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Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Original poster

Half way through Year 13 and the last school year.

999 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 14/02/2018 20:14

eep.

OP posts:
Nettleskeins · 02/03/2018 11:06

And it is Applicants Day tomorrow at OB. Really want to go, but there is presumably loads of snow in that area (Chilterns) and it is quite an easy journey (I hour by bus) but I am just not sure whether they will run the open day...and they haven't got any update on their website, AND no-one is answering the phone possibly because of strike? It means him cancelling a school exam tomorrow if he goes, so if there was a good reason to go to the school mock then so be it, but no information...well.

catslife · 02/03/2018 15:51

dd had her mock exam on Weds. It went OK but she found a 3 hour exam very long!
First (official) snow day today and dd has gone off sledging. All schools, colleges and universities locally are closed.
Yesterday college was open for morning only but when dd turned up for class she was the only student there!
I have posted on your other thread fantasy.
Congrats on the offer drummer.

HesMyLobster · 02/03/2018 16:24

Nettle DD should have been going to an offer holders' day at Oxford tomorrow but it was cancelled yesterday. Looks like a lot of snow in the area, I'd be surprised if it still went ahead.

Nettleskeins · 02/03/2018 18:08

OB said their applicant day was going ahead. I've decided we cannot get there though, so that is that! The way back might be the problem. Also dh is stuck in Germany (as his plane cancelled for two days) and I don't want to leave two 15/16 year olds behind when I'm not sure when or if I'll ever get back from Oxford area. All the trains seem to be cancelled or there are delays, and I do not want to be stranded on a motorway in the Oxford Tube coming home (bus)

a relief all round, dh can do his Mocks after all Wink They have campups tours every sat so we'll survive not going.

FantasyAndHope · 02/03/2018 19:21

Lots of applicant days are been cancelled due to weather
Dd had one tomorrow, cancelled
Thanks cats

Dd has added some revision books to her cart and it comes to £53 😱 she’s going to do some looking at reviews first

marmiteloversunite · 02/03/2018 20:50

Fantasy we found a tutor on the website First Tutors. I looked at their references and credentials. The one I picked worked in a high achieving local school and also marks exam papers for the board my DD is doing. It has been great so far. One to one help with anything DD doesn't understand and help with revision. It has really boosted her confidence as her history teacher was getting her down.

FantasyAndHope · 02/03/2018 21:05

marmite
It’s more the structure of her essays teacher doesn’t really mark her essays properly

marmiteloversunite · 02/03/2018 21:08

We had exactly the same. Apparently DD's coursework was all wrong but they couldn't exactly tell her why it was wrong!Confused. So the tutor worked on her structuring with her. I begrudge the extra expense but if it helps with future essays in English or next year it is not do bad. Don't know why history teachers are so elusive and can't just tell them what they are looking for. The kids are mind readers!!

marmiteloversunite · 02/03/2018 21:09

The kids aren't mind readers!

chocolateworshipper · 02/03/2018 22:21

Fantasy have you looked at whether the revision books she wants are available second hand? I did this for DD with GCSE and saved quite a bit.

marmiteloversunite · 02/03/2018 23:26

A lot of the Alevels have new courses so I am not sure if there are second hand books available yet?

FantasyAndHope · 03/03/2018 10:52

chocolate
This is the first year of the new R.S spec and they’ve only just launched there are some used books on amazon but they appear to be selling for more than the actual price Hmm

marmite
It’s horrid, dd just wants help and no-one seems to be giving her it

chocolateworshipper · 03/03/2018 11:22

Ah ok - that's a shame then Sad

marmiteloversunite · 03/03/2018 11:49

I'm feeling your pain Fantasy!! The English Lit teachers seem to be able to give a lot more feedback. I am annoyed that I have to pay a tutor but if I don't I was worried she would get a bad mark from lack of technique rather than lack of effort and knowledge!

FantasyAndHope · 03/03/2018 12:24

marmite
One teacher has really helped dd realise what her issue is, and it’s loopholes, every time you make a point think can I extend the marker shouldn’t be left thinking but why is that critical? But why did that author do that?
One English lit teacher is a bit naff
One is a good marker but for advise hard, because he’ll say do x student does X and he’s never happy

Dd just wants help in improvement. She’s made a group on Facebook for R.S after finding one for teachers admin told her she couldn’t join but there’s ways and means of accessing these groups she said Hmm
And she knows what she needs to do to improve in R.S although staggeringly her teacher does booklets and they seem to be missing a lot of information

marmiteloversunite · 03/03/2018 15:36

The frustrating thing about these essay subjects Fantasy is that you only need to miss a few points and you can drop a couple of grades so technique is vital. My DD is doing History, English and Music so there are a lot of essays that she could stumble in and miss vital marks. The tutor is aiming to help her concentrate on the material rather than rambling off at a tangent. At the end of the day it seems to be down to good teaching and teachers who are accessible to the student.

Ariela · 03/03/2018 16:38

Oh my! I clicked on this thread by accident (fat fingers on small scren) and realised DD saved me masses of grief!

