Is it too early for an A level support thread!

[HereWeGo2023]

Hello all, apologies if there is already a thread but I can’t find one.
May had finally rolled around and the first exam is a mere 2 weeks away. Exam stress has hit our house! It’s feels like everything is about waiting at the moment - waiting for the predicted grades, waiting for the uni offers, waiting for the exams to start, and then the long wait for the results!
This is our youngest DD but the first one in further education so would love to chat to other parents going through this

DS back, said it wasn't as good as paper one but better than paper 2, just relief it's done now. Hope everyone else has found today OK?

Dd did AQA psychology today. She thought it was Ok - her favourite was paper 2 followed by this then paper 1.

Anyone heard anything about Edexcel Further Maths paper 2?

DS found the Economics questions ok but he had to add an important point to his conclusion as he forgot it earlier or something. Doesn’t sound like a disaster. That’s one subject done and dusted at least. Starting Maths tomorrow.

DD said AQA Psychology was ok, not as bad as she was expecting. Glad we can tick that off the list. English literature & sociology left now over the next 2 weeks.

Ds said further maths hard but good

My son did further maths AQA and said it was hard and tough going

Mine thought he messed up his timings a bit with the Further Maths 😓I'm so worried. Only 3 exams down, ten to go and he hasn't liked 2 of them.

Same with my son @GMH1974. My son had to miss a couple of questions because they would have taken for ever to do and they were only worth 1 or 3 marks. We have 9 exams to go, 3 exams done - I’ll be glad when ithey are all over - roll on 20th June.

Daughter says Psychology was fine, remembered everything questions good. Says she can't believe she didn't have to do any stats or graphs or use her calculator for any of the papers! Probably all knowledge filed in the depths of her brain now as she cracks on with History.

Dd said psychology paper was ok. It was her weakest area and she said it went better than expected, but was not great.
Just tomorrow's to go.

DS said Psychology went really well today, much more confident than he was before he went in. Geography tomorrow which is the one he is dreading after the first awful Geography paper then PE on Thursday.

DS seemed happy with AQA Psychology - said there was a four marker that he wasn't sure of but other than that it was fine. He barely had time to talk about it thought - straight into revision for Geography 2 in the morning

DS much happier with CCEA Economics paper 2 compared to paper 1.

I do wonder how much nerves played a part in all their first 1-2 exams though - seems to be generally positive reports today, across varied subjects, on this thread.

DD has done 2 further maths papers so far, and has spent the evening sobbing after both of them. I feel so sorry for her, she works so hard. Just hoping she's happier with her exams in the other subjects.

Oh no your poor dd

What is she going to study?

@MarshaBradyo Maths! It's partly why she's so desperate to do well - she's having all sorts of crises that she's chosen the wrong course.

@astuz was it edexcel? Dd also upset with both papers (two more to come..). They sound much harder than previous years and had a different style. If it’s any consolation seems that lots of others also struggled and hopefully grade boundaries will be low.

DS2 first up with Maths today. It's been such a long time coming. Then thick and fast with Biology and Chemistry over the next three weeks.
First 'proper' exam since year six SATS!

Good luck with Maths today everyone. Many of ds’s friends are doing Maths Bio and Chem and it’s quite a lot close together. Dd is quite relieved she did Psychology instead of Maths as it just leaves the Biology and Chemistry 🤞🏻 for all the dc.

Back into the fray today - History of Art for dd this afternoon and Maths for her boyfriend. Good luck everyone!

Pure Maths this afternoon for DS. First long exam - 2h45.

Hope it's better than last year's AS where they all came out saying they couldn't decipher what half the questions were asking, let alone answer them 😂

@lovefizzycolabottles No, AQA. I'm hoping it's just really hard papers and the grade boundaries are low. It's so hard to tell with her because she's so often come out of an exam sobbing, then actually done pretty well (eg. an A but not Astar). She has occasionally bombed completely though, so who knows. It is what it is. I just keep telling her that whatever grades she gets are the right grades for her and will set her on the right path for her.

That's a good attitude @astuz. My daughter also struggles to tell how well she does, saying she's totally failed then getting an A, thinking she did ok but not doing so well.
I can only tell her she couldn't possibly work harder than she has, and she does understand, as galling as it may be, that her very best may still be a B.
And @lastdayatschool you may be right - not having sat actual GCSEs and the build up to that first A level exam makes it a huge ominous mountain. I do think my daughter has been less nervous with subsequent papers.
But seeing her glum faced and stressed going to school yesterday and then practically skipping out afterwards - ugh I really feel for them all! I grew up in America and this system is totally foreign to me.

@astuz AQA FM here too for my daughter, and found both papers hard, particularly yesterday. Didn’t finish either. Her teacher said FM is a challenge for very able mathematicians, not just because it’s a hard subject but because it’s probably the first time they’ve been properly stretched in maths. So it’s a psychological adjustment as well - for kids used to getting 90% plus in every exam, hovering around 60 doesn’t feel good enough for them. I’m sure your DD has done very well.