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

[BlackBean2023]

You’re a chatty lot… continue

@Tebheag if you can't see geography teacher at the parents evening can you discuss with them anyway another time? DD's school and teachers are very good at emailing/calling if you have any concerns or need to chat. It might be worth emailing his geography teacher separately? I know I had my mind put at rest by a chat with DD's biology teacher at one point, she was very happy to ring me.

So we have booked UCAT this morning, all a bit too real now 😮. At least DD knows how long she has to plan her prep.

Just waiting for her predicted grades now.

DD is on the pill for this reason. It was just impossible without - she’d not have been able to sit a gcse on the worst days .

We have visited Durham which we both absolutely loved. I think she’d be so happy there and I’d be very happy to visit!

She’s having second thoughts about St Andrews but can’t find anything to replace it so it’s gone to third. She desperately wants either Oxford or Durham. She has the right predictions for 2 of her A levels so we’re keeping everything crossed for the third.

She’s been to some state school tasters at Oxford but we’ve decided to do the Open Day just to look at the colleges.

Predictions in and both DC are happy.

DC1 - 4 A*, so it appears the Oxford application will be going ahead. She needs to decide if she's going to let maths go and focus on the two essay subjects and her language or keep at it. I think she may have been slightly hoping a lower prediction would make the choice for her.

DC2 - A*BB. A nice surprise, as she was convinced she'd have a C for biology. Slightly sad not have the A in French but her teacher seems confident she'll get it there.

Very proud of both of them!

Finally caught up with the thread, like everyone else pushing us to download app, I guess that’s the only for me to keep up with the news, page keep refreshing when I am on browser and then I would lost what I was reading!! ( is it just me or anyone else hate downloading apps, I feel like I am giving them too much space on my phone)

we went to Bristol on Friday, booked for talks and only managed to attend 3. And went around the labs. Didn’t get time to check out accommodation at all. This was our first one as open day and I went in without knowing what to check ( I wish I read the thread before, so app seems to be the only way to keep up )
DD has still not narrowed down the course, they said they don’t care what’s on personal statement, as long as the grades are met!!
AS exams went really well, but FM mocks was bad and she burst into tears yesterday as well :( very worried about the predicted grades and her school is very strict.
Oxbridge is still under discussion, but taking earlier ESAT worries her. Also she thinks, this is only good if you are going towards academia/research but good for industry jobs.
It doesn’t sound right to me at all, but then she makes it sound so convincing and I am lost. Could someone help me understand this point — she really want to apply oxbridge but also I guess getting another two months to do ESAT is pushing this out. We don’t get grades until beginning of July.
We haven’t even checked what’s on offer on Reading Uni, I dont even know why. It’s just next to her school and right next to home

That’s amazing, well done your DCs.
we only get grades beginning of July and Uni talk second week of July. Is our school leaving everything for late?
BTW, did anyone go on GWR for Bristol/Bath and found the offer on uni site for 20% off for open day still was more expensive than TrainLine tickets? I think I am just getting the first taste of all this and was shocked. Southampton on Sunday

Thanks so much! Hope the time passes quickly for your DC!

@Tebheag your sons predicted grades may be different from his exam result but I'd definitely be pushing for a call/meeting with the geography teacher to discuss next steps. How is your son feeling about the results? A resit in September sounds like something to push for.

@Wehaditsogood at Bristol we wasted about 2 hours going out to see the accommodation but it does seem to be a priority for DS. Personally I think it's something you can consider at an offer day.

Some excellent predicted grades for your DCs - well done to them! Good luck to those taking aptitude tests this summer too. DS is doing LNAT (law). At Bristol the offers are made based on 20% GCSE, 40% A Level and 40% LNAT so it really does seem to hold a lot of weight in the offer consideration process. Bristol also said they don't look at the personal statement unless there is a direct tie and they need to look more closely at the applicants. I'm not sure if this is the same in other faculties though.

DS's school are having a UCAS day later this term. Apparently they are getting in various Admissions people as well as old students who are at university now to talk about their experiences.

I used the Bristol offer to book tickets @Newlease and they were good value. DS and I got Reading to Bristol returns for just over £30 between us. I did book them way in advance though.

Re Bristol and other popular choices, it’s important to bear in mind that there are subjects for which the pressure of applicants means there is a need for them to scrutinise the PS because, without interviews, how else can they distinguish between apparently equally meritorious candidates?

Aeronautical engineering is a case in point at Bristol. It is hugely popular as a choice, partly because of Bristol’s excellent reputation in engineering generally and partly because they have links with the huge Airbus wing factory on the edge of the city.

We know a current Y13 who applied for that course as an early applicant (Cambridge also being on her form). She has 10 grade 9s at GCSE and is predicted straight A* in 4 maths/science A levels.

Having applied in October she still had not heard from Bristol when her A level exams started. She has since received an offer for one of their other engineering courses, but not Aero.

All of this just to say - there will be courses for which the PS matters, and no doubt others for which it won’t!

DS has only just started mocks today. Human Geography seems to have gone well.
History tomorrow (War of the Roses) is less optimistic.
Not sure we are waiting for A's, well done to the high achievers up thread 👏

Yes, we did that with GWR and Bristol you can add your yp railcard too. We thought it was quite cheap coming from Reading.

