Y13 Summer term: Finishing Lessons, Starting Exams and leaving Sixth Form

[catslife]

So our dcs are now on the last term of sixth form, finishing off lessons and starting their exams.
How did that happen - doesn't seem that long ago since they started Y12.
This is the thread where we support each other as our dcs revise and start their exams, finish off coursework, leave sixth form and make plans for what to do with the rest of their lives. This may involve going to uni or other alternatives.
Every Y13 parent is welcome to join in whether new to these threads or if you have been with us for a while - the more the merrier.

Glad everything's okay Boop

Lonicera Please tell your dd not to worry too much about her geography- I'm aa A level geography teacher and we are really struggling to come up with grade boundaries for the new A level. As long as she knows where she needs to improve I'm sure she'll be ok.
We are plodding on towards the end here too. College finishes at the end of May. DD's English coursework has come back with a really high mark so she's reassured that her hard work paid off. She's also acquired a boyfriend in the last couple of months which is actually a positive thing as it focuses her mind to study and get revision completed so she can meet up with him a couple of evenings a week. Not quite sure where I got this sensible daughter from!

She's also constantly thanking her Year 12 herself for doing her revision notes as she went through the course as it's really paying off now.

Just firmed!!!! I was sitting with the laptop saying "are you sure?" as it's an unconditional if firm, and DS just leaned across me, hit the button and said "for God's sake, just hit the button!" Scary, though, as it's still showing a conditional offer at the moment

doistay ds has firmed his unconditional and put an insurance in just in case (mad but it made him feel secure, won't be unconditional for two weeks apparently, and he likes to be belt and braces)

Thank goodness BOOP!

So pleased all ok BOOP.

My DS1 at uni uses a teapot Lonicera, he reckons it makes a big difference, he gets it from DH.

DD turned 18 yesterday, her best present was vegan Bailey's apparently. The history teacher told her off for not handing in her coursework, she had, on time. Its been found now.

No button pressed yet. The uni she wants to put second would be a higher offer than her firm, which seems a bit ridiculous.

raspberry I think it is worth doing, just in case the second one magically wants less than the first when the crunch day comes, it has been known for unis to drop grades and you never know how many grades lower they will want, individual unis have different policies. It can also be a way of making the higher offer seem "better" and then the candidate might firm the "more difficult" uni as "better" (which is obviously what they want, to net the good candidates like your daughter)

Anyway, ds has done the same, he has put Hull which is higher, as his insurance Just because they want more, doesn't mean he wants them more...ifysim.. I've read of people much preferring their insurance by the summer and hoping they won't meet the grades of their firm which is just crazy when you think of it..

Oh phew! So glad everything is ok Boop!
What a relief.
Congratulations on the button pushing Doistay.
Happy Birthday for yesterday to Raspberry's DD, hope she's had a lovely time celebrating.
Fingers crossed for some button pushing action tonight for you all Nettle!

My job today was to call student finance with a few last minute queries. All done and they confirmed that her application is now officially "in" so that's another thing ticked off the list.

Kitten I like the jam suggestion, and it is something I can do and have actually successfully produced a few times! Unfortunately though, DD is not a jam lover.

for a duffer like ds, it might be easier carrying a teapot than 3 mugs full of tea on a tray (oh yes, I've put aside a tray too in honour of Eddie Izzard You'll Need A Tray Darth Vader in the Canteen)

Its very beautiful outside this evening, I feel positively hopeful. Ds has now said he wants ds2 to have his room and he'll have the boxroom next year.

Nettleskeins I'm very impressed. We don't even own one butter dish (or a platter or a fish slice).

DS1 is completely wiped out this week, hopefully just a virus rather than him becoming ill again.

one's from the charity shop (glass 50's retro) one's dh's and lost its lid 20 years ago, and my favourite is from a Jamie Oliver "tupperware" party hosted by someone at Primary, the stylish minimalist kind where you buy everything fuelled by alcohol and order it from a list and your friend gets a commission.

Nettles How did you find out that it will be two weeks before it shows as unconditional? Is that standard across the board or specific to a particular uni?

I think that it is something to do with the "cooling off" period when you press the button; because as you can change your choices, there isn't any reason for the uni to register an unconditional till then. I've said to ds he can still change his mind over the fortnight, if he suddenly decides he wants to firm Cardiff and have Ox Brookes as insurance.

Tbh just knowing he can change has made him feel calmer about his choice and he will almost definitely stick with it.

Happy to be corrected if I'm wrong, I'm trying not to interfere too much now with ds. Last night he looked at the accommodation choices, almost immediately picked one which was miles away from the main campus - I had to point out to him that it was miles away and the good reviews were from students at the second campus..Now we are engaged in a discussion about ensuite/v non ensuite - I said he would need to have loo cleaning sessions if he wanted ensuite. Similarily he wants incredibly expensive accommodation he will need to learn to cook as his budget won't stretch to buying £5 lunch every day. It is all a learning curve and he will gain from every [parental viewpoint]mistake/choice I hope.

