Year 13 2023/2024 - General support thread

[Rollergirl11]

It’s now the time for our young adults to sit their final year at sixth form/college. Everyone is welcome!

This is what happened at DS1 school. It’s frustrating because the entire cohort got downgraded 2 whole grades! Which means his A* is now a B and his raw grade for the actual essay (history so very relevant to his degree choice) was 48/50 he discovered not that long ago.

I had wondered because whilst I’m not properly in academia anymore I still present at conferences my work etc (as a historian) and though I didn’t input, I did read it for him and so did a friend and it was good and had all the components of what we both considered just a 2:1 at undergraduate level. I know they take into account the reflection on the work too, but I do think two grades across everyone was too harsh.

Ooh that's frustrating @StColumbofNavron
I understand why teacher awarded things do need to be moderated but I would be upset if such a big adjustment was made across the board on the basis of a small sample. Especially when an EPQ can cover such a wide range of topics so marking is probably not entirely consistent across the whole cohort anyway.
I'm hoping my DS's PE practical isn't picked for moderation as it adds a lot of extra stress. They picked his sport last year - he had to go and play because there weren't enough year 13s to make 2 teams - so I'm hoping they pick something different this year!

How awful @StColumbofNavron. Something similar happened at the school my sister works at and she was so livid they switched exam board. I can’t remember the details, but they would only be able to appeal if every student agreed and that was unlikely with a large cohort like she had.

He was very stoic and accepted it for it what was, but two grades just seemed harsh. I really wish we could see the teacher references actually. His Spanish teacher has repeatedly said to me in person that he is known in their class for his historical knowledge and the way he applies it in Spanish - e.g. they were learning about Franco for their text and he has some knowledge that he shared. He really would like St Andrews and really being able to demonstrate that his interest and interaction goes way beyond the curriculum is important.

I've been musing on this on my afternoon walk StColumb. So if everyone in the cohort had their grade dropped by two this must mean that nobody was deemed worthy of anything higher than a B. That seems massively unlikely to me. I find it very hard to believe that in just about any school there wouldn't be even a single pupil getting an A or A*. That just doesn't make sense. By applying a judgement like this the exam board must surely recognise that some pupils who genuinely deserved their marks have been unfairly disadvantaged. Is there any mechanism for an individual appeal if school can't/won't appeal the moderation process?
Similar to you, my elder son got an A star for his EPQ, having produced a piece of work that my DH who used to work in a related University department said was better than many final year projects he has seen. If my DS had been treated like yours I would have been livid. Hopefully it won't impact on him too much but that's not the point is it? He has put the work in and produced what sounds like an excellent piece of work and it should be recognised.

I agree it seems dubious. He isn’t prone to misunderstanding and so forth though. He feels that his actual grades will demonstrate his ability, but of course that isn’t the way uni offers work.

I can’t pretend that I’m not a little worried it won’t impact his StA application and maybe Edinburgh.

Just catching up. DD has mocks next week and will start making flashcards for bio and psychology and prepping for French essays after that. She left her revision late for AS and regretted it, so trying a different approach which will hopefully be less stressful. She stays on top of maths as she goes along so will leave that and do past papers closer to the exams. She hasn't done much work for mocks and says she is using them to find out what she doesn't know

Re mock grades, DS went from BCD in his mocks to AAB so a big improvement is possible. He went up several gears though.

@MrsAvocet how awful, probably worth looking into whether you can appeal as that's a big (& unwarranted) drop.

Good luck to your DD @stoneysongs & others with mocks this coming fortnight.

DS has his mocks starting this week too, & was ill for several weeks in the run up to & during the Christmas holidays with a nasty gastric/flu bug so wasn't able to make a good early start on revising.

His first exam is History & there is so much content to learn, he is not confident although has worked very hard over the past few weeks. Has also been trying to finish the NEA. It feels like the pressure is on!

DD has her last mock tomorrow morning and then has Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday off as there’s still some exams then.

My DD's EPQ was selected for moderation too and she only found out her result at the same time as her A levels in August. The school didn't tell her anything, though she knew she'd done well as she got the Best EPQ prize at their Speech Day (first award she'd won in her whole school career other than 'Star of the Week' in reception 😁). She got 50/50, it was an artefact and it had absolutely nothing to do with the degree she hopes to do! But she probably learned more doing it than just about anything else she's ever done.

Last mock for ds here too. There are still exams going until Wednesday so he has two days off before being back on timetable from Thursday onwards.

@mondaytosunday - that's a wonderful story about your DD's EPQ! My ds did his last year too and although they were told raw scores they didn't get their actual grades until results day either.

Weird, he has an actual official piece of paper that looks like results.

There is an option to whether EPQ’s for the Nivember sitting so it will be his real result. My son’s school doesn’t so he won’t get his results until August even though he made his final submission the week before October half-term. I am not sure if it has even been internally moderated as he hasn’t been given a mark. I am hopeful as his A star prediction was made after the final essay had been submitted, the feedback for his presentation was good and he had a verbal ‘your EPQ was great’ from his supervisor after she has marked the whole thing. Although after your story I should correct that to I WAS hopeful.

Sad to hear about your ds EPQ experience StColumbo. It's a huge piece of work and he must be feeling deflated.

