Going from A to A* between mocks and A levels - is it possible/likely?

[TangledInATrawlerNet]

My DD’s predicted grades for UCAS were A stars, and her uni offers reflect this; her mocks results were disappointing (in her words) though as she got an A in two, where she needs an A star. She has gone into panic mode

I know people say sometimes teachers mark the mocks down to encourage harder work and so on but I genuinely don’t think they have done this; they are STEM subjects and the marking schemes are very clear.

What are the chances she could get from A to A star in two subjects, while maintaining her marks in the others? I don’t know how to play it - talk up a university that she wasn’t so keen on, or appear optimistic and encouraging that she can improve. She’s a clever girl and works really hard but has chosen very competitive universities/courses which has not made for a restful life! Any thoughts/advice on how to manage expectations would be very helpful

Of course it is. It’s also possible that she has a bad day and could get Bs or lower.

as such you should be positive about both her firm choice and her insurance choice.

What does she think? Surely, for STEM subjects, she is quite clear on how she is doing vs the course in this year?
Does she think her mocks results are because she didn't revise enough - or something went wrong? How far from A* did she come out - how big is the gap?

She needs to be quite clear on what needs to happen between now and June to get from A to A*. Id she is a hard worker - and STEM is her strength - it is not impossible to get back to the predicted trajectory.

However, it is not a guarantee. And in general, results can't be taken for granted - so this is the reason kids are usually advised to apply for a back-up schools with lower grade offers. If her offer is AA... - is it a hard offer, so she definitely needs to have a good back-up.

Thanks for this - yes she has a “plan” (but hasn’t started implementing it yet, because PANIC) One paper she messed up the timing so she can definitely work on that, but still lost some random marks.

In one subject she was only two marks off the grade boundary, but in the other (the really critical one - Further Maths) I think she said seven marks.

The main problem is all her offers are high so she may not hit what we thought would be her insurance; we should have encouraged her to look at a course with lower offers but they just didn’t appeal to her. Hopefully I’ll get better at this by the time her sister is going through it all!

They don’t get a lot of time to prepare for individual mock exams on the whole. The whole lot are rammed into one or two weeks. There’s usually more time to revise during study leave, which can help a lot. Never underestimate the power of adrenaline in the exams themselves too. All any young person can do is their best. Good luck!

Thanks @Guggenheim78 we said exactly this - she had 11 exams over five days, which of course is nothing like the real thing. She really enjoyed study leave during GCSEs and really made the most of it, so I’m hoping it might be similar this time…

We have found over 4 children taking a total of 14 Stem Levels, that the grades on past papers were remarkably consistent and consistent with the final grades

dS1 got ABC in his mocks and came out with three A stars.

My dds school didn’t give anyone a stars on mocks as they didn’t want them to be complacent and take their foot off the gas...

Wow @haufbiskiy that is fantastic! Would you say the ABC reflected how he was working at the time, or was it a random lower result than expected?

Unfortunately @Delphigirl there have been a fair few A stars so that is not the case here. I think the timing issue she had with one paper was possibly deliberately introduced - but then others managed to deal with it, apparently!

Most kids at DSs school went up significantly. The mocks are crammed into a short period of time right after Christmas )when let’s face it they won’t do much revision) and it’s five months before the real thing.

DS2 took an AS in November and got an E. He needs an A. He got his result in January, panicked, has started working properly and in his exam conditions past paper this week got an A.

With maths and fm, a heck of a lot of the endgame is doing umpteen past papers, so the grades are quite likely to go up between mocks (when they'll have done very little of this) and the real thing.

You also need to remember that for some boards/subjects/papers the grade boundaries are extremely tight so it doesn’t take much to move between grades.

It’s definitely VERY doable to go from As to A stars between mocks & actual exams . As Sashya said it’s identifying exactly why / where she’s dropping the marks .
Possible exam technique issue ? Would recommend doing LOTS of past papers to build confidence & familiarity .( I tutor Physics/ Chem/ Bio . )
I do , by the way , know one student who went from UBE in his mocks to A* AA !!
Wishing you both all the very best

Well DS went from 4xDs in the mocks to 2 x A stars and 2 x As, so yes of course it's possible. She knows what she has to do I'm sure.

I think it’s do-able. My first child exceeded her mocks in the actual A levels. Second child just had mocks and will need improve a bit in further maths and physics to get A*s. School does not seem to be worried.

They still have more learning to do before A levels and more time to study.

Yep. Maths isn't as much revising as training.

She hasn't done terribly. She got an A and was only 7 marks off and A*. She has a good few months to work at what was trickier for her. She only has to improve by 2-3 marks worth per month. Has she spoken to her teacher? They might give her good advice.