@temperedolive those are great predictions, a good place to be at the end of the academic year!

DS got his maths back today, just scraped his A - thank goodness!

Dd is really unsure about Oxbridge or
not. She would be contextual due to quite a few factors, but wants a competitive subject. Her reasons for wanting Oxbridge are quite unique to her situation and make sense. Her predictions are essentially confirmed A* in psych , A in bio but borderline (A/B) for history. Shes just worried about the predicted grades not being high enough

@JessyCarr Thanks so much for that response, that makes perfect sense. Glad you put all that information there.not having perfect 9s is another thing. My DD is worried if she try putting in for Oxbridge, she would miss out on other two choices, being on that exact path.! Hope she got what she wanted in the end.
DD’s school being very strict on grades is not going to help either. One test she did bad is considered for grading another one she did very well is only considered 50%.. I wish we could take their worry away!
@JustHereWithMyPopcorn Oh! When I checked GWR price was so much more then TrainLine, even with 20%. All happened very last minute as it was Friday, and no one else was going with her!

@PinkChaires Can she retake history in September to secure that prediction as an A? A standard humanities offer at Oxford is AAA (higher for sciences; higher for Cambridge), so she’d really need to show that she’s predicted at least that to be in the running for an interview. An A* in one subject doesn’t cancel out a B in another. There are no contextual (as in reduced-grade) offers at Oxbridge, though contextual flags are used to evaluate who gets to interview and to some extent who gets an offer.

More generally, perhaps she’d be helped by thinking through the pros and cons?

E.g.:

For the right person on the right course, Oxford or Cambridge can provide a fantastically rich academic environment.
Tutorial/supervision system gives great scope for intellectual development.
Application process can be a growth/learning opportunity even if you don’t get in.
College system socially beneficial.
Accommodation mostly owned by colleges (esp at Cam) and thus rents significantly cheaper than other unis.
International reputation and esteem for these unis.
All the extra-curriculars you could wish for.
Only takes up 1 of 5 spots on your UCAS form.

But:

Lots of hoops to jump through, early in a busy and pressured Y13.
For the wrong person/wrong course these unis can be too intense (short terms, high demands, competitive peers)
How much will rejection hurt if it happens (as it does for most applicants)?

Etcetera. Does she know which of Ox/Cam she’d be aiming for?

@Waspie good to know that it worked, we booked very late on Thursday( was waiting for other girls to confirm), in the end paid so much! First Uni visit and all that. We will be going to Southampton as family, so that is okay. Rest she is going with friends. I am more worried about the predicted grades not matching with high ambitions 😭😭

Sorry, i wasnt clear. These arent mock results, they are potential predictions ( but have been told by psych and bio they are 99% sure they will give her these grades). History the teacher is unsure as apparently predictions are different for essay based ( more lenient since lower grades are expected as its such a huge jump from gcse to a level) i think if the prediction is an A then she might go for it. The plus if she doesn’t make an application is that there is time to get bio up to an A*

I understood you @PinkChaires - was just wondering whether she can advocate for the A rather than the B for that history prediction, whether by acing a test in September, writing brilliant essays over the summer, or whatever.

Shes just gotten an A* in the last test , the main issue was her mock result which may influence the prediction. However, the teacher did say that it was totally normal to get c/d at that point ( jan) and it was an issue of timing, but the quality of writing itself

i believe they have a few tests early on? The college deadline is 30th of sep, so not much time but potentially. College is focusing a lot of history coursework atm/ in sep so maybe the quality of that ( first draft due 3rd sep) could influence. I wanted to ask, if she gets the minimum AAA is it worth the application? Or should it really be 3 x A s?

Sorry that should be a star aa and 3 a stars

@PinkChaires Both Ox and Cam will say that in sifting for interviewees they are looking (among other things) for applicants whose predictions meet or exceed the typical offer for the course. So if you can identify the typical offer for the desired course, that should be a guide.

The reason they don’t need you to show you’re predicted straight A stars is because they each run such careful and intensive application processes that they obtain a lot of information about each applicant which they regard as much more useful than exam predictions (which are notoriously unreliable and vary hugely between different schools and colleges).

If it were me (I know it’s not!) I’d be going to the history teacher before the end of this term and saying: “I really want to demonstrate to you that I merit an A prediction for history, which will help me in my university ambitions. What can I do over the summer to persuade you that my prediction should be an A?

Thank you really helpful x i will encourage dd to speak to her teacher re the grades

Last y12 exam tomorrow for DS, he seems pretty happy with how they have gone. Which hopefully means he is on track for the predicted grades that teachers had indicated so far, and the universities we are going to see are within reach. So Warwick on Saturday (his favourite on paper), Southampton on Sunday (I think I can duck out of that trip, looks like DH will accompany). Then Imperial next week (again DH, I seem to be slacking!).

Meant to add on the accuracy of predicted grades discussion - DS’s school have just sent an email emphasising that predicted grades are not subject to negotiation, though there will be an opportunity to demonstrate better performance in September - as they have a strong reputation with universities on the accuracy of their predictions and are not going to put this at risk. (it’s a high achieving 6th form, most go to competitive uni places). Maybe that reputation has an impact on success rates at the application stage, who knows!

DD hasn’t even started her exams yet - we are doing open days but might completely be targeting the wrong ones.