Year 13 - thread for those who are NOT A grade students and finding A levels hard

[LadyNorthStar]

I was on the other thread, but everyone on there seems to be predicted A stars and applying to oxbridge. I’m just hoping my DS gets good enough grades to do the course he wants. He will need BCC and his last mocks were DDE 😬. He hasn’t been doing enough work and has (finally) been revising over the summer as the next mocks in Oct need to be at least Cs. Anyone in a similar position?

Hi. Just wanted to say my child’s summer mocks were BCD and in his A levels he got AAB so don’t worry! They get more motivation to revise as the time gets closer. Mine started serious revision in feb half term. Mine found making online flashcards using a free app the most useful. Any you make for mocks you can obviously bank for the real thing. Then in last couple of months he used lots of past papers. Good luck

Can I join you?
I was watching the other thread and I soon realised I would not belong there.
Have DD18 who has restarted Y12 after poor mental health and late autism and ADHD diagnosis.
She is now going to Y13 and is still struggling to keep attendance and get decent grades. However, she is very keen on uni despite me saying there are other options.
We do not have predicted grades yet as she is at FE college which has another set of mocks in Oct and will grades on the back of that.
We haven't looked at unis or PS yet. I just hope she stays mentally well. If she passes A levels that would b a bonus for me.
Xx

I wanted to say that my son (with 4, 5, 6 at GCSE) was throughout years 12 and 13 always working at DEE. He just didn't like studying and lacked confidence so always believed that he couldnt do it. He never 'saw the light' and did the minimum, but did in the end achieve CCC. He went to university (MN would say a mid range ex poly) and got a 2:1 and a good, well paid graduate job. I would never post on the threads you mention because everyones child gets 7,8,9 (and people usually demand a remark for 7). On the A level threads anything less than A* is a failure and on the Uni threads you must be aiming for RG. I wish your YP every success - things work out in the end.

My child has had the results back from the AS levels (in Wales) and got A,C, U - the U was in history and was a total surprise / unexpected. Revision was done so suspect when we get the paper back it will be essay writing ability that has been the issue - if anyone has any recommendations for how to revise History A level it would be very much appreciated please!
Fortunately the welsh Baccalaureate is accepted at the uni's of her choice so should have enough points with the same grades next year.
@LadyNorthStar did you check what grades the course was being offered at in clearing this year - a fair few dropped a couple of grades but is course / uni dependant

I have a child who got Ds and Es in A levels last year and it's really difficult to find a way forward. Doesn't want university, would probably get a place on a degree with a foundation year, but knowing DC that's not an option, as coursework has always been a massive struggle and I know none would be completed and DC would probably be thrown off the course at the end of the foundation year after incurring debt to no avail.

DC has tried to get work, but hasn't succeeded, jobs aren't plentiful here, been turned down from places like McDonald's.

So here we are a year on, no further forward.

I have a DC who isnt aiming for RG etc and has a mediocre selection of GCSE results. (4 in maths and science, rest all 5). Everyone on MN were saying kids without 8's and 9's at GCSE shouldn't bother with A Levels but he couldn't find a course he liked so I thought it was worth a try. He's getting B's in his mocks and just got a B in Criminology. He is still aiming for BBB and is looking at uni's with BBB-BCC. He's been working all summer on essays, coursework, book reviews etc. Most of the MN FE/HE threads are simply pointlessly disheartening for the majority of DC's and their parents. People in the real world go to mid range Uni's, get degrees, have a good time and get work (not just shelf stacking in Tesco!)

Welcome everyone 😄 I hope we can all support each other.

It’s lovely to hear some success stories too!

My daughter had a boyfriend in year 12 and I knew would not do great in her AS levels. She got a nasty shock with CCDD. She started working really hard in year 13 and got AAB. Sometimes it all starts to come together and there is hope on the horizon.

Agree...it's nice to see stories of success.
DD hasn't done any revision over summer. She has her 3rd mock in Oct and is in for a shock. Think she has too much of hope in clearing.
Oh the stress of it all...
I wish I could say just get a shelf stacking job for a few years but even those seem like gold dust now.
Just have to stay hopeful
Xx

I just feel so frustrated. He is doing some work, but still not enough really. I have to resist the urge to keep lecturing him about it because I know it’s up to him. We can’t make him do it.

Last week his cousin got A*AA. When I told him he burst into tears and said he felt pressured. This was the FIRST time he actually seemed bothered. Of course I reassured him that we didn’t expect him to get all As, but we did expect him to do the work and do the best he can. There has been some improvement since then, but I still don’t see that passion to succeed in him.

I’ve told the wider family to not question him about predicted grades or unis etc as he’s feeling stressed. My PIL seemed to understand this, but SIL (whose son just got the A grade results) was a bit disparaging and said stress is a part of life and he needs to deal with it.

DH is really annoyed at DS at the moment as he feels it’s going to be embarrassing next year if he doesn’t do well. He’s already resigned to this being the case. So I’m stuck in the middle trying to keep the pressure off DS, but trying to motivate him to do better. Honestly, I don’t think I spent this much time thinking about my own A levels!

@LadyNorthStar
It's so hard when relatives make unhelpful comments. Each person is different and handles stress differently.
Your sil was certainly not helpful when she made that comment.
The biggest change happens when they initiate it themselves. Just keep encouraging him when he studies..I think that's a great start.
Ask if he likes any help like a tutor, access to any websites for revision etc. Rest is up to them really.

