Thread 33 - Lovely Jubbly Jubilee Break, then back 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. Possibly a move to Parent of Adult Children Board in future?
previous thread

DS has Eng Lit and Bio 2 next week and then History and final Bio paper the week after to finish. He is working all day today and has his gf coming over tonight then back to the revision grindstone tomorrow. More quotes to learn for gothic paper!

DS has three this week and two in the final week.

@Madhairday Sorry to hear your DS thought physics was really bad. DS sat it too. He was expecting it to be the worst of all papers he sits but said it was okay. He thought the questions were pretty much in line with the AI and perhaps he was lucky they did cover the whole syllabus in school.

None for DS this week and just history om the 22nd after that, time is starting to hang a bit heavy for him now, he'd just like to get it out of the way.

5 GCSEs Mon-Thur for DD this week them just chem on the 20th and she's done.

Ds1 finishes this Thursday 16th. Sociology on Monday, psychology and business on Thursday. Then that's it. He's finished. None the final week.

DD finishes on 24th. Three this week (2 Thursday and 1 Friday) and then last one the next Friday.

DD has this week off and then 2 exams in the last week, finishing 22nd.
DS still has 7 exams to go, finishing on 23rd.

@MirandaWest Wow to the band...your DS sounds infinitely more together on that front than mine....maybe they're not twins split at birth after all😂
Would love to know the band name?
But yes to the gentle(?) hint of needing a job to pay for future adventures and the current delivery of constant snacks.

DS finishes on 21st, but 5 more before then.

DS finishes this coming week, on 16th.
He has Economics on Monday and then Psychology and English Lang on Thursday

DS2 has 4 GCSEs this week and then 3 the next, finishing on 23rd

That’s great that some are so close to finishing. Saw this article which says what we have all been saying, feels quite stark seeing it in black and white.

www.theguardian.com/education/2022/jun/11/first-post-covid-school-leavers-face-fight-for-fewer-university-places?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR2y-D4dA6S7VRVQvF6e6bbSifNdwYy0-EO0G1eO2PJqg3ppo-OUzz6QQ1E

DS still has 2 biology and 3 Chen, finishing on 23rd. High anxiety. DD (gcse) also has quite a few left and finishes on 23rd.
We will be dancing in the kitchen on the evening of the 23rd. Or at least I will - I expect they will be out celebrating!

My two finish 23rd (y11) and 24th (y13). Ds thinks he’s the last a level student to finish - he’s in the last of the scheduled exams for the school and is the only one in his class to have extra time!

I didn't realise my ds was finishing so early. We've just discussed it and not agree this is in no way advantageous, he wishes he had another week to revise and max add as by finishing till 24th.

I'm pissed off with how woke all the mums of year 8 mums are. Now also the exam timetable has been released they are all sitting down and making their dc do revision.

Hiya all, Sorry for the change of name - long story - too dull to get into right now!

Looking for some Mumsnet help!! DD has COVID was feeling rubbish on Thursday doing one of her exams and assumed her chronic tonsillitis was back as hectic exam week and was rundown as a result. When she got home tested and was positive!?!? Has avoided it until this point. We are all negative so clearly caught at school in an exam hall, as been in every day for exams until then but nowhere else.

DD feels crappy but has tried to revise as economics on monday and maths tuesday. Needs the Economics grade A to get in to top choice and does not feel she has a comfortable grade A at the moment from papers 1 and 2 as paper 1 felt a bit borderline ( in her opinion). Stress was bad last week but adding this is so difficult - she does not want us to get it as I am due to have an op next week.

Have read the stuff the school sent out and the JCQ guidance - it appears she has two options:

1. Attends the exam tomorrow as it will be day 5 post test and as she is 18 and under she can do this - but applies for special consideration - 2% due to the being unwell

2. Does not attend the exam and applies for special consideration so they take her 1 and 2 paper and then the typical grade awarded to a similar candidate for her 3rd paper

She has a cough and aches and lots of fatigue but no temperature.

