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

I have two due to start in 2026, though one is thinking of a gap year. The other has her heart set on Oxbridge, so Im trying ro educate myaelf now anput the process.

It is interesting to see how many DC are considering giving oxbridge a go. DDs state school are very encouraging to anyone thinking of it and there is a lot of support. DD was considering it when she was looking at biomed but eventually decided she wouldn't fit in so wasn't prepared to give it a go. There is no debate on these things with DD at times 😂.

No issue with not considering but now ironically she is looking at medicine which is equally stressful and difficult to get in to and requires more preparation! Urgh, oh well it is her that has to do this not me. Good news is she has had a week of hospital work experience confirmed now with more to add on in another dept later on. I'm trying not to think too much about what she has to achieve over the coming weeks and months just to be able to apply for med because it seems a little overwhelming. Ucat is the most concerning but that is based on my own perception of the questions, it seemed literally impossible to my poor old brain!

I'll be there cheering her on whatever she decides to do though.

DD not going to any UCAS events none near enough us but I'm not sure how useful they will be now. She's been to some mandatory uni 'fairs' with school but they weren't useful, just one or two gave a brochure but all that info is on the websites anyway. I think if you are very undecided they can be good though.

ETA what subjects are your DCs wanting to study at Oxbridge?

@bluefineliner Maths for DS

@bluefineliner Theology and Religion.

I fully understand what you mean about our perceptions of the difficulty of their work. Mine is doing a Latin A-level and studying Greek as a supercurricular and I just can't get my head around how she's absorbing and comprehending it all!

DD2 not considering Oxbridge. SIL (English teacher) felt she should but BIL thinks not. He feels that you need a specific mindset for it and DH and I agree with him, I think DD would find it too stressful and I want her to enjoy university and she does not have an Oxbridge outlook. BIL did his first science degree at Oxbridge and found it very stressful though he did well academically there. He then did post graduate medicine which he actually enjoyed. Friend currently has a child at Oxbridge and he is a classic fit for them in a way that DD is not. Horses for courses and all that. 😊

@SunblockSue blimey! Good luck to him, he's clearly got a talent for maths.

@temperedolive we have no idea about the process either so it's a learning curve for sure. All I know is that he has to sit the PAT test as part of his application so I will make sure the registration date is in the diary when it opens!

@bluefineliner possibly materials but also it might turn to chemistry or pharmacy. Equally, he could come back from the UCAS fair today with something completely different in mind! 😂

@Philandbill I am not convinced Oxbridge is for DS, I think you have to be completely passionate about the subject and very self motivated to thrive there. While he really is passionate about the topic I don't think it translates to study quite as strongly and he is a 'less is more' kind of boy when it comes to work!! But if he wants to explore it then why not.

How do you all cope with driving with your DCs when they are still beginners?! I find this very hard. Even sitting on the front passenger seat stresses me out and I learnt to drive on the Continent.

@Wehaditsogood with huge levels of patience that I don't normally possess! It's terrifying when they are first learning and then just scary when they've been driving for a while. 😂

For DD1 we accidentally bought a dual control car (as in we were looking and this one came up). Made all the difference.
You can also get dual controls added later for ~£300 which compared with extra driving lessons isn't that much.

I hadn't realised dual control could be added to a car later. I will look into this. Thanks @TeenToTwenties This could make me more comfortable driving with DS.

Greetings from the other side of the Thames @JustHereWithMyPopcorn Did you son enjoy the UCAS Discovery event? DS went today and all I've heard is that the Oxford woman was "snarky" and that there were no pens or keyrings on offer. So, just the important feedback so far 😂

DS would love Oxbridge - it would suit him perfectly. He has a friend in her second year at Cambridge doing a similar course to the one DS wants to take and they've talked about it a fair bit. DS tends to thrive under pressure and works less well when he's left to cruise along. He would like to do History and Politics. The acceptance rates are 20% Cambridge and 12% Oxford.

There is no HAT for Oxford this year - it's written work submissions like Cambridge. He has been working on his super curricular - additional history essays and he's been writing some articles for online school/college level politics websites. He's also in various school groups like the debate team, he's head of the law society and politics discussion groups. He is really trying to broaden his knowledge beyond the course work and I'm proud of his efforts. He's also learning Russian - he says it helps with his chess as a lot of the good chess websites are Russian language.

DS says the chances may be low to get an Oxbridge offer but those chances are still higher than if you don't apply at all. His friend wants to do a course at Imperial which has a less than 1% acceptance rate, so it could be worse!

@Waspie Dual Controls – He-Man Dual Controls

It’s been quite a while since I posted on this thread, have been catching up with what’s been going on with all the DC.

DS has thankfully passed his driving test a month ago and is suddenly out quite a bit more, enjoying the independence. Mainly to his girlfriend’s house, or collecting her to come here, but he’s been doing some city and motorway driving too. I’m enjoying not being a taxi! Oh my god the insurance though.