Envious of those of you who have finished mocks, ds is just starting today and was getting stressed last night that he hasn't covered/doesn't understand some material. Despite what his school says,I think there will be time to make up for any gaps plus the grades for his prospective insurance choice are quite a bit lower than his predicted grades so he has some leeway.

@Lightsabre still on mocks here too - today is physics and German in the same day which has stressed her out, also meant to be school UCAS deadline (they won't mind a couple of days - still doing PS) and she hasn't told work she won't be working Saturday (making a meal of this, and giving them less time to get someone else in by leaving it longer, would take 2 mins to email).... I have strongly suspected this dd to have PDA, she certainly has traits that are very similar if not so this sort of day is an utter nightmare for her as all of these things pile up. Only one more on Thursday though.

She was still in bed (despite our efforts) until 0815 when she showered then sat down for breakfast... 20 mins to school (did it in 18 without breaking limits, but lucky the level crossing wasn't down)... dropped her at gate at 0859 for 0900 start. 5 out of her 6 exams in the real things are morning, so I am dreading that. She should have left here at 0810 for a bus to school btw.

Thanks for giving me space to vent/stress here. DH, who is very good with her on actual revision, thought it helpful to tell her off for setting her alarms from 0600 but not getting up (he's right but not the right time to discuss with her).

It does sound like she has a lot on her plate @theinnergame and I hope the UCAS submission goes well.

Ds also avoids dealing with issues unless nagged and then that causes friction at home. I'll be bloomin glad when these mocks are out of the way and all offers in so things calm down a bit. We've booked a few days away in Feb half term and are hoping that ds will want to do some weekend days out after these exams.

Gosh that rings some bells for me with DS.

At least she did get there on time. I hope the exams went well. At some point, when she is not mid exams, ask her she needs to be on time for the 8.10 bus. Say you can be involved as little or as much as you like or you can give her a lift by a particular time (if you want to give that support).

For my DS (autistic with pda traits) if I gave him the option of a bus at 8.10 or a lift at 8.30 he would probably choose the lift but that being his choice he would be prepared to do it and be ready at the right time, if you see what I mean. I'm probably being a bit simplistic but framing things as a choice is helpful for a person with any form of anxiety based demand avoidance as the feeling of being in control helps them.

@lifeturnsonadime thank you - some food for thought there. She says this morning's exam was bad. She'll have a vent with her sister later who sat those same papers for the actual A level last year.

She cannot get to school without us - bus is 6 miles from home, but lets us get to work on time. Whereas driving all the way is 12 miles (away from work). Not so bad in normal times as we liftshare with her friend and social anxiety gets her out, but friend does different subjects so different exam days. The joys of the countryside.

@theinnergame that is definitely more of a challenge.

What would happen if you were to say if she wants to go to school she must make the bus and that you will be leaving at x time. If she isn't ready she won't be able to get to school?

I know this is high risk strategy but if she feels there is room to negotiate a lift from you then that's what she is going to do, even if it means getting there last minute and you being late to work. If she has social anxiety about not being in school etc it might work.

I don't envy you this situation at all, if it is pda traits, normally parenting and 'you must be ready' just doesn't work, and I hope she is OK later.

Well, unfortunately I believe the reason she didn't get up today is that dh did exactly that - said last night "if you're not ready by 8 I'll be going without you" - why he made it earlier I don't know. And she has been trying to get out of going to school to 'deal with' not being prepared so threats/consequences of not going are not helpful. Softly and supportive does work though. And a plan that comes from her. Anyway, she got there, I just have to abandon getting to work on time (which gives me issues of feeling rubbish and that I am not in control of how I show up to work).

She cares about her results, which is why when she's worried about how the exams will go she goes into severe panic and freezes (I do the same, and so does her dad, and then last minute it comes together). It all goes better when there is either one of us dealing with her, not both. This year has been harder as the stakes are higher she feels.

Anyway, this afternoon's exam wasn't good either she said. Lower our expectations (we don't have them! she has!). One more to go. Hopefully they've not been as hard as she feels.

Well, unfortunately I believe the reason she didn't get up today is that dh did exactly that - said last night "if you're not ready by 8 I'll be going without you"

Do you or your DD need to drive her to the bus @theinnergame , or was your DH talking about giving her a lift?

At our end, DD’s mocks aren’t until the end of March! She’s happy about this as she thinks having them closer to the real thing will be helpful for her. However as DH said to me privately, it doesn’t allow a lot of time to course correct if need be. However she is assessed every half term and did well in her tests before Christmas, so hopefully ok.

Well an unnecessarily early time to leave and no pre-discussion probably not the best, also the phrasing your DH used is not what I meant either.

DD if you want to go to school tomorrow we'll be leaving at x time. If you don't want to go to school then that's up to you. Tone and timing is everything.

All the best with it.

Obviously if there is no PDA then that strategy is probably not the best one to use. Generally for PDAers softly won't work.

P.s. I hope your daughters mocks went better than she thought too, and I do hope things get easier for you

Am off to school soon for a rare actual rather than virtual meeting soon - DD is off on a school trip to Washington DC in February and there’s a meeting about it at 6pm. Feels like it’s come round quickly.

DD won’t be there as she has a singing lesson so I will feel a bit billy no mates although may sit with one of her friends (whose parents aren’t going, which DD finds a little odd).