Year 12 - 2025/2026: Here we go again!

[QueenMabby]

A new thread for the new school and college year. A friendly thread for parents of those going into year 12 in September 2025.

@SuperSue77the link above says in section 2 that English is counted twice if both taken.

Do you mind sharing why you need to calculate this? I only did as DD doesn't realise how well she did compared to her school.

Thanks @TheyNotLikeUs it stil does answer my question about how to calculate DD’s score. The reason I want to know is that KMMS determine who to interview for their med school by comparing a student’s attainment score against their school’s. So the bigger the gap between the two, the more likely you are to be interviewed. It is a big risk to apply there if you are unlikely to get interviewed.

So DD got 9 in maths; 8 in lit; 6 in lang; 998 in the 3 sciences and 988 in 3 other subjects. So is her score

9 x 2 - maths
8 x 2 - English lit (counted twice as she also sat lang)
9 + 9 + 8
9 + 8 + 8

giving a total of 85 and a score of 8.5

Or does English lang have to be within the figures above to allow her to double her lit score? So:

9 x 2 - maths
8 x 2 - English lit
9 + 9 + 8
9 + 8 + 6

giving a total of 83 and a score of 8.3

Does the fact she sat and passed language allow her to double her lit score (I read somewhere that you can count the higher of lang and lit for the English score) or does the lang score actually have to be included with the 8 subjects scored?

@MrsHamlet do you know?

Good Luck to any starters today!! 🤞🙏🤞..

( I’ll catch up later, crazy busy as DS19 leaving for Uni today 🙀😹)..

Sutton Trust has both summer schools, programmes about specific career routes and then also Sutton Trust Online, which is information across 6rh form and into uni slightly on everything application based to apprenticeships or uni, for medicine, dentistry, vet me, Oxbridge. Even stuff on wider skill development courses, help with personal statements, workshops/webinars all about various topics from those who've done it etc, those talk to our alumni online things.

So I'd make sure to look at each of the different programmes and the criteria. The ones Aelin mentioned tend to individual university programmes, which can get entry grade reductions and also to do university style lectures etc. These criteria are down to individual univeristy and the best way to research is reading through each university's specific criteria on their website. They may also have different 'strands' of a program with each one having different criteria.

SMF as in the name is the Social Mobility Foundation, so they tend to have more criteria about w/c, deprived/BAME, but I'd check as they have different programs based on some careers people are aiming for, and some of the programmes include a free residential doing work experience at a company in that space.

On the whole for work experience (assuming they don't have other contacts etc or connections, as I didn't at all), the best way I found is never be scared of a cold email. Be very nice, drop in bits to show you've done your research on that specific company/industry (law), or person. Also definitely show your accomplishments and why you want to do it in general and then why that place. You only need one person to reply and it can work for medicine or other things as well.

My friend and me went through the websites of the 3 nearest hospitals, and we went through the consultant page, with the consultants per speciality and emails. Picked those in specialities she liked and cold emailed as many as we could over a few weeks. One doctor replied and she got 2 weeks of work experience in urology. She really enjoyed it even though urology was the one she thought she wanted the least (out of the ones she picked, as in specialities). But she actually said they were all so nice, talked to her about application stuff, and also she was pleasantly surprised by this. She was applying for med, and this was in Y12.

Ratty doesn’t start start full time until Monday
They don’t even get timetables until then!

Good luck everyone starting today

DS’s college seems pretty full on already, homework from the very first lesson, and there was a parent session last night talking about how they need to be revising right from the start, on top of deciding what they want to do, getting work experience and thinking about university applications! They have their first assessments in a month.

He seems happy with it all though, and keeping on top of things, other than the last minute panic to finish his bridging work on the first evening when they asked for it (I have nagged him for weeks…) I do feel a bit for his friend who only decided a week ago that he was going there and what subjects he was doing, and is then getting asked for his bridging work too.

@SuperSue77 I think your first calculation is correct based on my understanding of the document linked before rather than any expert knowledge.

This

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67bde335729cf14d438d76c2/Secondary_accountability_measures_-_guide_for_maintained_secondary_schools__academies_and_free_schools.pdf

Heads up for anyone looking at Music for university - especially Conservatoires... start research now.

Applications for conservatoires close on the 2nd of October this year for 2026 entry, so likely to be 1st October for 2027.

Some only have 1 open day a year for each specialism (yes, Guildhall, I am looking at you), so while it seems horribly early, worth looking through to see when dates are and booking this year or you will end up scrabbling around last minute.

