Year 12 #3: Open Days and Predicted Grades beckon

[whistl]

Yikes! The title has just hit me! It's too soon! I'm not ready!!

Thread number 2 link: https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/3443840-Year-12-2-Carols-commutes-a-few-stocking-fillers

abitofastate is your DS doing French, Maths and Physics A levels?

Yes whistl and further maths.

That's a lot! Is 4 a normal number at your DS's school?

So much to catch up on!

Whistl those grades are exceptionally high for this stage in the course & what a confidence boost.

Kilash congratulations to the new head boy!

abitofastate congrats to him on getting through to the next stage of the Olympiad.

DS2 has made complete but succinct notes on everything they've done so far and several topics they haven't even done yet. It's a shame nobody else can read them. 🤣

TheFirstOHN I hope i'm not misleading anyone here: DS's grades are being achieved in exams where he's only being examined on topics that he's been taught, not the whole curriculum.
He got 100% on some of the maths papers. The lowest maths result was 88% (I feel a bit guilty because I asked him what went wrong?!)

Its the 100%s that have encouraged us to look at Oxford/ Cambridge. He just finds it easy.

Kilash how lovely! Tell him his MN aunties are proud. On second thoughts, maybe not!

Well done on the Olympiad, abitofastate. I’ve just realised when typing your name, I’ve been misreading it ‘as a bit of a taste,’ oops. On taking notes, tell him there are quite possibly no text books at university. If he doesn’t start learning to take notes he might find it a bit of a leap.

With maths and science a levels, they don’t really get a lot better along the way in the same way as in arts and essay writing subjects. The marks they are getting on end of topic tests in science are likely close to what they’re heading for. Any major improvement will be down to their attitude and how much revision they put in, or so say the science teachers at my school. Maths is all about practice, too.

I thought 4 was fairly standard if you were taking FM. DD's SFC expects you to take 3 distinct subjects then top up with FM or an EPQ if you want to do more, as they try to avoid your limiting options at the next stage in case you suddenly decide you loath maths part way through.

Yes if you do FM at DS's school it is always as a 4th and not a 3rd and they have a very high proportion of students who take either a level Maths or Pre-U Maths plus FM.

I guess I just become so used to what DS does that I come to think of it as normal (i.e. 3 A levels which can include FM).

It was the same last year: so many posters had DC who were doing 11 or 12 GCSEs, whereas DS was doing just 10, which i'd thought was standard until i came onto the threads. TBH, I've recently been wondering why he did more than 8 since that seems to be maximum that are counted. Only doing 8 would have made life a lot less stressful last year. (RE would have been at the head of the queue to be kicked into the long grass!)

I suppose your DS chose his school because of its focus, so what's normal for you is unusual for the rest of us, where FM is nice but not essential. Over 600 take maths at DD's SFC, but less than 20% of that group take FM alongside it. Putting those figures in context, around 450 take biology, over 300 take psychology and around 450-500 take the EPQ.

Whistl I see what you're saying, but those grades in term 2 of the course still show mature exam technique as well a very strong grasp of the material.

At DS2's school, they're only allowed to take F.Maths A-level as a fourth A-level (it can't be taken as one of three).

Unfortunately, one of the criteria they seem to be looking at is your average GCSE grade, rather than just the top 8. DD's SFC only encourage you to apply for Oxbridge of you have an average over 7.5. Someone I know achieved 10 grade 9s, but got a D for his FM paper, so his average dropped from a straight 9 to 8.45.

I'm surprised colleges are describing exams at this stage as mocks though, unless they are still taking AS levels. DD has only done one or two modules in each subject so far, so progress tests seem a far kinder name than mocks to minimise stress levels.

Dgd has just got her progress report. A maths, A psychology and A for Biology. Aspirational grades are all A.Very soon to start epq if she gets accepted as places limited. Already starting to work on personal statement. If she keeps that up between now and including mocks in June she will be able to apply for Cambridge. Great to hear your ds is doing fabulous whistl*

Dgds school does not do AS levels any more.

I.feel a bit happier now about dgd giving g up geography at Xmas even though that was an A* too but as biology is particularly hard because of content and being such a synoptic subject dgd thought doing 4 was just too much as she changed route and needed biology.

Stickerrocks
I agree with you that there's no need for formal mocks in a year when there are no longer public exams in the summer. However, DS2's school (who usually judge these things better) have decided to run a week of formal A-level style mock exams. DS2 is on "study leave" this week and only has to attend school when he has an exam. Luckily he isn't one to get stressed easily, but I know others do.

Same here stickerocks progress report results based on large assessments not mocks. The real mocks are in June. This week dgd has got 2 biology assessments and one psychology and one maths. Next week another psychology and another maths. The marks from those plus mocks contribute to their predicted grades for UCAS.

Well done to DC who are making us all proud! Aren't our children the best!

DS2 also doing 4 A levels - Bio, Chem, Math and Music. The combi is not usual in his school (usually FM and Maths plus 2 others) but they were quite happy to let him proceed. The Double Maths lot sit normal Maths in Year 12 and then FM in Year 13.

Whatever they name them, don't all sixth forms need to run a set of fairly serious exams towards the end of year 12 so that they can make A level predictions for university applications? Otherwise how else can teachers do this?

Think so. DS1's 'End of Year' exams are over 2 weeks in May (before half term). Predicted grades largely based on these results plus general attitude over the year, I think.

We are booked to go to Prague on holiday for May half term week - will not have a summer holiday as he will be sitting UCAT and BMAT.

UCAT? BMAT?

Whistl - UCAT and BMAT are the pre-tests for medicine applications.

Aah!