Last night ds's teacher also explained to me about Conservatoires (finally) That they weren't easier and in fact they were more competitive in their field just not competitive based on the A level grades if that made sense. I had it in my mind that if the A levels don't work out, he could apply next year to a Conservatoire or at least have it as an option if he reapplies to unis (making 12 choices overall) But teacher said that sightreading is so important with conservatoires that this would weigh against him. I had this info in a very garbled form from ds last year so I am relieved to have someone finally explain it, ds used to just shout and scream if I tried to ask him about it.

BOOP bit late but glad it turned out ok.
raspberry belated happy birthday to your dd.
DD has finally pressed the button and like raspberry and nettles her insurance is higher than her firm. It made sense to have another possible option which we have already done some ground work on. Due to her mobility problems and ASD, Clearing would never work for her.
I think it has spurred her on to take revision really seriously though.

I had a meeting with Ds and his disability officer yesterday. It seems that suspending studies is the best (and in some ways the only possible) option. He is getting plenty of support from her and from his department and the university's money advice service so I am actually less despondent than I was.

Nettles the advantage of conservatoire admissions is that they are so much earlier than the uni process, the forms go in at the start of October, auditions in November, offer (or reserve list) by Christmas. There are some stats on the UCAS site that shows exactly how competitive they are for each instrument, it shows applications/places nationally by instrument and then for each establishment shows applications/places (overall, not by instrument)

It's spendy though, you have to pay for each audition. There are such a thing as advice auditions (this term I think) where you can go before applying next year and they will tell you whether you are at the right standard. It's the audition they are interested in, the standard offer is EE.

Boop I'm pleased for you and your DD.

My DD has had an interesting week. Major fall out with best two friends, who live in another town, but were spotted by us in our town with her ex-boyfriend - she feels betrayed as they hadn't even said they were in town. One tried to make it up but it ended up in shouting in our house at 11 pm.
But on the good side she saw her new therapist and seems to have clicked (thanks to DHs private health insurance). Also she was out last night seeing friends from the Uni - and she is now considering possible things she might want to study. Two very different subjects but both interesting, one is actually my old area but I haven't pointed this out. And tonight she is seeing another friend.
And stress levels haven't ramped up yet.

Aww thank you all you lovely lot!

We are both shattered today. She's gone off to school to rearrange her EPQ viva

Good luck with the EPQ viva Bit - nearly finished! We gave DS all the usual presentation skills tips - speak up, speak slowly, speak to the back of the room, be prepared to answer questions (so do revise the EPQ research etc). All these aspects get marks - not just the content. Make sure the slides aren't too busy. Hope it goes well.

Feeling grateful that DD didn't do an EPQ. She is so shy and anxious she would fluff the viva straight away.

Bit late but glad your dd is okay Bit

Dd is still very undecided on what to firm and insure
Her heart says goldsmiths for firm but English is most likely to pull her down.

It’s a very tricky situation with only 6 days left

I would go for Goldsmiths. If you look on the Whatuni site compare courses you will see that some people get in with marks lower than your offer, and they might very very easily drop some grades.

Imagine how frustrating it would be if you see your dd's course in Clearing at the grades she gets, even if the offer was higher. I think with a lot of courses there is this strangely ridiculous situation with high predictions leading to high offers, then when the grades are lower the offers are adjusted (because otherwise no-one would get in, and the unis wouldn't have any successful applicants) and people get in with at least one or two grades lower if they are firm applicants. And then if Goldsmith's doesn't take her there is the chance to go into clearing either at Goldsmiths or anywhere in London she has already investigated.

Ds was really in an anomalous position that his grades are now predicted considerably lower than his UCAS predicted, so he cannot risk putting a high offer as his firm although it is in line with original prediction. The irony is that his school aren't meant to let you into Year 13 with his existing grades; I have no idea why they made such a fuss about him continuing with Business if he is now predicted to to the same duff grades in the other two subjects which he was allowed to continue...

I don't know, it all seems unimportant now, he is going to do a wonderful course (unconditionally) at great uni and we are all very happy. Cannot wait!!!

He went out to the cinema last night with a friend - so happy he is having some social life at last...slight mistiming but still...

Bedroom is tidied - and I'm hunting for a missing textbook (or its repurchase on Amazon and pay to get it quickly).

“DS had to have his Geography independent study completed and handed in just after the Christmas break. He did have a chance to review it and any changes had to be made by February half term”

@starfleet has he had teachers review it and make suggestions to improve it? At DD’s school the teachers told them that the new syllabus and guidelines meant that the NEA couldn’t be reviewed and improved on. The students had one shot only at it. DD is worried that other schools won’t do this and the students will keep getting chances to improve theirs (against the new guidelines).

The history A level students have been allowed to review their coursework over and over again, perfecting their grades. This doesn’t seem fair.

@Lucycat can you confirm whether this is the case for the new AQA A level geography?