After a bit of nagging he’s booked into a few uni open days - but he’s torn between maths-heavy economics and engineering, so will try to explore both options. He hasn’t ruled Oxbridge in or out yet, also interested in Imperial, Warwick, Bath, Bristol plus Southampton and Sheffield. His first ‘working at’ grades were strong so no need to limit his options based on academics yet.

No joy on either part time jobs or work experience despite best efforts, though he’s just been given a couple of big school positions of responsibility as the y13s step down - not useful for uni applications but hopefully helpful if he applies for any degree apprenticeships.

DD has been to 3 open days now at Oxford (for her subject - classics, including one access day for lower income families) and loves it. It would suit her, I didn’t initially think this but now I see it would. Acceptance rate for state school applications for classics is 49pc. It’s still less likely than likely that she’d get in of course and it would be a 3x A* offer which she is obviously not certain to get . I am deeply not looking forward to the application process and all the stress that will involve. She does do well under pressure though (me not so much!).

@waspie history is hard to get into at Oxford isn’t it , I was looking at all the difference offer rates on the table dd showed me. It sounds like he’s doing all he can for that personal statement though - very impressive!

@Countrylife2002 The standard Oxford offer for Classics is 3 A grades not 3 A* grades - hope that comes as a relief!

It does! I’m so confused as dd is obsessed that she needs 3A*s. Maybe that’s just for predicted grades. I really try and stay out of it and just offer support and not push.. Phew.

We’re also acorn 4 which I think for Oxford helps push her to a contextual offer but I’m not 100pc about that. It doesn’t help with any other uni they all need acorn 5 or 6.
acorn 4 is ‘financially stretched ‘ which couldn’t sum up my situation better - definitely not deprived or struggling but stretched is right !!

@Countrylife2002 Oxford doesn’t normally make contextual (reduced-grade) offers. However, contextual factors including ACORN are taken into account in deciding who gets an interview and then an offer. They form part of a holistic assessment of each application. This may be of interest in explaining it:

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/decisions/contextual-data

The standard humanities offer of AAA is designed to be achievable by anyone who is of Oxford standard - no doubt they could pitch it higher, but once they’ve decided they want you they don’t want you to trip up on results day!

Your DD is right to push for the highest predictions she can get. Best of luck to her.

DD not considering Oxbridge but really wants History at Exeter. I think their acceptance rate is fairly good.

Mocks next week and the week after so she’s now very stressed and consequently being quite rude to the rest of the household - I’ve been feeling sad about how far away her university choices are but after the last few days they’re not far enough!!

Her school have a policy that UCAS forms have to be submitted by early November so the next few months will be filled with visits!

Are the exam dates out yet for 2026? Had a google but can’t find anything but thought I saw a link on her…

Provisional timetables | Pearson qualifications

This is the Edexcel link. Other boards will differ.

The AQA dates for 2026 weren't out yet when I looked a few weeks ago.

thanks , knew I’d seen something! We were hoping to book a holiday, I see these still say ‘provisional’ on them - does anyone know how much they are likely to change?

https://cdn.sanity.io/files/p28bar15/green/7ffc0eb771e92f7fd0355f8342a27cb240eb1ad1.pdF
AQA but does say ‘provisional’

Interesting, thank you TeenToTwenties.

Well done to your son @MiniMidiMaxi on passing his driving test!

@Countrylife2002 Oxford also look at where the student took their GCSE's; and looks at the student's performance compared to the average at that school to get a contextual view - cGCSE. Apparently this is unique to Oxford.

Cambridge website gives the grades achieved by it's cohort in a subject. For History and Politics it says that 70% of students achieved A star A star A (not using an asterix as it causes bolding!). The standard offer is A star AA. I'm sure Oxford have similar numbers but I haven't found them. As JessyCarr says the AAA standard offer is for results rather than the offer, so the better the predicted grades the more chance of interview and offer (when combined with all the other elements they look at).

Best of luck to your daughter for her mocks @BlackBean2023 And to everyone else's DC taking exams soon.

@Waspie haha, DS came bag with no merch except a tote bag from a uni that doesn't do his course! 😂He said he couldn't get anywhere near the Oxford table or the Imperial table as there were so many people around them. Not sure he found it super useful but it's made him think a bit more. Your DS sounds like he's a good fit for Oxbridge, very determined and hard working!

@MiniMidiMaxi well done to your DS on their driving test, my DS has had no joy in finding a job either despite applying to several every week. He's doing a bit of cat sitting which is at least a bit of cash for him.

@BlackBean2023 good luck for the mocks next week, ours won't have any more tests now until beginning of June which are for the UCAs predictions. DS did have the head of maths come up to him on Friday and tell him he had clearly been revising as there was huge improvement on his last test score - DS doesn't know what he got yet though so that's a bit annoying but it made him happy that he was noticed IYKWIM.

@TeenToTwenties thanks for that link, our timetable for next year doesn't look too bad.