2014 as results generally poor?

[Londonbug1]

Just wondering if anyone else thought the as grades were very poor this year?
Perhaps it is just my son and his friends who have done badly?
Would like to hear anyone else's views/experience

Poor results in DD2's 6th form too. Eng Lit papers sent back for re-mark - she got A for coursework but an E overall??!!

Thank you for that wolfe1
Yes he is going to resit some modules next June
I have heard that they used to take the mark for the module you had scored best in but now this has changed and if your result goes down with the resist to his is what you will be awarded.does anyone know if this is true I have looked on the aqua website but cannot find it mentioned anywhere

My DD has done very poorly in her AS exams based on her past results. Last year she got 10 GCSEs, all at A* or A. This year, she got a huge range of results in her individual exams, from A to U. The school have told us that they have not 'cashed in' these results, so she can resit them next year if she wants to. The problem is that she course she wanted to do in university is quite competitive, and they look at AS results and only want people with straight As. She won't get any offers, so has got to choose a different career. I can't believe that one year of poor results can affect her life so much. Resits are not acceptable for what she wants to do. :(

I know it's awful isn't it only 17/18 years old and because of one set of results...
I feel very angry with the school especially because they gave absolutely no indication that there was any cause for concern. He was getting as and bs for all his work.
I imagine that's where private schools have the edge.
Thank you for the tutor offer but we are in east london so a bit too far I'm afraid

I think he can go and become who he wants it is just going to take longer.

I would concentrate on getting as good A level results as he can. Another mum on MN was saying how hard her son worked and got all subjects up by one mark. But as you say his 6th form is useless and you need to get that help from elsewhere.

It wasn't only my DD either. Some of her classmates did very well, but a lot of them, who were generally good students who got good grades, have done very badly. One boy got all Us, which was a huge shock, and he has left the school. :( Quite a few of her friends got C-U in their AS exams, and these results were not expected at all.

I know my sons friend who was hoping to do medicine both parents are doctors and the school had supported him in this got BCCC so it's now out of the question for him.
My DS has been filling his personal statement today I just feel dreadful for him

I do wonder if the offers for the students who did AS in 2014 will be less than normal. So many of them, at so many different schools, seem to have done a lot worse than predicted.

A friend's DC wants to do Economics, and has almost given up on the idea.

Same here looks hopeless but he is still going to apply why not? What's to lose?
Only thing is I don't want him to apply and get no offers!!! That would surely be a de motivator for next years exams.
I suppose it's a life lesson though

I have heard from friends with DC in year above that most got less than expected grades - some 1 grade below expectations and others several grades off, but all still got into their first choice unis. So I do think that there is going to be an adjustment. After all if you go back in time to when I did A levels, it was 1 final set of exams in Y13. I got BBCC which was really pretty good for a state comp and read economics at a Russel Group uni. nowadays most RG unis want AAA for economics. Something is going to have to give with the changes to AS and A levels and I think it will be the offers, or at least allowing more slippage in not quite getting the grades. So I think he should keep trying, work out what went wrong and remediate like mad this year, plus retake the papers teachers suggest. He will get there and will get into somewhere worth going to if he keeps trying, plus persuades teachers he will work hard so they predict him as high grades as possible - preferably ABB. Might be also worth asking if it would help to say something in reference and personal statement re the Biology results in DS's AS year being weak for the whole cohort due to teacher changes (or whatever the story is), and that extensive support is being given by school to address the gap.

Spring rain you really sound like a lovely positive person. Thank you for all your comments - they really are encouraging.
What has happened with daughters art hope the school have actioned it?

thanks Londonbug. My view is to say the only way is up when something like this happens and to find a way to take learnings so that there is a positive. Everyone makes mistakes/suffers setbacks, it is how we deal with them that is most important. Also nearly everybody respects perseverance and likes to see someone do well after a setback, so if you do this you are normally onto a winner.

DD has received her language copy papers back and 1 of them has a couple of pages with no marking on it, which is promising as looks like they have been totally missed. She is going through both with teachers over next few days and will then probably ask for remarks on at least this one.

Art is still very slow - no indication when decision on remoderating will happen. I can only assume they have a lot of potential remoderation to decide on or other bigger problems. On the plus side, I now have a far more assertive daughter than before. She is thinking through how she can attain the best results she can and is making absolutely sure she is getting clear guidance on what she needs to do. We have sorted a tutor to help her in art so she has back up outside of school and someone to advise her for her portfolio for art school applications. So she is in a far better position than last year as she has taken control and can see a path to achieving better grades this year.

I hope your DS is feeling more postive now and can see a route through as well.

I don't think anything can properly be said in a personal statement about results, but it can in a school reference. Although it's really up to the school. I get a sense that results were down this year in our neck of the woods, which was to be expected with the loss of January modules. I completely agree that with the exam landscape changing, university requirements will give, and quite fast. It was certainly true this year that a number of top universities were more forgiving with slight slippage of grades. Tell your DS not to be too hard on himself - he can't judge himself in relation to previous cohorts with this much change.

Our local school is the only one in the borough not to have published their GCSE results ( no A levels sixth form only opening this year), and they have taken down the banner outside the school trumpeting last year's (not very good) results as well. So doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out the reason.... I was told unofficially that the reason they have not yet published is that they are postponing the bad news unitl after the Y7 children are 'embedded' so as not to scare off parents (the school has just managed to woo local parents who previously avoided the school)... Pretty cynical.