GCSE results are upon us

[Remotew]

Anyone else suffering from the jitters? DD has been for a couple of days now and now me. Coping strategies welcome.

Sorry typing on a phone I mean 'their'

I think 'B's are seen as old 'C's in some schools. My friend's daughter wasn't allowed to do A'levels with Bs in the subject, they were doubtful about letting you do that with Cs in my non selective school way back when.

Anyone tried the bribery route? I've been informed that so and so are getting £100 per A*.

We have booked a quiet meal out tomorrow night and will be going whatever the results.

What I am reacting to is a PP who said that as long as their child got into sixth form, their GCSEs don't matter - as if they start with a clean slate.

Well, reality is that they don't. Their GCSE results stay with them, even through to job applications after their degree.

When they do their UCAS applications, just over a year after getting their GCSE results, the only qualifications the universities have to go on are their GCSEs. They may have AS module results, but these tend to be at the bottom of the heap when it comes to evaluating the application, after GCSE grades, predicted grades, personal statement and teacher reference.

Obviously, there is no going back now on their GCSE grades, so if they have Bs and Cs, they need to be thinking about how to strengthen their UCAS personal statements, and also to be very strategic about which universities to put on their application forms (and to listen to sage advice).

The PP who mentioned being successful in clearing - well this is a completely different kettle of fish, because it is based on actual A level results rather than GCSE-reinforced predictions.

The PP who was hoping that grades would improve at A-level. This is very unusual. You would not give a predicted grade of an A for a pupil who got a B at GCSE unless they were a particularly late developer or who had extenuating circumstances. For these pupils, there is always the option of applying a year later when actual GCE results are known, and to do a gap year.

Also I think when I did O'levels in 1986 about 20% got an A grade. Aren't around 20% of students expected to get an A*?

Also been informed that there is a general piss up get together later on in the evening at a secret location but as the forecast is heavy rain cannot imagine DD joining in.

I said that the results didn't matter to me, not that they wouldn't matter to any possible prospective university.

Mme, it's very common improve after GCSE - it's what you'd expect, as students get to drop the subjects they struggle with and concentrate on the others.

Btw, I don't know where this figure about needing 6As comes from - sure, universities look at your GCSE grades and may well judge them. But I've never heard of this 6As - is it a new figure, and which universities are asking for it?

AFAIK A* is awarded for 90% and above, that is very high and I would expect hard to get. Don't know what % are able to achieve this.

Universities offer places based on actual GCE results. If a student has not reached their potential at GCSE, but is still expected to do well at GCE, they do not have to be written off. What they can do is simply apply to university a year later when their GCE results are known.

The top universities receive many applications per place, and they have to use a very blunt instrument to make their initial cut. That blunt instrument is GCSE results. Then they look at personal statements and refine their cut, before putting out conditional offers.

If someone does unexpectedly badly at GCSE, they need to be particularly strategic with the UCAS applications - delaying it a year, or having a realistic number of insurance choices.

Abouteve, it is 90% of UMS but this is not necessarily 90% of actual marks. It could be quite easily be 70% (typical on GCSE Physics modules, which is what I teach).

hello i am jittering like crazy

And why would the AS results and predicted A2 grades provided by school count for less than GCSE results when universities are considering applicants?

That does make sense but guess if a student wants to study English and got GCSE grade C in the sciences but A* at English lang and lit then the C's shouldn't matter, for example. They should just look at the x number of best subjects not subjects they have dropped.

Mme, sorry, I don't think this is universally true. I suppose the universities could be engaged in a massive cover-up operation to trick us all, but if you read admissions guides, they don't tally with what you said. And this year, in my class of second years, we had three who got Cs in some GCSEs and only two straight A/A* students, out of a class of 12. That's at a good Russell group.

AS grades, btw, aren't 'at the bottom of the heap' to most admissions tutors - they're concrete results which, if good, will be counted in as part of the eventual result. A student with a B at GCSE who then goes on to get, say, 80 out of 90 in an AS module, looks good - and better than someone else who has the A grade but is clearly struggling at AS modules.

OK, just out of interest what did you think of the Physics last paper. DD said it was a killer.

LRD, it would be unusual to trump a GCSE grade in A2 for a given subject. For example, if you achieved a B at GCSE, you wouldn't expect more than this at GCE. Of course it is possible though, and expectations should be managed appropriately.

One of the reasons that grades are unlikely to improve is because a pass at GCSE is A-C, and a pass at GCE is A-E. Therefore a B at GGCSE would translate to a C at GCE, and A would translate to A/B, and a C would translate to D/E.

My last post was to Mme.

Glad I'm not the only one jittery. I've calmed down a bit thanks to engaging on this thread.

I marked 2H English :)

The Edexcel one looked OK, AE. That is the spec that I teach, and my pupils were reasonably relieved when they came out. I am not sure about the AQA - my son just said it was 'fine', which could mean anything.

DD did AQA and wasn't happy after it. Oh well she isn't doing it for A level.

That's just not true. It is very common for people to improve on GCSE grades. As I said, there were only 2 students in my class of 12 whose progress followed a neat consistent path of straight A's - the others had all come on in leaps and bounds at different times through their education.

This was certainly true, back in the day (2003, not that long ago!) when I went up to university. Some people get good results consistently; others don't. There are plenty of people who do ok at GCSE and then find the jump to AS/A-Level is beyond them, doing much worse than expected. There are also plenty of people who find that the new challenge suits them, and they work all the better for not having to concentrate on subjects they struggle with.

The GCSE results will matter if they are applying to a very oversubscribed and very academic course at a top university (i.e. Oxbridge, Russell Group).

However, it is not true to say someone with say a B at GCSE cannot attain an A at A level. I know because DS1 was very lazy 'underperformed',( I think that is the euphamism) at GCSE (i.e. didnt get all As) but went on to get top grades at A level and to a Russell Group university where he is doing just fine :).

Obviously if he had wanted to do Oxbridge he would have rather scuppered his chances but fortunately he wasn't interested.....otherwise I suspect he would have worked a bit harder. And there are many more hoops to jump through after the string of A/A*s at GCSE before getting accepted there (including their own admission tests for some subjects), so GCSE results are certainly not the be all and end all.

Thanks for this:

FAIK A* is awarded for 90% and above, that is very high and I would expect hard to get. Don't know what % are able to achieve this.

Is it harder to get an A* at GCSE than at A' level?