DS got BCD in his y12 exams but improved to BBB in his final exams.

what really helped him for the D subject - if you can afford it- is a subject specific tutor who was able to go through his work and feedback with him, do practice questions etc. Basically he taught my DS how to answer the questions properly and pass the exam. We had him once a week for 9 months at £38 a session (online). Worth it for the 2 grade improvement!

Do not despair! So much can change over the year. DS1 got B, C, D in his Yr 12 mocks and really had to work hard to persuade his teachers that he was an A, A, B student which is what he needed for his chosen course. They ended up giving him those predicted grades, emphasising that he really needed to keep his nose to the grind stone. He stepped up and end up with better than predicted. It’s all to play for and, to some degree, within his control.

I might be wrong about the purpose of the thread. However as I said a bit earlier my son was a DDE student to eventually a CCC student and there are many students who are like my son and will not be BBA or BAA - if they work harder in year 13. A level years are stressful - but made even more stressful if we can only see AAA as being worthwhile.

I think your in laws ( including husband) need to be told to wind their necks in and mind their own business. What difference does it make to them if your child doesn't get all A's?

Can I join?

Although my son gets medium to high grades (sometimes...) he requires an enormous, exhausting amount of support (ASC) and is not motivated, organised, strategic or any of the things all the kids seem to be on the other thread. He's a coaster, overly optimistic most of the time and I am absolutely filled with dread about Y13 as I'm either going to have to force him to do work at home a lot more than he did, or leave him and he then won't be able to apply for where he really wants to go.

He hasn't opened his bag yet and the last day of term for him was 2nd July as he went on a trip! Augh.

@SilverBlue56Of course, this thread is for anyone with DC who have not been predicted As.

@MillyMolliMandi I don’t expect my DS to get As and I will be very happy if he gets what he needs, which is BCC. I know through clearing he would probably be OK with CDD, however, at this point I’m worried that he won’t get any offers. He wants to do Computer Science/cybersecurity.

@RainbowBagelsyou are right and it’s difficult as mostly everyone else in the family has got A/B in recent years so it just seems to be the expectation. We are Indian so education is given A LOT of importance. It is literally a topic of conversation every time we meet.

My DH is getting swept up in this, however, he definitely does not think anything less than an A is worthless. He actually struggled with A levels himself and had to do his course through clearing.

Apologies, my post came off badly. I was trying to make the point that sometimes things turn out better than expected. Having not gone through the educational system here myself I had no clue at how difficult A levels are until DS1 started his. It was a slog for him. The only thing that should matter for any young person is that end up with the results they need to follow their preferred path, whatever that is. That’s a phenomenal outcome, regardless of whether that’s 3 Ds, Cs or Bs. I’m entirely of the view that value is as much in the work and commitment shown as the outcome. DS2 will start BTECs next month. He’s dyslexic and school has been relentlessly hard for him and his GCSEs results did not reflect in any way the effort he put in - a tough pill to swallow at a young age. However he knows that we are unreservedly proud of him and the effort he put in.

DS has got his dates for his October mocks now. They are before the half-term, which I’m surprised about as I thought they would be after. It means he has 2 weeks less than I thought.

He seems to have made a good start to Y13 and I have seen him working more. He did quite a bit of revision over the summer. I hope it’s going to be enough so that he can get decent predictions for his uni applications.

DD still hasn't gone back to college. Has done very little work over the summer and has mocks on Oct too. She went to a uni open day yesterday. I still don't think uni is for her but it's not for me to say. I just want this year to get over with.
Still hoping the switch in her brain will finally turn on one day!!!
Xx

@LadyNorthStarI feel you!
DS was straight A stars at GCSE (we are in wales) but went in to A levels with no clue how difficult they are. He needed AAA for medicine, got the offers, got the UCAT but did nothing over summer having got BBB at AS level. Didn’t really do much extra work until March before A Levels even though mocks were poor. Ended up missing the grades, tears all round. Like @Tealfishhis Welsh Bacc pulled him up and he at least got into insurance to do pharmacology with ABBD. I’m really hoping this is the kick up the behind he needs. He also did maths (that was the D) which he struggled with despite 2 As at GCSE and really regrets not doing history instead. It’s so hard to see them make these mistakes and you can’t force them to do the work. But I think things do work out in the end.
edited but can’t get rid of the bold!

At the end of Year 12 my DC was at a BCD and was at one point a BDD. On the start of year 13 it was as if a switch came on and they worked their socks off to achieve a BBB in this years A levels. I want to echo what a PP said about some of these education threads where nothing less than an A is a complete disaster and please don’t even consider A Levels if your DC didn’t get 7 -9’s in GCSE’s! Thats all bollocks. It’s a lot of parents showing off trying to one up their children over yours and they are as transparent as a pane of glass. The majority of students don’t get these grade so please do be disheartened by those comments.

@sproutsandparsnips can I please ask if the Welsh Bacc is the same as 4 AS’s taken in England? Or is it a separate course that gives 4 grades?

@sproutsandparsnips ahh don’t worry I’ve googled it and it’s entirely different! Sounds very interesting but quite demanding alongside A levels.

@NotDonnayes - I have to say though it was the only thing DS really smashed. His individual project was really good and got full marks. The other A Levels, well less said the better!