Also get all the audition details as each one is different and some you need to ask them to provide you with backing tracks etc, or you need to have your own original but to tight timings etc.

Helping a friend and her DD who have left it really late for this year and it's a nightmare.

@SuperSue77 i think you’re first calculation is correct too just from reading the info.
@Sisublondie good luck with DS’s freshers week. Hope he settles into university nicely.

Two hours more then DD3 will have finished her first week at the new school and had all 4 new subjects. She’s ensured there’s both history and English in the blocks so that if she doesn’t get on with any subject these first couple of weeks it should be straightforward to switch. Sll 4 of hers are new so a tadge risky. She’s enjoyed business. Politics & psychology so far so let’s see how double sociology goes this afternoon. We are out tonight to celebrate DD1’s graduation from her 4yr apprenticeship - yaay! She’s now chartered. We’ll also celebrate DD3s GCSEs bc she dashed off to Reading on 21st Aug and hasn’t taken a breath since!

Has anyone had any experience with reviews on History yet? I was just wondering if they do the whole paper or only one topic as the results list the 4 marks separately not by paper. DS’s teacher has now come back to me with which should be reviewed, but only mentioned the topic rather than paper 1 or paper 2. It doesn’t really matter but I was just interested to know.

Based on marks I had thought it might be his first paper as that was lower, but it’s on the second one, though I know it comes down to where the teacher thinks there are more likely to be extra marks.

That's too many numbers for me! Sorry.... I'm no help with this!

History papers tend to = x topic (for the main exam boards). So maybe ask your DC what one is which. Even for Paper 2 which is 2 papers done at the same time, they're seperate booklets.

They do list the 4 marks separately (on the breakdown per paper, teachers have) but this relates to the paper. So Paper 1, Paper 2 (booklet 1, Paper 2 (booklet 2) and then Paper 3. So 4 seperate marks, for 4 seperate papers. Topics won't be mixed together. Other than for something like the Paper where they have a historical environment/focus on and have questions on that for one section. However it relates to the wider topic for that topic - so History of Medicine Paper and the historical environment is WW1 Medicine/on the home front. So another section will be typical exam style questions on the history of Medicine questions.

So if she's done paper 2 for review then ask whether both or only one booklets.

For Edexcel History, were the 3 papers max 60 marks each so 180 in total? Even with the element codes I couldn't work this out from the grade boundary document.

No Edexcel history isn't 60 marks each. Paper 1 is 52 marks, and Paper 2 is 64 total, with both booklets being 32 marks. Paper 3 is also 52 marks. Paper 1 and Paper 3 are both 30% each and Paper 2 40%.

Element codes (for grade boundaries released) are about the specific topics they did for each paper. So if there were 1-4 topics per paper, then it would list all possible topic combinations and the grade boundaries for each one. So for P1, the 4 different topics.
It may also do it for the combo blocks across all 3 whole exam papers. So 1111, 1431 - So someone has done the first topic for Paper 1, the 4th for Paper 2 Booklet 1, and the 3rd for Paper 2 Booklet 2 and the 1st topic again for Paper 3. That's essentially it except it tends to be letters.

Total marks for each paper group won't change (so all 3 different Paper 1 topics) despite being different topics, grade boundaries tend to have a breakdown per paper as well. But for edexcel, I've seen this breakdown per paper as a separate pdf for A-level. I haven't checked GCSE this year. So it's not it's not in the overall pdf with grade boundaries per subject.
The grade boundaries for each topic (so each 4 paper 1 topics) will be different, so you may want to look at those specifically. So Paper 1 history of crime for example, and a 9 is 48 out of 52 but for Paper 1 history of medicine, a 9 is 46 out of 52 (these are my made up examples). As it will be slightly different in how people did for each available topic (history of crime, medicine or warfare, for example) of each paper 1. So you can not have the same grade boundaries for all Paper 1 regardless of topic. Hope that makes sense.

Thank you @TheLivelyViper . DD got a 9 in Edexcel History and looked at the grade boundaries just out of interest back on results day but we couldn't work it out.

She got an 8 in mocks I recall so she was pleased she managed to improve.

DS got his timetable today and isn’t with any of his pals for any classes-booooo.
It’s a big college so I guess it’s to be expected-am sure he may know someone from his school in each one but am already worrying as he is quite shy with new people.
I guess lots of them are in them same position.
When will the stresses end-never I imagine ….

