Year 12 - 2024/25 - Support, Discussion and Looking After Each Other

[BlackBean2023]

A survival thread for Y12 parents (24/25) now that GCSEs are over and our young people move onto KS5

Ah I’ve looked up the CTF. Parents had the option to add up to £9,000 per year, so some DC will be having a very happy 18th birthday!

@wonderstuff DS is also July for test keep getting emails from Dvla telling me only about 50% pass the test.
It is definitely strange being driven by your kid.

@JessyCarr 😂 I wish we could have saved that much even for 1 year. More like about £8k fir the whole 18 yrs had terrible return on our kids accounts.

Mine won't 🤣

We made a conscious decision not to add to the CTF as no way did we want them to have automatic access to a stash of funds at 18. So we have saved but not in their name.

Us too @TeenToTwenties
We'll pay for uni or whatever and help out with a property deposit when the time comes. His CTF will just be a nice birthday present. I don't even know what it's worth as we just put it in a low risk S&S.

And us. We've been fortunate to be able to save for them but into accounts that they don't know about. DD1 is going to use her CTF towards driving lessons (once she gets around to them!) and I suspect DD2 will do the same but hopefully sooner than her sib!

Hi all,

It is really comforting to read all your posts as everything is so familiar! @Waspie well done to your DS on the theory test, my DD has just turned 17, booked her theory in a month and had her first lesson. I wasn't sure how she would be as she is huge perfectionist and like to be very good at everything she does, which clearly isn't the case driving initially. Well she loved it, and was v positive for future lessons 😀.

Now the reality of doing everything in the coming weeks, theory test, mock exams, sorting work experience is dawning and stressing her. I just keep trying to help her tackle one thing at once. Then on the other hand am asking her which uni open days she wants to go to in June so I can book work shifts around them 😂I'm not helping am I!

DD was v stressed last year for GCSEs so I am used to it and it is just how she functions. Not much fun for those around her but I keep telling myself it is not forever.

So far we are looking to go to Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool and York open days, all within 3 weeks in June. I'm still steering away from London unis due to cost and DD seems ok with this as wants to stay closer to home.

@wonderstuff - would a very structured timetable help your daughter? It has helped my son not to fritter away his "free" periods at school and the early evening hours when he would previously watch TV or doom scroll is now timetabled. He got a pair of good sound cancelling headphones at Christmas which helps him concentrate when he's in the sixth form common room, or library at school where it can be very noisy and distracting.

I agree about sitting with them for their driving practice. I am a nervous wreck doing this. DS thinks it's a slur on his driving but it really isn't, for his stage he's really not too bad, it's just me!

Thanks @bluefineliner. I'm glad your daughter enjoyed her first driving lesson. It's so liberating to be able to be able to drive, and a huge life skill.

DS is refusing to think too much about university at this stage. He wants to concentrate on mocks and his NEA. His only stipulation has been that he doesn't want to go too far away and anytime someone has asked where he wants to go he just says "London". Those universities sound great. I tried to get DS to consider York (I went there back in the day and loved it) but it's too far for him.

DS has a JISA (changed from a CTF years ago) which can cover either his undergraduate maintenance costs or a deposit on a flat. We will put as much in as we can and meet our obligation but we can't cover the cost of London accommodation entirely. Although there is that risk that he will blow it all on designer clothes and tennis rackets I don't think he will. He's been used to depositing birthday/Xmas money into it and watching it grow. If anything he will be upset at having to take funds out! It automatically changes to an adult S&S ISA when he's 18 - he doesn't just get a large deposit into his current account.

Dd is now apparently considering medicine, despite wanting to do Law before. She was considering medicine in y11, but ultimately decided against it as the conditions are dire. She wanted to do GP , but they are basically being taken over by PAs. Shes now thinking paediatrics. I dont think medicine is the career for her tbh, as shes quite an anxious person by nature and i dont think she could handle failing any exam which is the norm in med school apparently.

@PinkChaires ah interesting because my DD seems to have made the decision to go for medicine over these holidays. What do you think has changed your DDs mind?

We have talked at length about med school and today I took her to meet a GP friend of a friend so she could talk directly to them about their job/training etc which was very helpful for her. So we have started to look at UCAT and she is reading some recommended books for now. She's got some volunteer experience already, some lined up and fingers crossed some hospital shadowing in summer.

Time will tell but I can only reiterate how much she now has to do for her application and how focused she will need to be. I work in healthcare too but will not give my opinion as I am not a doctor. She is a perfectionist so will have to find the resilience to fail too 😂. She can always take a gap year if if doesn't go her way and go to uni a year later.

It feels like things are starting to gain momentum now which is scary and to think this time last year she was only days away from starting her GCSEs! Seems like it was only last month. Not sure I'm ready for uni applications yet!

@PinkChaires and @bluefineliner - you probably already know this, but every year there is a very insightful and supportive series of threads for medicine applicants over on the Higher Education board. The current one is here: www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5233924-medicine-2025-entry-part-3

There are some very knowledgeable Mumsnetters, especially the amazing mumsneedwine, who join the threads each year and can assist strategically with picking the right universities to maximise the chances of a medicine interview based on an applicant’s particular circumstances (e.g. grades achieved and predicted, UCAT scores, any WP factors, being resident in Scotland/Wales/rUK etc).

