DS monumentally messed up on end of year 12 maths exam. Is there any hope?

[monumentalup]

He got an E and needs an A to do the course he wants. He’s done all homework during year 12 and given no cause for concern, but hasn’t been doing anything beyond that.
He’s obviously gutted and also shocked. Is it too late for him to pull it back?

What was he predicted?
you mention him doing all homework
but did he actually study and revise in the build up?

No, it's not too late, however he will need to work his arse off over the summer holiday to try to claw back the lost time in Y12 that he should have been doing independent work and practice.

Y13 will start assuming that he has mastered all the Y12 content so he needs to have it in the bag by then if he really wants to get an A.

He has his exam paper, he knows where he messed up, he need to come up with a plan for the next 6 weeks that will involve relearning the stuff www.youtube.com/channel/UCyyRmnmtgVy5Sm7_UiCLFgQ and doing lots and lots of practice (has he got a textbook? CGP workbook?) , until he can nail that exam paper.

He's not the first kid to think he can wing maths doing the bare minimum and he won't be the last to have had a shocking Y12 exam.

He will then need to convince his maths teachers that he has improved enough that they can predict him what he needs for UCAS.

Which subject? Might be worth getting a tutor.
Talk to the school - will they be able to predict him the grade he needs given he got the E? This will be important for the uni choices etc.
All the best.

Why did he mess up the exam so bad it was an E? What was he getting on his coursework before the mock exam? It’s all well and good saying he needs an A, but he may not be capable of getting one. You need to be realistic. A level maths is a big step up from GCSE maths,

Hes incredibly shaken up.

i think he’s revised the concept and thought he knew it but not done the practice and repetition that’s obviously required.

Thank for the advice and links. He really does need to come up with a plan.

@noblegiraffe
He will then need to convince his maths teachers that he has improved enough that they can predict him what he needs for UCAS.

My Yr12 already has her UCAS predicted grades. I think it is too late to change them unless there are extenuating circumstances.

It's not too late but he needs to work hard over the summer- download past papers and make sure he starts year 13 with year 12 content nailed.

My dd got a C in her end of year 12 exam and achieved an A at the end of year 13. She was horrified with the C and worked through the summer.

You could buy the CGP workbooks and exam practice books from Amazon (just a few pounds each), and get him to work through all the year 12 content over the Summer so that he's brought himself back up to speed, ready to hit the ground running in September for the start of year 13.

Otherwise, an A grade won't happen - probably another E as he'll be so far behind and not have the core basics to do justice to the year 13 work.

What kind of marks was he getting in year 12 homework and progress tests? Maths doesn't really lend itself to revision like other subjects and it's very strange if he's been getting decent marks (i.e. 80% plus) in homework and progress tests to do so badly in the end of year tests. He's not been googling for the answers to his homework rather than actually learning the logic etc has he??

Dd1 is old enough to have done AS maths & got a U. She was horrified and worked really hard throughout Yr13 and ended up scraping an A.

I'm afraid I've never seen a kid go from an E in yr 12 to an A in yr13.

In my school, the students sit timed assessments all the way through yr13, right from week 2, and their UCAS predictions are absolutely not set in stone at this stage.

He should ask his teacher whether he will have the opportunity to do any assessments early next year. And he should work his way through his textbook and answer every single question, and work through all the past papers since 2018. By which I don't mean he should read the markscheme and go "oh yeah, I get it", I mean he should actually work the questions himself!

I genuinely don’t think he’s been Googling the answers to homework. I think he’s understood it at the time but not put in anywhere near enough practice. He’s got everything done during frees at college but I’ve not seen much evidence of extra work at home. He did revise in the month or 2 prior to these exams but I suspect the learnt the concept ( or thought so) but didn’t do enough practice.
Not really had a chance to talk to him yet as he’s told me this on text today.

I would be amazed if he isn't looking at worked solutions. They're all freely available online, and they can be a really powerful tool. But they can also give a false sense of confidence.

The absolute best way to do maths (I am a maths teacher BTW!) is to try a question, check the answer (NOT the full solution) immediately and then have another go BY YOURSELF to try and find where you went wrong.

A Level maths is 50% learning/understanding, and 50% exam practice.

Do they offer the opportunity to resit the exams at the beginning of yr13? Might be worth throwing himself on their mercy and working all over the holiday.

Does the intended course look at predicted grades? What are his other A levels like. He needs to do some research into what the individual universities require. Maybe also discuss the possibility of a gap year so he can apply with (hopefully higher) achieved grades.

I'd be having a word with the teacher to see if your son has the aptitude to get an A.
In maths, I can't imagine a situation where a student capable of getting an A, ends up withn a E regardless of how little studying has been done.

@BlueMumDays thank you that’s really useful. That’s probably what he’s been doing, I’ll ask him when he gets home. He was really confident before the exam and convinced he knew it really well especially pure and mechanics.

It may have changed since I did a levels but will he not have to agree to resit the exam in January next year in order to carry on the subject to a level? If he really, really puts the work in and does well in the January resits and the summer exams he might get it up to an A

@PoleFairy no it was an internal exam not an AS so he doesn’t need to resit.

It’s a fuck up but not irredeemable and probably the wake up call he needs.

get the work books and a tutor if you can , and that’s how summer holidays sorted.

can I just say well done as s parent for allowing him to mess up too. Lots of parents are micromanaging and kids just don’t get the amount of work needed. He’s now learning it well before he “ flies solo” post year 13.

He’s come home fully committed to spending the summer working. I’ve ordered the cgp book and we’re going to look for a tutor. Apparently they’re having more exams in October so teacher has said all is not lost. I’m hoping this is the kick up the arse he needed to show him that A’levels are hard and require a lot of consistent work and self study on top of homework.

“He was convinced he’d done really well”

op are you sure he is anA grade candidate and this course is realistic?

It is all very well messing up an exam, but to think you’ve done really well in an exam you got an E in - is concerning

Of course it isn’t too late to change predicted grades. They don’t go anywhere until the ucas form is completed.

Ok? All I know is UCAS Apply opens in September and her Uni application is due on 15 October. Not much time to impress really….

Her uni application is only due that early if she is applying for oxbridge or medicine though. Most kids won’t be

ucas deadline is 23/01/23

@Ohthatsexciting no he was convinced he knew it prior to the exam but came out of the exam saying it was really hard. He had done some past papers as part of his revision and had done well on them so felt like he would be fine. This is why he’s so shocked by his result.