Thread 32 - Corona Cohort 'May' the Mumsnet force be with them for their venture to exams

[OrangeCinnamonCroissant]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue.

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

Previous Thread 31

CONGRATULATIONS ZEBRACAT !

@singingstones sorry to hear about the loss of a family friend.

Hmmm...not good if the advanced info isn't correct...That's going to cause a lot of panic if that's the case.

@EwwSprouts I’m more worried about titter ye not!
@singingstones sorry for your loss- often those that are not biologically related play a much more important role in our lives and as such are missed more dearly 💐
Given the feedback so far on the exams taken to date and the ‘steers’ given by the various exam boards ( 😳), is anyone else thinking that our A level Corona Cohort need to be ‘paddling’, at a minimum, around the 2019 grade boundaries?

@ProggyMat Funny how those phrases stick. I bet we haven't seen either in 30 years.

Sorry to hear that singing.
Congratulations Horace.
Even ds commented tonight that he'd heard the advanced info wasn't correct. Worrying!

There was quite a lot of griping from some quarters yesterday about biology - the combined paper had a question about skin cancer that seems to have baffled a lot of people, and the single paper had a question about plant-based burgers.
I wonder if it’s more a case of “minor” topics featuring more heavily than expected?

DS said the English Lang paper today was fine, but the extract was odd - something about a scorpion?

I've asked something on the further Ed board but realised some of you might be able to answer it, so if you can please head over to my post!
DS is showing a lot of interest in a maths school for his a levels. It's linked to Liverpool uni. Has anyone got any experience with maths schools? Thanks

Ha, yeah the scorpion and the baby, @Alsoplayspiccolo - dd was very unimpressed was the English paper! The extract was ‘too obvious to do any deep analysis on’ ;-) and the photo was mind numbing my dull (tbf, it was!)

(It’s an extract from a Steinbeck novella- dd looked it up!)

So sorry about your family friend @Singing. He sounds a very good friend indeed.
Ds says his Gcse's haven't been hard so far. He's had 6 exams up until now. I can't get more than that out of him 😂
After one question he refuses to answer any more.

I think the DS's schools have marked the mocks according to the 2019 marking scheme. I'm refusing to panic in the absence of any knowledge regarding advisory topics.

Ds1 like many here has his first exam in Psychology next week. His motivation to revise seems to have disappeared at the moment. The maddening rashes & lack of sleep have really hit him. But he does look a little better & slept well last night

Woohoo Horace! One set done and dusted.

Thank you all for the , DC are quiet but ok, my main concern is for his family who all adored him and for my dad who has lost his best friend of 60 years 😢

Congrats to your DS Horace - good to hear that someone has emerged intact from the exam process.

Sorry to hear about Edinburgh Golden, what a ridiculous way they have chosen to go about things. Two excellent options though, I loved Sussex when we went there. I wonder if Doggerel and Fonty have heard from Edinburgh yet. 24 hrs to go until the deadline I think? Fingers crossed for everyone still waiting.

The ship that turns out to be a killer whale sounds great crazy! DD did one about a piano exam which she has done before to a slightly different stimulus so she was happy she managed to shoehorn that in.

No reports about the adjustments so far but it's different here, they have taken a small amount out completely and everything else is fair game but at least it's clear.

@EwwSprouts Dunno about that as the Carry On films are enjoyed in the ProggyMat household - I won’t admit when I first saw ‘em though 🤣
Gonna dig out Up Pompeii as DD hasn’t seen that but I also won’t admit to when I first watched it! 🤣

DS has just informed me that the last official day is Friday and they are doing "anything but the bag" ie no school bags, you have to bring your stuff in something else. So far he has asked "where is the wheelbarrow?" And "can I borrow the instant pot cooker?" Er no you can't. Trying to steer him towards a bucket / cereal box / cat basket instead.

@ProggyMat Interesting, maybe I should introduce DS to some of these oldies. He will sit with us for a film sometimes.

That sounds fun @singingstones !

@Alsoplayspiccolo ds commented that he didn’t read the extract as slowly as usual (he really struggles to focus on reading) as it was about a scorpion and really interesting! Funny how differently they’ve all responded! I’m not sure he really paid much attention to the advance info, he’s just worked through all his courses on Seneca, but I’m a bit worried for dd if it’s not right!

Sorry to hear of your loss, SingingStones, and the bad news from Edinburgh for Golden.

The stuff about the advance information is rather a worry. The MFL advance info was unhelpfully vague, so DD pretty much ignored it, but I know she has relied on it to focus her revision in History, as the syllabus for that is massive.

Anyone with an A level exam tomorrow?

What do the GCSE-ers have? DD has drama in the afternoon and then a break until Monday thankfully, she's knackered.

AS Maths here Singing tomorrow afternoon

DD was not happy after her History 1/3 paper today {Pre U) saying she’d learned her lesson, not to believe what content they may cover, including advance.

She ranted away, using the analogy of imagine it were BJ (mm, must I?), with all his trials and tribulations but only being able to reference an obscure, non event window of time, with poor sources that did not include one from a historian, which apparently it should. I listened, nodded and silently said 1 down, 9 to go…

GCSE History and Drama tomorrow.

Sorry to hear your sad news @singingstones

Rejection from Newcastle today, but it is really just an extension of the waiting list for people without offers. They emailed to say they had still made very few offers, and may be in position to make more on 10th June. We need to check whether he can accept the Sports Science offer (to secure accommodation) and stay on the waiting list. Next update in 3 weeks......

Another speaking exam for DD tomorrow, and then a week to gear up for History paper 1. Once she's got tomorrow out of the way I might suggest she just glance at some of the topics that are alleged to have been excluded from the History papers.

Sorry to hear your news @singingstones : sounds like you were very lucky to have such a special persons in your lives, family or not. And I’m feeling vicariously furious with those unis who have waited so long and then rejected @Monkey2001 @GoldenRuby - it does feel very cruel somehow although I know really it’s a signal that your schedule were super close to an offer in an exceptionally hard year.

Ah Monkey, sorry to hear that, but sounds like there is still possibility for this year yet. Hope you both sort out the alternative options ok, your DS sounds like a superstar the way he handles it all.

Is today the official deadline day for unis to offer or reject?