Her concerns are ...she has no idea exactly how well she did in either paper - but the paper 1 was not her best performance she thinks low A borderline A/B and therefore it would be used to give her a score for her third paper which would not be representative. As she is going for a top grade and was predicted A* and has never got lower than a low A in any econ exam in 2 years this could take her to the land of B so she is keen to sit it but she is worried if she feels super unwell tomorrow then her performance may be even worse than paper 1.

Ideas? Has anyone had this happen .....2 years of this crap

Sorry, finger slipped and I accidentally posted without editing. I think you all get the gist.
I just feel fed up today.

Hi All! managed to find almost my old name ......my DD with the COVID ........nightmare ......I agree @Oblomov22 a shorter exam period is not always better at all

Crouching, maybe start own thread? Other MN'ers here may be better able to advise. I read similar the other day, but can't remember if it was mn or wiwikau. But unfortunately neither option does her much favours. 1) The 2% is minimal. 2) Not sitting may not be advantageous, probably detrimental to the grade she would then be given. Tricky. I know not what he best option is.

@Crouchingtigerhiddendragon we had a similar dilemma - nearly! DD tested positive but we disrupted that she was a few days in. Her next exams were three days later and she was adamant that they were her best papers for both subjects. She was adamant she would be doing them anyway. I said she wouldn't if she wasn't 100% because it wouldn't be a true reflection of her ability.
Luckily, she was fine and actually tested negative the night before.

@Fruitybasket as your DD is ‘batting for an A star’ she may be judging her performance to date on that and not the A she needs for her offer.
My DD is doing just that and I’m fed up of telling her ‘you only need the A’!
I’ve asked DD what she would do and she said that she’d sit the exam. That said, they’re all different!
Perhaps she should see how she feels tonight and in the morning before making the decision?
What a nightmare! 💐

Oh the Covid thing is a tough call and poor you and DD! People never assume young people will be unwell with Covid and some are..

This

Does not attend the exam and applies for special consideration so they take her 1 and 2 paper and then the typical grade awarded to a similar candidate for her 3rd paper

I didn't think was correct. I thought the 'similar candidate' thing was normal non -Covid GCSE rules and - under Covid- it is now just looking at the 2 papers they have managed.

My friend's school had a students so poorly they have missed tow papers. Again, another thing no one assumed would happen...

I think you ought to consider that the fatigue will actually really affect her performance potentially. More so in some ways than a temp would. The cough will distract her (and others, but not your problem)

I think all school atm have kids sitting exams with Covid symptoms and not testing/not knowing/ assuming hayfever/ being affected by being poorly. But heads have gone in sand and decisions have been pushed to parents and teenagers and that is so unfair and tough.

DS finishes on 23rd. Four exams this week, Mon, Tues, Weds, Thurs then three the week after.

The end is in sight now which is good. We are all looking forward to it!

@Oblomov22 I'm not sure what's best to be honest. DD started on 24/6 - her study leave meant she had 2.5 days and a weekend of revision before her first 2 exams. She had her third on Wednesday - her friend had her first on Thursday when DD had 2 more. So her friend basically had 2.5 weeks of straight revision while DD had 5 exams. DD would definitely have preferred a shorter exam period than the 5 weeks she has, with no real chance of proper revision between exams.

Crouching/Fruity , I am musing the other candidate performance bit. I have had a student miss an exam and she is marked absent. No one has asked me to identify similar candidate so I definitely don't think that is happening this year...

Not sure if that would be good or bad for your DD.

Hi @Oblomov22 - the guidance is so iffy and 2% is pants as she has been taken out for 3 days .......

@Piggywaspushed teachers don't identify similar pupils - its based on z scores by the exam board ....one of those lovely agorithms

@Fruitybasket our school said if an exam was missed due to covid, a grade would be awarded on the basis of all completed components, including other exams and NEAs.

Hope your DD feels better soon.