To find the pdf from Edexcel with the breakdown of marks per paper, search "Notional Component Grade
Boundaries - June 2025 - GCSE

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/History/2016/specification-and-sample-assessments/gcse-9-1-history-specification.pdf
That's the specification - on page 3 it has the breakdown of codes for each topic (for each paper). It's very easy to understand from that one. So a few letters maybe of HGEX11 or HGEX12 - the 12 and 11 indicate the Paper 1 topic it could be (hypothetical). Hopefully that makes it easier if you still want to take a look.

For AQA they have theres on the same pdf as the grade boundaries per subject overall, you just have to get to the of that (for the last subject) and then you'll see it all over again in alphabetical order but this time is each paper and the grade boundaries for them. Obviously you can get a 9 in one paper and a 8 in another and still get a 9 overall, you may get lots more marks in one, you may get the same marks but paper 1 is 30% and paper 2 15% etc (as a hypothetical example).

Congratulations to your DD for getting a 9!

Thanks for the explanation, he did AQA so he sat 2 exams with 2 topics in each. Having now spoken to DS about it he said what you did about the booklets, so he thinks they are essentially separate exams done at the same time

Yes that's what they are basically if an exam board mixes more than 1 in a paper. Because as you say that is a difficult issue for marking and reviews. So it is seperate booklets at the same time. Most of the time you have the time set but it's up to you how you spend it. So it's not like 1 hour then they collect one booklet and you have to do the other. It's more like here's both booklets at the start of the exam, you split your time how you want but it's the combined time to do both. Ask his teacher or he can, to confirm it was just the one type of booklet.

So I used to do my Elizabeth England paper 1st - I'd do the 16 marker and the 12 marker. Then often do my 4x 8 markers for Cold War and then back to Elizabeth for the 4 marker (can rush and still get 2+ marks and would rather miss than the bigger ones). Though in my real GCSE, the cold war questions actually shook me to my core (I looked through both booklets as soon as exam started) - it was the combo of all the weirdest questions ever, more than if I just had the one. So I needed to think a lot about them, so I did all of Elizabeth first (backwards, so started with highest mark and then worked down). Then had to face the cold war one.

@SB1971 agh that’s hard. Even someone recognisable in his class is helpful, doesn’t even have to be a mate. DD has started at a new school with absolutely no one from her old one. She said today that she thinks it’s easier if you’re a natural extrovert & generally chatty & also actually interested in the other people. As sexist as this may sound I think it’s easier for girls to find openers by complimenting another girl (could be hair, shirt, lip colour or even her pencil case!). It’s a leveller and doesn’t matter if she’s sporty or what subjects she’s doing. I think this is a bit harder for boys to navigate.

@SB1971 I hope it’s ok and he makes friends quickly. My DS has gone to a different college to his friends so is trying to navigate getting to know people. I think it’s probably harder than high school as they don’t have a consistent form in the same way to get to know people. But he thought they had generally tried to mix up people a bit from the schools more people have come from.

@TheLivelyViper thank you, it does make it a bit more confusing when they sat it at the same time with both given out and handed in together. I’ll see if I can find out from his school how it works for reviews!

@NotDonna - yes I think you are right about girls. DD has already found 3 new “besties” and worked her group out further from there. Week 1 completed and they all went out together last night already. I think boys bond over eg Basketball or whatever is on offer or Space society etc. - whichever interests they have. It is quite important to make an effort in the first week with others, but it can be pretty overwhelming.
As DD has joined an existing all boys grammar she has worked out pretty quickly who the nice, gentle and welcoming boys are who have helped and shown them around. She is avoiding the macho boys who are hitting on the girls.
I suspect in an all new school the dynamics will be completely different, but those who are sociable work them out pretty quickly.

DD is most outraged that Feminist Society clashes with Physics Society. But is happy they can take the wellbeing dog for a walk around school grounds in small groups, she loves dogs. They have all been strongly encouraged to focus on their wellbeing and to actively think about it which is good.

For those who do not make friends straight away, there will hopefully be groups and societies and sports which they can join.

Sounds like most DCs have navigated their first week pretty well! Dd has settled back in quickly (same school) although they reckon that one of their friend group is likely to split away - she’s already started hanging out with a different group. They’re all pretty sanguine about it though and not taking it personally which is good.

Clubs have not started yet but from next week she’ll be back to all her music groups and starting her Crest Gold Award. She’s been invited to be a maths mentor too so she has a meeting about that.

Dd only went back yesterday...First two lessons were free/prep so nothing to do! Chemistry is a small class of about 15 even split of boyds/girls. Psychology about 20 only 3 boys! Her time is pretty full due to core maths, but I did point out by May it will be done and dusted giving her much more time. She was knackered!