GCSE '18s (20) - half term beckons!

[mmmz]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/3355907-gcse-18s-19-new-beginnings

So easy to get to on the train to University Station

Yes, DS was impressed by how convenient the station is. The lab tour was the best one he has been on so far and the lecturers seemed friendly and approachable.

Birmingham University seems quite big, and I worry that he would feel a bit lost. I mentioned this to him, and he just said that it would be fine because he could use a map. I didn't have the heart to explain that I was worried about potential social isolation in such a large university, rather than his sense of direction.

Fortunately he is a joiner of things and there seem to be plenty of societies there that appeal to him.

I didn’t study there, but external people were allowed to join the university choir back when I was a student at another West Midlands uni.

Glad she's on the mend, AH.

Whistl as far as maths hierarchy goes, we didn't include northern unis but DS1 says Cambridge over Oxford, then Warwick, UCL then Bath. Then Bristol, then Exeter, Southampton pretty similar then Nottingham and Birmingham. After that Cardiff then maybe Loughborough, Leicester, Reading. We didn't really look at London either.

I'm sure Durham, Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle are up there but they were too far away for us to consider.

DS1 was high ability and did STEP but wasn't quite Cambridge standard. 3 x A* not good enough alone for Cambridge! Your DS's school does send a few to Cambridge, though and supports STEP so your DS should get advice from school on which unis to look at.

My DS3 doesn't have DS1's drive, however, so we'll be looking at a different selection of unis for him in all probability. He's going to find out if the school supports STEP as even if you don't pass, the study alone helps with all your other maths.

STEP 1 is aimed at maths A level students, STEP 2 the same but harder and STEP 3 is hard FM. Some unis include STEP in their offers, e.g., if you get any STEP at grade 1 you can drop a grade in FM etc at Warwick or any STEP grade 2 can drop a grade in FM at Southampton I think. Mind you, DS1 found getting an A* in FM easier than a grade 1 at STEP. But doing STEP made his maths better.

Thefirst, advantage of birmingham is all accom is on campus and all in one or two areas not dotted about so makes life simple. And is in distinct blocks each with there own character. Has proved very easy socially for DD2. We didn’t consider it for some reason until last year but have been so impressed on a number of fronts. Seems to be modernising and at the forefront of a lot of initiatives unlike some some currently higher up in the league tables that seem more unchanged and stuck in their ways.

Campus is beautiful too

Alex I hope you DD makes some progress.

Just catching up on today's messages.
Cherry will take a look at the debate chambers masterclasses. DD did the medic summer school a few years ago. Was really good if a little pricey.

Bpisok funny you mention the thameslink to Cambridge. I too noticed that. I take the thameslink to commute to work regularly and today noticed that there was a route to Cambridge. Which is great for us too. Means we can hopefully pick the route up
Not far from home rather than traipsing all the way into London. Need to look at the stops though.

Marycontrary DDs advice is to make sure you understand the topic when it is taught. Once you can understand the concept it becomes easier to apply - this particularly for the sciences: it was the practise papers in the end that really helped. Just do as many as you can nearer the exams, mark and review. For languages it was all about the vocab. For maths it too was about practise papers. I am another who bought the CGP books but DD didn't use them. Oh and our predicted grades were very accurate. Although we didn't take it too seriously as last year it was such a finger in the air. Nobody knew how it was going to be.

EllenJane I think DS will get good advice from the school. My question was just for me - he doesn't always pass key bits of info along.

After years of not knowing DS's level, I think we've found it (and its highly unlikely to be Oxbridge).

You never know, whistl. I constantly underestimated DS1, but have tended to overestimate DS3!

Marycontrary I would recommend the Collins's revision books for individual English Literature texts - the way they are laid out and the info map well to the style of questions exam papers. Have key, short quotations on flash cards.
I wish I'd got Tassomei for DS but didn't realise how much he was struggling to remember chemistry until too late! It would really have helped him. His predictions were mostly right but I think sciences ended up a grade lower than the predictions - on the other hand English and computing were a grade higher! Oh, and DS says take end of Y10 and mock exams seriously!
One other thing I noticed - at DS's school the geography and computer science departments were really hot on picking up on what they didn't get right in tests and making them redo them. It's a bit draconian but it really worked. So rather than put a test paper in the bin, if you can get them to have another go at it, I think it helps.

Oratory I would never have linked the city & your pic.

Hi all! Workload for dgd over holiday ridiculous! She is working hard and I have asked her if she is struggling with anything. She says she's just trying to keep up but I notice she is organising herself quite nicely and notes etc all filed in order. She got to help a couple of year 10s with maths the other day and got complimented at the end by teacher who said shed make a fine teacher! So to add to confusion as to what to do she is considering that option too.
Hope all goes well for dd alexander

Sostenueto your dgd should come and teach my DS! To be fair he has been working - last night he was adding to some stuff he'd done in an English class, but I fear this may have been a deliberate stalling tactic from writing his Shakespeare essay!
I stayed on the Birmingham campus for a conference a few years back and it really is lovely.
Alexander good luck to dd with her recovery.

whistl what makes you think Oxbridge is unlikely for your DS? It’s still very early days.

Sost sounds like your DGD is coping well. DS hasn’t been set much homework as such but his class was given an extension on a History essay due to be handed in the day before half-term (which he’d done) so he’s decided to re-write it to try and improve it . He’s also going over all the maths they’ve done so far in preparation for the assessment when they go back. Also playing lots of FIFA, going out a lot and getting up late...so I know he hasn’t actually been taken over by an alien being...

