Year 13 -2025/26 - Support, discussion and looking after each other (new thread from y12)

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Hello
I have started a new thread following on from this one
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/further_education/5340007-year-12-202425-support-discussion-and-looking-after-each-other-thread-2?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Yes I think the 30 marker was very good - lots of choices. DS is doing OCR board. Is your DS doing OCR too ? @Fabfabfab. actually I think there is a lots of overlap between boards!

I hope your DDs best friend will have found it okay @Countrylife2002I think getting the first one or two under one’s belt is very calming! Good luck with politics 🤞

Oh goodness @EchobellyI’m glad the strike doesn’t start until after the exam starts.

Glad your daughter was happy with her business exam @BlackBean2023😊

We (DS) have several crammed in next week too. I’m also hoping for revision motivation!

Just found this thread. DD sat her first exam today (Bus studies Ed excel). She was crying her eyes out when I picked her up. She has worked so hard and is an A grade student. But couldn’t finish 20% of the paper and said her other answers were weak. She just can’t cope with the timings. Pressure got to her even tho she went in calm.

We suspect she is possible undiagnosed SEN but obv too late for that! Extra time would have helped calm her jumbled brain.

A terrible first start but trying to re focus as has another 2 big ones this week (and 2 start of next). She has a horrible timetable. 😪

Eng lit/Lang today. Apparently it was ok...and there's nothing she can do about it if she's messed up, so she's going to forget it...

@Ventress - as luck would have it, there is a bus that goes from round the corner from our house to round the corner from their school, but tube is less stressful!

At least there is an option @Echobelly!

@hels71and @Bellini12have your dc spoken to their teachers/lecturers? Might be worth the time and effort. I bet they didn’t do as badly as they think they did.

Timing is always difficult on these essay style exams. We’ve been telling DS this since GCSE!

Ed Excel business studies daughter said it was "weird" can anyone shed any light on what that might mean. It was all I got from her

Belated birthday wishes @Ventress, too late now!
I didn’t realise the exams sarted for other papers early, for some reason and yesterday WIWIKAU had long discussions on Geo, and still thought its GCSE. Few friends had kids appearing and was keeping up with them!
and completely out of loop now! Clear pension case, thanks for the reminder. Not sure if DD has one, every time I ask about pen/pencil, she tells me it’s not that deep!! steering from writing few GCSE exams! 🤣🫤
glad econ, geo and eng went well for everyone! Good luck to those who are doing FM tmrw , we had been yo yoing about learning and with past papers. Hope it would go well for all kids sitting tmrw, whatever they are doing.
yeah, GCSE was not that far- time flies!
going to the den to ask about pencil case now!

thanks @Newlease😊

good luck for anyone taking exams today!

DS gets started today - Further Maths (Pure) - it’s a tough one to start off with! He was a bit nervous when he left but he’s worked solidly in preparation. I find it really hard to concentrate on the actual things I need to do while they’re in exams (younger DS has been in GCSE exams all week), I need to find a way of staying vaguely productive!

Good luck to all the maths students for tomorrow! DC has a few days of intense study time now before the next two exams on Monday and Tuesday but then nothing until after half term.

@Echobelly how annoying with a tube strike on the day of exams, let's hope it gets called off and that your DC doesn't feel any additional stress because of it.

@Newlease I rarely look on WIWIKAU but had a look just now and it seems rather annoying that they have created a new place for exam questions which you have to sign up for. Think I'll just stick to Mumsnet...

@Ventress DC said he's with the Cambridge exam board for English. I can't remember exactly but think it begins with a C. Not the OCR this time like with Econ. Not really sure what the difference is and if one is easier or harder than the other although I heard somewhere that the OCR is often more challenging.

@MiniMidiMaxi mine has got FM core pure 1 as well today. Eek it's an important one!

He was awake at 6.15 and has been in school all morning as he has maths timetabled. So let's hope he and his friends haven't worked themselves into a right tis. There is only 6 of them that do FM so they're a tight knit bunch.

Another FM here - DS's first exam, but core pure is his favourite kind of maths so hopefully he'll be able to enjoy it. I'm more nervous than him and like @MiniMidiMaxi find it really hard to focus on my own work while it's going on. Which isn't ideal as I've got a big deadline looming. But helps to know others are going through all this too.

FM here as well, @MiniMidiMaxi I am restless and not sure what to do, so here I am looking for solidarity
Hope it goes well for them @pinkdelight @AuntyBulgaria
@Fabfabfab yeah saw that, I didn’t sign up. Can’t do another SM

good luck to all of the fm students. Definitely a hard first exam!

DS wants to remind everyone of the finance applications- https://www.ucas.com/student-finance/tuition-fees-and-tuition-fee-loans he’s doing his this evening I’m told 😊

@Fabfabfab- DS is doing OCR (Oxford, Cambridge and RSA) for all the exams I think. He didn’t do Chaucer , he did Paradise Lost. He said English literature couldn’t have gone better though. That’s great as the grade boundaries for English literature are insane - it was 187 out of 200 for an A Star last year 😱

I've heard back about Edexcel FM and apparently it was great and everyone is now really worried about grade boundaries because they have been getting higher each year and you already need almost 90% to get an A star.

They are almost hoping for a harder paper 2! No pleasing them.

Not heard back yet from my DC, but yes, some of the grade boundaries for FM are ridiculously high.

According to DS, OCR Further Maths A (Pure Core 1) was hard due to the weird way of asking questions, and they all ran out of time!

Very confused by Edexcel and OCR having FM today but AQA is next week
Usually the subjects are on the same day for all the exam boards? I've checked multiple times! AQA FM definitely not til next Thurs

@SilverBlue4 how many papers does AQA have? Edexcel has 4 just wondering whether this is the difference.

DS is v happy with his FM (Edexcel), so off to a good start for him. Now focusing on his prom tomorrow night!

That makes sense - only 3 papers for AQA - two pure and one that has the combination of two out of three possibilities (mechanics, discrete, stats)

2 exams done seems to think might be OK but he is only going for Bs and a C.
Got a bbq and ice cream van next Friday as last day before study leave starts.

Oh wow, that was high. Any idea what the grade boundary was for an A? Thinking perhaps he is doing the OCR exam board after all.

DS finishes school tomorrow and is on study leave until his exams start in June 1st. For those who have started exams already, how many do they have per subject?

Here in Wales, they sat 2 papers per subject in year 12 for AS level which is worth up to 40% of their A level grade, then another 2 papers this year in year 13 for the remaining 60%.

Do students in England have 4 papers per subject in year 13, or less?

Some of ds’s friends are resitting the AS level papers this year to try to improved their marks.

@Muchtoomuchtodo
My DS has x4 papers for FM, x3 each for maths and economics. At least I think that's right. His are spread out fairly well from this week to 19 June.