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

I was just reading on the fb group that someone is saying the psychology exam was leaked on tik tok an hour before. I hope not :(

Yes daughter has come home and said the 3x16 was a surprise snd one being on an obscure subject that was about the research which she said was scant in the textbook. She says she can't tell - not brilliant but not a nightmare. And now has all these useless statistics she memorised taking up brain space! As for some students being disadvantaged due to covid and teacher strikes mentioned upthread - she said she feels pressure to do well as she has no excuse to do poorly. She's at a private school, excellent online learning during covid, unaffected by teachers strikes.
She said her friend cried during the Geography exam though - totally bamboozled. There must be something going on!

DS is completely freaking out about what it means for them as a result of the leak. He is utterly confident that it went well. It’s so unfair that some idiot decides to leak it and spoil it for everyone else who has worked hard.

Which psychology exam board?

AQA Psychology

There are quite a few hoax “leaks” every year as I understand it so tell your son not to start freaking out yet… you can google for examples in past years.

Dd had 2 exams this week. Geography on Wednesday and AQA psychology today. There were students in her exam today that left in tears, she was ok though, just said she wasn't impressed with it. They are all in the same boat though.

If the paper was leaked, it could be a blessing for a lot of the dc though if it's voided.

Not the best start for our dc though.

What happens if a paper is voided ?

AQA Psychology paper 1 today.
Sociology Monday.
English language and and psychology Thursday.

Poor DD looks shattered and she's working all weekend.

If I remember rightly from when ds1 sat his they give the result based on the other papers.

I'm going from memory here, so it might not be the case. I think we will find out in due course. If it has been leaked, then they'll have to confirm it first.

Dd Sat AQA psychology today - they’ve just had an email from school saying don’t worry it’s all being investigated and may well be a hoax.

Dd thought the paper was ok - not the best but not the worst.

@ArtfulPuss

What's WIWIKAU?

It’s a FB group, What I wish I knew about University.

It's a website - What I Wish I Knew About University
I've never found it that useful tbh

DS just came down panicking. I told him I'd check MN. He scoffed, but I KNEW someone would know something about that 'leaked paper'!

@lastdayatschool @mrsconradfisher

Thankyou

So far Geography and Physiology. I said good luck and got told it was being stressful. I’m looking forward - not - to the next 3 weeks. Might need to up my HRT.

Two down, seven to go 😱 DD was not happy with the French language in AQA geography, was rushed for time but not too bad overall. Core maths was okay apparently. Environmental Science next week might be interesting - as much as she liked her teachers and their many interesting stories and adventures, she hasn't got a clue what to expect in the exam. There aren't many resources out there. She's currently nursing a hangover and putting off doing any revision 🤷

Environmental Science sounds interesting @mummyinbeds I think ds would have like to have done that (more than bloody Physics anyway, which is what we have coming up next week).

DS and I went out for about 45 mins and were home by 7:30am but apparently he needed the full morning to recover from that.

I asked my son about the last question on the geography paper. He said it was a comparison question with a French word that he had never seen before. He googled it afterwards. I think that is really out of order. The examiners are playing games with the kids.

@IneedanewTV yes, DD would have known how to answer the question if only she'd known what the word meant. There really was no need to use French!

@tribpot DD originally planned to do a level Geography, Environmental Science and Biology with the aim of a physical geography and environmental science degree. One taster lesson and she swapped biology for politics and now prefers human geography. If all goes to plan she's doing International Relations and Globalisation at uni. She's found environmental science interesting but it's a bit of an afterthought for biology and chemistry teachers.

DD very distraught over the Psychology paper.

@Babyroobs im so sorry your dd is feeling like that. From what dd says it had some slightly left field questions which there was less to say about. It’s my ds’s strongest subject and she only rated it OK. I’m sure it will be reflected in the grade boundaries.

the uncertainty about the leak is not helping- dd was reassured to get an email from school. It would be helpful if AQA would says something.

I hope your dd is happier with paper 2.

Psychology is my daughter's best subject too. And she announced yesterday she left her flash cards at school so I said I'll drive her in to collect them tomorrow (it's an hour door to door vía tube - I might even get her to walk the dogs with me on the way back as I'm worried about lack of exercise and sun since study leave started)!
The contrast between her revising for hours every day and my older sons total lack of revision - it does come from within!