Sticker it seems to be best of both worlds - a lovely uni campus but still close to the city (for clubbing etc) and surrounded by ‘normal’ houses/shops etc not in the middle on nowhere. Dept buildings and union etc are one end of the lake and most accommodation at the other side with 10 to 20 minute walk from one to the other

I remember Birmingham from when I used to travel for work in the 80 s and 90s and the centre was really dreadful but so different now - but to be fair you could say that about a lot if cities

DS has had 5 days in Berlin/Krakow history trip, English essay, Philosophy essay and 2 Politics ‘9 markers’. Busy busy busy.

DS goes to a school where approx 1/4 go to Oxbridge. Even if the quarter are drawn from the top half, DS would be lucky to scrape into the top half.

Also, he got a 6 for one of his GCSEs and don't Oxbridge look for straight 8s and 9s as a basic first screen on candidates?

Then there is the fact that DS is just not ambitious. He is easy going and tends to wait his turn for things ( ie wait to be offered rather than go out and get). He doesn't set himself goals and strive to reach them, but rather drifts along doing what other people (teachers, parents) tell him to do.

As a way of being, it has meant that he has done well academically until now because he's done what the teachers requested, but adult life isn't a well-laid path that you just have to amble along. Sometimes there isn't a place for everyone who wants it, but DS just has no idea how to compete, and if someone else gets what would have been DS's in a fair world, DS just looks upset and moves on, but he never asks himself how it happened and what he could have done to prevent it.

Do I sound frustrated with him??!

whistl the odd 6 won't matter. For maths at Cambridge they want you to be really, really good at maths and don't care about extra curricular. Super curricular is more important and if the school he went to for GCSE wasn't stellar, that's also in his favour. All his UKMT stuff will help.

DS1 visited Cambridge on an open day and decided as a callow youth that 'all the old buildings were a bit old fashioned' and preferred the modern, buildings of other universities. Excellent criteria for choosing a uni!

Whistl I don't think one poor mark makes a difference, people often say the 'best eight' are considered or some schools say that you should have around 6 A*s but I don't think even that is a must have so a few lower grades isn't a restriction.

I would say, though, you are right in that you have to really want it - it is a real slog to go through the application process itself and that's before you get in !! You have to really love your subject too to commit to the intense level of study expected. DS is just not that interested. DD2 got an offer (but decided not to take it up) but she is quite driven and loved the intellectual challenge and competition of the application process. I think she applied almost because she wanted to experience the interviews (strange child !). DD1 and DS although equally bright in their own way are very different characters and it didn't interest them at all.

But absolutely nothing wrong with being laid back and non competitive - I'm sure he will find his way and his health will probably be all the better for it.

whistl I don’t think a 6 would rule him out of either Oxford or Cambridge for any subject, but definitely not for maths where all they’re really interested in is...maths!

That said, Oxbridge isn’t for everyone or the be all and end all. I highly doubt that DS will even apply. He doesn’t fancy it at the moment and having DD at Oxford I can see that it possibly wouldn’t be right for him.

But as I said, it’s very early days and your DS’s position in the year now (and his approach) may very well alter over time. I can see why some on the thread are going to open days already, but it’s worth bearing in mind that we’re only a few weeks in to a 2-year course. Lots of time yet for things (and the DC) to change.

I am finding all the Oxbridge talk quite fascinating.....
DDs school year has less than 30 students in Yr12. The top 3 potential candidates have been put into a Oxbridge prep class and DD is one of them despite half her GCSEs being Astar and half A (combination of igcse and GCSEs).
School has a pretty good record of success - historically everyone identified has been offered a place but DD is bound to destroy that stat 😁
They give these girls positions of responsibility (Head Girl/Head of House/Head of History Society/Young Medic Society etc). They claim that in addition to the UCAS reference schools have the opportunity to write recommendations direct to the college applied to reinforcing that the student is Oxbridge material (whatever that may be). A large proportion of their 6th form teachers seem to be alumni so I assumed they knew what they were talking about.

They also say to apply to one (think it's Oxford?) if you haven't got straight A star GCSES (but have got Good grades in academic subjects), are very good at one subject but not an all-rounder because the HAT/ELAT etc make up a large part of the section criteria. If you ace the test, and have a great reference then you are likely to get an interview. I think they said something like a 30% GCSE weighting vs 70% Aptitude combined with references for the first cut. Second cut was submitted essays then third was the personal statement. Finally the interview???

..does this sound right?
Mind you DD doesn't seem fussed about Oxbridge other than the possibility of fully catered accommodation for 3 years and the tutorial style of teaching.

There are differences in the selection criteria (for eg Cambridge interview a much higher percentage so ‘easier’ to get a Cambridge interview but if you get an oxford interview you’ve got a good chance if a place) but the biggest and most important difference is in course content and style so dc should really pick on that basis.

A lot of Oxbridge talk at the moment but we have to remember a tiny percentage of a level students are aiming that way, and not all for uni at all

On another note ds agreed to work in the second week of half term - do you think I can claim that starts on Saturday (or Friday) 😂😂

Don't worry, I'm happy to talk Oxbridge despite no chance of it for DS3! Hopefully others won't be put off.

There was an Oxbridge hopefuls thread for DS2's peers a couple of years ago, which might be the way to go for Oxbridge related talk, but most of the posters stayed on the 'normal' thread for everything else, I believe.