as they get what they need a happy teen is more important then grades . I was told a horrific tale about someone whose parents put them under pressure to get top grades (olden days so o levels). They had a breakdown at 17 and committed suicide at 21. I got a D in a level maths now have 2 maths degrees and a career in maths my grade never held me up no one cares once you move onto the next education level

I used to think that the Irish system of achieving a certain amount of points in your Leaving Cert to get into uni was a bad system until I read this thread!

In Ireland, all universities/colleges allocate a number of points for each course. You sit a minimum of 7 subjects and get points for each grade, you add your best 6 grades to get the total number of points. If you reach the points needed for the selected course you get it (points can increase if big demand but it isnt usually by much).
No one gives a fiddlers about what your Junior Cert (GSCE equivalent) grades were. Yes its pressure in the Leaving Cert years (5th and 6th year) but its much less pressure on children when they are only 15.

Some do, some don't. Where my son works (one of the UK's largest insurance firms), ALL the interns (what they call the year 3 work placement uni students) in his department starting last Summer were from the same University. Most of the graduate intake last Summer was split between two universities (Bath and Lancaster). That can't be accidentally nor random! Fair enough with the "year in industry" interns as the employer probably worked with the Uni directly to choose their intake (sometimes the Uni are highly engaged in the process) to save recruitment time and effort, especially for the one year work experience. But in my son's case as a graduate, there was no input from his Uni, he found the job himself (not via the Uni), applied directly, etc., and then was surprised to find others from the same Uni in his intake (different years, different courses). His Uni isn't one of those who have close links with employers, I know some are very close but not his, they don't arrange work experience nor proper jobs themselves - their careers dept is all about job searching skills, application skills, etc.

Spoke to DS a few days ago now that they have a new intake of interns and graduates starting this Summer. All the interns are again from the same university (not the same last year) and most of the graduates are again from the same two universities (Lancaster and Bath!). The employer clearly has a bias in favour of those two universities, I'm trying to work out why and how, but failing to see any parallels! One of the new graduates is actually one of his old flatmates who's taken a year out after graduating and only applied there because my son recommended him to apply, so again, not due to the Uni itself!

Not saying all graduates are from the same two unis - some are from random others, but there's definitely a pattern and bias there, which kind of suggests they're not applying a "blind" application process.

@Rumors1 Irish system seems more straightforward but I think the issue for UK is the staggering amount of applications for top courses, which means Unis can't offer to everyone who secure the top grades.

At Cambridge/Oxford/Imperial they would expect every student to have max grades so they have to find a way to select using pre Uni testing/,interviews and GCSEs. It's all in the mix to decide who gets a place.