Perhaps it’s time to launch the “Medicine 2026 entry” thread!

Hi @JessyCarr thank you. I have already had a lurk on that thread, trying not to scare myself too much 😂.

I have had some assistance from the lovely mumsneedwine who has sent me her spreadsheet which has saved me a lot of time looking at which unis need what. Thank goodness we have such dedicated mums willing to share their knowledge.

I am also now practicing my own situational judgement skills on practice UCAT questions, it is actually quite interesting especially due to my profession and resonates with work situations in real life so I'm happy to play along and be quizzed. Trying to keep it all good fun for now!

I'm not brave enough to launch the 2026 thread as DD will change her mind the minute I do 😁.

Honestly, shes still been attending both med and law soc at school and found med soc more interesting. Time will tell which ever she decides to go for, shes better at essay based subject rather than STEM so that may sway it. She needs to decide by july at the latest tho.
Previously, she read the doctorsuk subreddit and was put off, it was overall very negative. Also , she said that GP was regularly described as the worst speciality , although i did tell her this is subjective. But now she wants to do paeds ( she is very good with kids tbh). I think this is a last minute panic as she doesn’t want to close any doors that even a tiny bit of her wants

Just catching up on the thread, I see other DCs are changing their minds on subjects as well as mine. We went to an open day a few weeks ago at a uni close by and he did the subject tour and then a day later said that it wasn’t what he thought it would be and no longer wanted to do it. Part of me was celebrating as he was choosing between two subjects so I thought he’d narrowed it down but no, he’s now added Chemistry or maybe Pharmacology to the mix! 🤦🏼‍♀️ He went to the Manchester stem open day this week which he quite enjoyed so I think it is useful for him to go out and see what’s out there.

DS took his driving test earlier this month and didn’t pass, new test now not until end of September - a year after starting driving. This chaos with test availability has to be sorted somehow, especially when you live in an area with less than 50% pass rate. 😫

Good luck to those on the med route, it’s a tough journey. Anyone else’s DC thinking Oxbridge?

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn Not going for Oxbridge here, though DD will apply early-ish (i.e. just after the 15 October early-entry date) as that is her school’s policy.

I hope your DS is able to get a driving test cancellation date sooner than September. We have just released DD’s June test date as it’s clear she won’t be ready.

@JessyCarr I know our school do early for med, dentistry and vet med (plus Oxbridge) but otherwise it's by end of the year - I think so anyway, trying to remember back to when DS1 did his but he applied early too just because.

If only you were in my driving area, June would have been amazing. I'm so sick of taking him out practising almost every day! I've signed up to an app and also a website which charges a fortune but nothing yet.

He's back at school today and straight away into a maths exam. Had texted to say it hasn't gone well which is bad news if true. I don't understand though as he revised all Easter and did many past papers getting between 85-92%, our school does like to give them international papers as exams though which seem to be trickier. Oh well, we shall wait and see..

DS still no closer to knowing what he wants to do at Uni/apprenticeship - but does seem very laid back about the whole thing. We have a school meeting about UCAS in June so his school is obviously not moving at the same pace as some of yours.

He sat a full set of Maths papers for his mock and he had to get an A to confirm that he was able to sit the real thing in the summer. He tells me he did and his first exam is 4th June! Blimey - so soon!

DD is going for Oxbridge. I’m trying not to think about it too much 🫣

DD isn’t 17 yet but I’m trying to persuade her to start on her theory prep. I’m going to book her theory for the week after she turns 17 so that’ll put the wind up her nearer the time! And then try and get the practical booked for (6?) months later? The instructor we’re hoping has space by then does 90 mins lessons.

DS may go for Oxbridge. It will depend on the results of his mocks in two weeks time. Although he is saying that UCL or LSE will be his preferred choices. Not they are much easier to get offers for than Oxbridge from what I've read!

DS is going to the UCAS Discovery event on Friday which I hope may help him to focus on what he wants from his university experience as his current "short list" is ridiculously long..

I got DS a driving test online on Monday morning. It is in October (not a problem) but it's in Hertfordshire (we're in Berkshire) so I do want to change this as we don't know the area at all. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to swap for something closer to us next Monday morning. I was fourteen thousandth in the queue at 6.02am on Easter Monday. DH says says 13,000 of those ahead of me were probably bots. He may be exaggerating for effect but it's sad and shocking that there is a black market trade for driving tests.

@SunblockSue is he doing his A level maths this year?

@Countrylife2002 and @Waspie Oxford is in his 'would like to try' list, whether he gives it a go or not will entirely depend on his end of year exam results and predicted grades. His subject standard offer is A* A A so will need that as a minimum. It's not quite looking likely at the moment unless he pulls something out of the bag. 😬

Re: the driving theory test, we booked for just after his birthday, you can't book a test until you have i and it's a six month wait on average so good to get it out of the way as soon as possible. @Waspie we are Bucks and the availability of tests here is equally appalling. The bots really are winning.

DS is also doing his UCAS discovery event but it's tomorrow.

DS wants to apply to Oxford. It’s about a 10% acceptance rate for his subject so the chances are slim but if he doesn’t give it a go he definitely won’t be going!

@Muchtoomuchtodo yes, DS acknowledges there is a slim to no chance of getting in but wants to give it a go.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn yes he is doing maths in year 12 and further maths in year 13. Trying to get him to revise has been a struggle though!