Just wanted to say there's more than 1 way to skin a cat and that you shouldn't despair if nothing goes how you envisage, and you are thinking your teen will just not get out of bed/will never get any further qualifications/never get a job, sometimes they surprise you.

Adamant she wasn't going to Uni, and was just going to get a job/perhaps an apprenticeship but would worry about that after her exams, she dutifully worked a revision plan (having carefully sorted her A levels so she steamed on with the portfolio and took the Photography exam in May leaving more time to focus on revision for the other 2 in June).

I had visions of DD still at home, costing a bomb and no job as typical teenage post exam, she didn't want to get out of bed and she didn't start looking for a job till the end of July! Still did not know what she wanted to do either.

Luckily (or maybe not? it sort of fell into her lap through people she knows from the horse) she got a job straight away, loved it and has been very reliable, getting herself up and out of bed long before us to do her horse then go to work, and do her horse again in the evening (saving me time and fuel too, and best of all no nagging). She's got on well with the job, and didn't manage to get to school to pick up her results for a week as they were short staffed so she was covering and couldn't leave her post to get them. Of course she vastly over performed on the 'B possibly A and 2 Cs' predicted (do schools just do this to scare them into working harder, as we had the same a GCSE?), getting AAB.
So on practically the last day of Clearance she decided to apply locally to a RG Uni for a course which really is an extension of her job.
She lives at home, still does her job part time - which is more or less full time some weeks - and pays for her keep, her horse and her car, and at the end of Uni I won't be broke & she'll have a lot more opportunities. I have to say I have rather underestimated her, because this time last year I was really worrying about what she will do if her A levels were too poor for Uni or an apprenticeship place, and she had no clear idea of what she wanted to do.
Good luck to you all!

chocolateworshipper · 03/03/2018 16:49

Awwww thanks Ariela for sharing your inspiring story Smile

starfleet · 03/03/2018 16:59

We have just got back from the offer holders day at Liverpool. After deciding that Newcastle was it for him DS has done an about turn and is seriously re-thinking - it looks like Liverpool may now be his first choice. He did not like it at all when we first visited in the summer.

LoniceraJaponica · 03/03/2018 17:05

DD is still waiting for Nottingham to email her with her invitation to offer holders day. No school for the last three days due to snow, so I can see her having to stay behind a lot next week for catch up.

We can't move forward with anything yet as DD is holding out for an offer from Leicester medical school (unlikely), and isn't overly keen on the Nottingham offer. Unless she pulls her finger out it looks like we will be going through clearing in August in any case.

HesMyLobster · 03/03/2018 18:11

DD has hit The Button today and officially confirmed her choices.
Oxford firm, Newcastle insurance.
Eep!
Now to start looking at finance.

She was holding out until after Parents evening (to finalise predicted grades) and the Oxford offer holder day (just to re affirm how much she loves it) but both were cancelled due to the snow, so she decided to just take the plunge!

FantasyAndHope · 03/03/2018 18:16

marmite
It is, it’s the structure that’s hindering dd, she got her essay looked at by a uni student who said her style is perfect for uni which is narrative and for alevel they don’t want that
Rather worrying

Lovely inspiring story Ariela

Nettleskeins · 03/03/2018 18:59

Fantasy that is so interesting. I know that with ds's coursework he has been told that he is using an exam technique which doesn't suit extended writing, exploration of evidence, and in his exam questions he has been using a technique which is narrative without evidence or structure!! I didn't realise the goals were so different at uni level.

Lobster I want to be that parent, whose child has hit the firm button!

The latest is that ds's teacher is casting doubts on his ability to meet his predicted grades or his ability to cope with a difficult "intellectual" course rather than more vocationally orientated course. Not helped by ds refusing to consult said teacher before he applied to these courses.. Which means that holding out for the higher offer might be a big mistake, and we might be better to firm a different course, that ds has an unconditional for, as it would actually suit ds better. But he told me in no uncertain terms today that he didn't want to "ask" advice he wanted to make his own decisions and work out which uni he wanted for himself, and go to Cardiff before making up his mind. which to me feels like a waste of time, with his teacher's words ringing in my ear..

We've set up a meeting but unfortunately I have to be away next week abroad. so it will have to wait till after he has been to Cardiff for interview/audition. maybe he'll go and love Cardiff so much that he will divert to the Royal Welsh College, which means reapplying next year.

He is in a very good mood today as the Mock was cancelled at short notice (no early start), and full of beans for seeing the english tutor and getting out on a long walk

Nettleskeins · 03/03/2018 19:04

I am finding out such a lot about these music courses though from the offer holder's days, beginning to realise how many uni courses are engineering/physics/maths focused. Liverpool springs to mind and Surrey. which would not suit ds AT ALL.

I watched a fascinating programme on BBC 4 called Tones Drones and Arpeggios, all about the leadup to things like Velvet Underground and Tubular bells, I really know NOTHING about music composition. There was I thinking serialism was modern music, when apparently it is very passe.

alittlechampagne · 04/03/2018 01:25

Hello. Can I join the party? Strange times in Year 13 and you all seem so supportive.