Year 12 - 2024/25 - Support, Discussion and Looking After Each Other (Thread 2)

[BlackBean2023]

You’re a chatty lot… continue

Welcome @CagneyNYPD1 - good to have you on board!

@Wehaditsogood sorry to hear that. When will mock results be back?

@BlackBean2023 sorry to hear your DD is upset, understandably though, there is such a lot of pressure on them at the moment, always lurking underneath!

Welcome @CagneyNYPD1 😀, come and vent your worries to us, instead of your DS, this is what I am doing!

@JessyCarr your DD sounds v organised starting her UCAS application. I am hovering around my DD finishing her mocks before I venture mentioning UCAS 😂.

DD has 2 more mocks at the end of this week and is ok with all she has done so far. Her 'next steps' week is next week and I think the reality of applying to uni is really going to hit as they start preparing their personal statements.

We had the first really realistic conversation about unis and open days etc last night which was relief as I thought she was avoiding talking about it. She even talked about booking her UCAT too which opens next week so things are starting to feel a bit too real now. I am pretending I am ok and chilled about it all (I am not) but don't think I am fooling anyone. I think we will all feel better when the mock results come out with predicted grades, then it will feel like we can really concentrate on what comes next.

When do yours get their predicted grades? DDs come out 3 July.

Our predicted grades will come out in the next two weeks I think.
The trouble is you need to know your predictions to properly start the UCAS statement. To know which unis are realistic.
DS and his friends are so worried that they are thinking about deferring a year and starting uni in 2027. Because surely their real A-levels will be better than this. Hmm. I am not so sure.
Good luck to us all.

Ours use their AS level grades as predicted grades so we won’t know those until the middle of August!

Bath and Bristol open days for us this week. I’m intrigued to hear ds’s thoughts compared to Exeter.

DS has been told his predicted grades already but his mocks were earlier. It does help to decide which open days to prioritise. @Muchtoomuchtodo we are also heading to Bristol and Bath and curious how they will compare to Exeter!

We have mocks next week, just 3, 2 geography (physical and human) and 1 history. Business is already done.
To be honest you lot are way ahead of us, I haven't even considered UCAS forms or open days, and I'm sure DS hasn't either!
He is going to our local uni open day at the end of the month, bit I think that's really just a day out with his mates.
He was booked into the UCAS discovery day on Friday but school booked a history course work day at the uni library 😠
The Sam Fender gig on Saturday seems to be taking up the most brain space at the moment 😳

@gingercat02 We're with you re UCAS and uni. Very little thought been given to it yet. School focuses on this next term. My DS has no idea what he wants to do! There is probably quite a lot of head in the sand going on at the moment as the thought of leaving school and living by yourself can be rather overwhelming.

LSE open day bookings for 10th July have opened.

https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/meet-visit-and-discover-LSE/events/visit-lse/2024-25/undergraduate-open-day-july-2025/10-july-2025

We’re heading to Bath this weekend too. Already familiar with Bristol so not planning on adding that to the open day list. DS was thinking about the LSE open day @Muchtoomuchtodo, but the date lands a bit awkwardly for us, and they have some really good virtual materials, e.g. some of last year’s subject talks, so I think we’re going to skip paying for another London train fare!

@SunblockSue You are right. They have no idea what it is like to live alone. DS was home alone for a weekend and it shocked him how much time housework takes 🤦‍♀️

We have to give the UCAS discovery event a miss, too. DS refuses to skip school. I wish the school just gave them a they off to attend the UCAS discovery event.

Thanks for the LSE link. We can really only book it if DS gets his grades. Fingers crossed.

DS2 off to Bath and Bristol with his friend this weekend - no parents allowed! We shall be bringing DS1 home from university after finishing his degree last week.

Would appreciate feedback on engineering talks at Bath and if it's worth braving the crowd or not. If it is we will go in October but my son has been there already for outreach so knows he likes the campus
Wondering if the talks are any more useful than the website, as don't want to put him off with a visit to a heaving campus

DS will be at Bath’s engineering talk, don’t know if I’ll go in with him, but can report back either way!

Hope everyone's DC doing exams, or having just finished exams are doing well.

DS is starting to get some results back from his end of years but not grades, or predicated grades for UCAS, which his school have told him may be different. Nobody seems to understand why though! They are having a further steps day later in the month.

His work experience went incredibly well. DS thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Legal team for a week. He learnt lots, both about contract law and office life, and also from speaking to individuals about their university choices and what they would do differently if they were doing it again now with the benefit of hindsight. The head of legal has written him a glowing report to add to his Unifrog and has said he's very welcome to intern with them next summer and they'd pay him Junior Paralegal rates. This would be a fantastic opportunity if only they weren't based 200 miles away from our home! He's still undecided about taking Law or taking History (or HistPol) then law conversion. He is going to do the LNAT this summer anyway while he considers.

@BlackBean2023 I'm sorry your daughter missed out on the Exeter Scholars place. I hope she is getting over her disappointment.

