Parents of Year 12s - exam time again! (oh no!)

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

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Hello, may I join you? DS is in the middle of AS - he is doing maths and further maths - thought fp1 today was a bit of a stinker, and also physics and chemistry. Ate many of your DC doing AS in linear subjects? Most schools round here seem to be doing them, but the local private school.is not.

Right ok apologies for the inconvenience caused.

not to worry Sabina, just email mn :)

Welcome Panda! dd is doing linear for Physics. mei fp1 was rather mean. I don't know about the others. It's such a flipping rollercoaster this exam business. One exam they are on top of the world, the next it is all doom, doom. Then they are happily on the ps3 while you have a breakdown in the bath. argh.

Welcome Panda.

DD's one and only AS did not go well, so we are considering alternatives. She just can't cope with exams. Luckily her 2 BTECs are still on track for distinctions, but we need a back-up plan if she doesn't continue with the A level. The good news is that she now has 2 part-time jobs which will look good on her CV.

Thanks for the welcome. :)

DS1's first exam went badly; he thinks it might not be good enough for an E.

But on the positive side, his room is immaculate.

Dd is clearly working very hard as her room is a shite hole.

Sorry to hear that The Second It's such a long time to wait to find out the results isn't it

Is it in a subject he wants to continue with?

Hi Panda.

DD is doing AS in Maths and Further Maths, and also the AS in her linear subjects, History, French and English Lit. It's a mix round here with state schools most don't seem to be doing linear.

DD wasn't happy with either exam, today but I've not actually seen her yet. FP1 was particularly bad apparently. Seems to be a common theme!

TheSecond I hope it turns out better than he expects. It's gone, it's done, move on. That's easier to say than to do but when it's the first exam that's tricky it really kicks you in the confidence for the others.

Hello Panda. DS is at a large sixth form college and the only people entered for AS in a linear subject are those that intend to drop it. It must be so much easier for the college having fewer exams to find rooms and invigilators for.

I sorry Chocolate and TheSecond. I echo the thought that it's a very long wait now to see how they did.

Hello Panda, x4 Linear AS exams for DD, with one subject to be dropped for A2. You are so right kitten about them being on top of the world for one Paper & down for the next! Geography was 'hard but doable' DD says & she says a few friends got totally spooked by two questions with high marks 😕 TheSecond the BTEC predictions are great for your DD at this level & part-time work a real plus on the CV & ripple I think a lot of DC are thinking about their grades as it's another period of exam change yet again for them - messes with their heads! not to mention ours!

Ursula that made me laugh! Bedroom still a mess here & lots of comfort eating. Nutella seems to be the chosen pot of comfort this year! Two more to go & counting down! Bit of respite for us all for two days

Really interesting the variety of approaches whether DC are sitting AS or not.

Interesting and confusing Panda!

My dd is doing AS exams in maths (because it's linear) and English (because she isn't carrying on with it next year) She'll do internal exams after half term in her other 2 subjects.

But many friends at the same school are doing it differently. A few of her friends dropped their 4th subject before Christmas, and aren't doing any linear subjects so they have no AS exams. A couple couldn't decide which subject to drop in yr13, so are doing AS exams in all 4 subjects and will choose based on results.
It all just seems very haphazard and chaotic.
DD is one of only 3 in the year (out of 60+ taking the subject) dropping English Lit, so the AS exams were clearly not really on her teachers' minds. They barely finished the course and had no revision lessons.

Whereas maths being linear, everyone took the AS exams so there has been focus on revision this whole half term, with extra revision sessions every evening if wanted.
It's just been a bit lop sided.

I wonder how universities will look at the differences. How do they compare a student with 4 AS grades against a student who hasn't taken any AS exams?

I think that's really interesting Lobster. Until DD's latest curve ball, which may not come to anything, our DDs are studying the same AS subjects and hoping to do the same degree subject.

Ooh Raspberry, I knew they were similar but hadn't realised they were doing the exact same subjects!

I remember your thread on degree subjects, has your DD narrowed down her choices yet?

DD has been accepted for the JACT summer school, so hoping 2 weeks of intense Latin study will make up her mind once and for all!

Any news on Uniq for your DD? She had a reserve place didn't she?

Intrigued about the curve ball! Is she considering something completely different?

Would any of you mind telling me how many open days you are going to try to get to, and how you've decided?

I'm worried we're over thinking it (must consider every possibility), and at the same time just not doing enough...

My DD is now in Year 13

Her London based school took their cohort to 2 open days in London, an open day at Oxford and another in Warwick.

She herself went to 1 more in London and 1 in Scotland. She applied to Bristol but didn't visit as they have "visit/interview days" for shortlisted candidates so she would get to (actually did get to) visit and tour on that day. The other Unis she applied to would either give an offer or reject without interview so she wanted to see those so she had an idea about those places.

Many Unis will still have open days for Year 13s in the autumn term and any Unis your child applied to will send regular emails about opportunities to visit in the Spring term (e.g. Edinburgh had offer holder sessions in London in Feb) so you don't have to feel as though you need to see everything this term.

Also it might be a good idea to visit 1 Campus Uni (like Warwick or Exeter) 1 big city Uni (Manchester/London Unis) and 1 medium size city Uni

Good luck to everyone with exams next week.
Ds just has end of year exams (school finishes on 16 June) left now except an oral exam for English IB on 1st June.
offblackeggshell - We are overseas so not going to any open days. At the moment Ds is looking at Leeds, LSE, Loughborough and Warwick for Accounting and Finance. He is very sporty so Loughborough might be a good fit for him.

Thanks evenstranger. DDs school have arranged some uni visits, but they are all in the same week that almost half the year are off on a field trip. Lots of the open days are also in the week they are on compulsory work experience.

I think the main problem for her is that she has relatively recently changed her mind about what she wants to study. She has gone from a subject with a relatively small number of options, to one offered almost everywhere. School insist on all UCAS applications being done for the October date, not Jan (though I don't know what they'd do if you refused!) and so some of the autumn ones are too late for that deadline...

I can't believe now that I thought it was hard work when they were toddlers.