Progression Y12-Y13 - is it like GCSE?

[beanyhat]

Hi,

If someone achieved a B in the first set of exams in Year 12, is it like GCSE's and you would expect them to be at A or A* by the end of year 13? Or is it not like that?

Parents evening isn't for another couple of months and I just want to make sure their Uni aspirations are reasonable, or whether I might need to temper their hopes...

It kind of depends what was examined... if the assessment was based on heir yr 12 learning then a B might mean a B in yr 13 too, while if it was an A level type exam then a B at halfway is pretty good.

Asked DD (at uni now) and she thought an A was possible with B in yr 12 but probs not A*.

Your DC has 16mo to really put in the work op and I am sure can improve. What subject?

Not a teacher. Not had a child do A levels either. Feel free to ignore.

I could imagine it might differ a lot on the subject.
Essay based subjects, presumably your 'essay technique' develops throughout the 2 years, so you might expect to improve quality of answers.
Whereas maybe science based subjects that test topic by topic understanding you could expect less upward trend?

Agree. My daughter did English, History, Maths. IIRC her maths grades fluctuated around an A throughout. English and History there was an expectation of writing and analytical skills improving steadily so a trajectory from B -> A -> A*.

I’m wondering about this too. DS just got a B for physics but they sat 3 hour long papers which were actual A’level standard questions. Considering he’s only done half way through year 12 I thought this was ok although he could definitely have done more revising.
Another thing is that his school rank the students and then allocate the grades based on previous cohorts. It’s a selective school with lots of clever kids so this must impact too.