Well done to your elder son on finishing his degree @JustHereWithMyPopcorn. I'm sure it'll be lovely to have him home for a while!

I'm in awe of how organised your daughter is @JessyCarr!

Welcome @CagneyNYPD1

Like many of you DS and I are off to Bristol on Saturday. I hope your DC have a great experience.

We can't do the LSE Open day either, DS has a History field trip. The virtual tours and online open day content is very good though. We plan to take a look, around the area, if there is time, when we go to the UCL Open day later in the month. DS won't apply for LSE if he applies for UCL or Oxbridge as they all have such low offer rates it would be too much of a risk.

We’re dealing with more disappointment today - predicted grades of BBB. She was hoping for AAB.

She can do another set of assessments in September to get the grades up so not the end of the world but more tears…!

@Waspiework experience sounds fab and what a great offer to have for next summer.

@BlackBean2023sorry to hear about your DD and Exeter and also results not being quite what she hoped for.

We are mid exams Chemistry was hard yesterday but apparently everyone said the same so he’s still feeling quite confident. Maths tomorrow and Biology Friday and next Wednesday before we start open days in earnest with Glasgow next Thursday.

@Waspie great news about your DS work experience.
@BlackBean2023 sorry to hear about the grades etc
@JessyCarr I am so envious of your child being so organised.

DS and I survived work experience was only 2 days though he did really well think I can hand over some of the general bookkeeping for a family friend to him to do help him earn some money. Feel like I am stuck on a roundabout he has decided he would like to go to uni again mentioned it casually on last day of exams. Get his results Friday or Monday.
Anyone else's kid changing their minds as much as mine ? He ain't even done a single open day. Currently away for his Geography field trip.

@waspie thank you, I'm normally pleased to have him home for a day or two before the annoyance starts.. 😬The work experience sounds amazing, well done him for making such an excellent impression. Don't dismiss that internship next summer if he does choose law, it's extremely valuable!

@BlackBean2023 oh that's disappointing for her, hopefully she can get those boosted in Sept. DS got Physics back, he got a B one mark off an A but they have point blank refused to review anyone's paper, one boy even got yelled at for being a bit to persistent on the matter. I'm hoping they will push that to an A for predicted grades. He should get Chemistry grade today, desperately hoping it's an A or he will be absolutely gutted. Math maybe tomorrow, similarly hoping for an A or he needs to start looking at alternative universities!

Good luck to your DS with his exams @Lalux

@Tebheag yep, DS still floating around being indecisive. Well done on the work experience for your DS, I wish my kids could help me with my work!

Anyone heading to Bath tomorrow or Saturday, in what seems to be spectacularly bad planning both days clash with the Robbie Williams concert in the evening so Bath is going to be absolutely heaving. You have been warned!

DS is doing Bath in the morning so hoping to miss most of the Robbie stuff.

DS has messaged got a high A for Chemistry so thank goodness for that.

Well done on those having already got their mock results. Everything seems to be happening so fast.

My DS has his Maths a level paper 2 this afternoon - he has come down with a cold so let's hope he can concentrate for long enough as he is prone to making silly mistakes. The grade boundaries were fairly high last year and the general consensus is that paper 1 was fairly straightforward. So every mark will count as I think he may be on the boundaries of two grades.

He has a UCAS event tomorrow so I'm hoping that will inspire him.

To slightly counteract the hoards heading towards to Bath there will be thousands going out of town and up to Twickenham on Saturday for the Premiership Rugby final!

I'm sorry your daughter's predictions are not what she wanted @BlackBean2023. At least there is another chance to get those A's in the Autumn - fingers crossed for her.

Well done to your son @JustHereWithMyPopcorn I hope his predictions reflect his high scores. Surely being so close to the grade boundaries they will push them to the higher grade for predictions? DS' school have also said not to even think about appealing the grades or predictions. He has had one subjects grade prediction back so far and the exam scores, but no prediction yet, for a second. Looking okay so far though.

I hope Maths paper 2 went well despite his cold @SunblockSue and that your son enjoys the UCAS event tomorrow.

Good luck to your son @Lalux

Work experience that results in paid work sounds like a great outcome @Tebheag Still plenty of time to do open days if he wants to in the Autumn.

Well Maths paper 2 was tough - lots of people struggled. I think it's knocked his confidence a bit. Fingers crossed for a good paper 3 next week. The final maths paper clashes with a mock exam so those affected are having to sit that the next day. Not sure how they are ensuring no one cheats.

There are quite a few advantages of sitting maths first leaving FM to year 13 but the main downside is that he is not in a studying groove as you would be if you were doing all subjects. Though that might just be that my DC is a bit lazy and is already giving all the excuses! But I think the positives outweigh the negatives.

DS had his usual pre exam breakdown yesterday. I came home to him almost in tears because "nothing is going in"
We went for a very windy walk on the beach had a treat tea and a chat. Seems happier this morning. He's off to the uni library today with his history group to do some coursework research, so a change of scenery should help.
This school stuff is harder the second time round 😪