Year 12 - 2025/2026: Support Thread 2

[QueenMabby]

A new thread for us to keep chatting on!

This is where A levels differ from GCSEs as the predicted grades are so important for university applications. No good getting better than predicted if your chosen university has rejected you on the basis of your predicted grades.
We had an information evening where we spoke to his form tutor and senco but don’t know when we first speak to subject teachers.

@RigbyRight i will have to ask DS what based on if he knows. I don't think DS has any mocks until end of year 12. anyway he's refused my assistance and says will access papers online. I tried!

@CatHairEveryWhereNow thank you for the link and will keep in back pocket as after school DS said no to me printing off papers 🥹I need to check how they graded so far, but I think DS will only have mocks next May rather than AS could be wrong - mainly AQA and OCR. Would like some clear indication of grades though. 👍

@QueenMabby well he has refused the offer! so that's the end of that. Think my DS doesn't like interference either but I can't just can't help it.🙂

DD won’t allow interference either.
She partied all half term pretty much, back to multiple tests this week.
Despite zero prep she did get Gold in the Senior Maths Challenge. Today she did the Senior Linguistics challenge (not sure exactly what it is called), again, not a minute of prep on her part not even looking at what the format is.

My DS seemed to watch a lot of how to you tube videos for maths and worked through those. And I think he had done every single possible past paper question. He said he could answer most style of questions as in the end they were all on similar themes. He got an A*. He’s at a state school, so probably wasn’t given too much stuff. I definitely did no more than provide the text books. So they find it all somewhere. He also had uplearn which he did for economics. Think it paid off. Interestingly his school (and now DDs) pays for it, but in other state schools I’ve heard the parents need to pay.

We don't have parents evening until May, mocks aren't until July, as far as I know (and I could be wrong) we won't have any predicted grades until then. But the school (state) gets excellent results, so I'm trusting that they know what they're doing! Also trying to be less involved generally now DS is in sixth form.

We don’t have anything called mocks this year. They have an assessment period over the next fortnight and then a parents’ evening. Exam week is in May and then I think we get a second parents’ Eve presumably to talk about predicted grades. In year 13 we only have one set of mocks in the January.

We were originally told at open evening that there will be some form of predictions by the end of the spring term. No idea what they will be based on! All I know from what DD tells me is that tests they put them through now are apparently really difficult and impossible to complete in the timeframe given. Apparently nobody was able to finish eg the Physics test. It is typical grammar school, freak them out to work hard early. DD has some friends from private school who have moved over who are a little freaked out by the approach. DD is used to it from her previous grammar school. I am surprised how gentle some of the supposedly selective private schools appear to be compared to the state grammar approach.

I just had a report come through stating dds minium expected grades are all A's..I guess based on the tests she has just done ...so far so good, but its a long road.

DD had As on her end of half term report - with a B for composition. With GCSEs those were 'working at' grades but no idea whether they are that now or whether they are expected grades for next year. The composition she had marked was a B if submitted now - I'm sort of assuming she'll get better at it. But maybe not!

I think we get a p/t meeting this term - but welsh A-levels are very different with Y12 counting with formal exams.

I think this is our 6th or 7th year with formal exams that count - 3 kids two school years apart and moving to welsh system where GSCE exams are sat in Y10 as well as Y11 and As levels in Y12 as part of A-level course that end Y13 exams.

Though DD2 being allowed to drop welsh bacc with 4 A-levels means she less stressed than older siblings who were at this stage sitting 4 with welsh bacc.

Sorry to derail thread but you might be able to help. Dd wants a nice perfume for Xmas but she can’t smell anything very well. I currently have the Xmas cake in, stinking the house out and she thought I was making a lemon cake 🤦🏼‍♀️. Any popular perfumes your DDs use. She says everyone has good girl. So something nice but different. And she’ll need to trust us she smells nice!

@labradorservant - DD put some Victoria Secret Body mist on her Christmas list. There are loads of different flavours. I think it is better not to smell like everyone else.

DD passed her driving theory test a few weeks ago and I keep forgetting to log in on Monday morning at 5.30am to book the real driving test. Just overslept again! Apparently you have to get up really early on a Monday morning to do this to queue on the DVLA website to get a local test area in London. Complete nightmare!

But yes, I have definitely heard about Good Girl (the blue one), it is incredibly expensive though and trending. I would probably take your DD to a fragrance shop to try a few. In our local one the assistants always have good suggestions. I think it is the boys we know who seem to all smell the same!

I was up at 5.30am today to book the practical driving test but couldn't enter the system until 6.00am. Got a late April date at a local but non-preferred busy town centre.

I believe the advice is to use the Testi app to bring it forward but there are 20,000 people in the queue in front of me.

DD passed the theory test with full marks on the multichoice thanks to the 4 in 1 app (we both failed a mock before using the app!)

On the hazard perception warning test, DD knew not to overclick and use the 3-click rule, and was comfortably passing mocks beforehand, but on the day the system penalised her on one question for perceived overclicking but she still passed despite that penalty.

What a palaver.

Dd is 17 next month and I’ve sorted nothing! Not even applied for her provisional licence yet. Must do better.

@CreamBeforeJamOnScones can I check what app it is you used please? I need to get DS going on his theory and not sure what’s best, DH just goes on about buying him the Highway Code whilst I’m trying to tell him I don’t think that on its own helps much for the current test!

Gosh..I didn't realise parents got so involved with their offspring learning to drive!

Well the main thing we will do is sit in the passenger seat each day when he practices. Not sure anyone can learn to drive without involvement.

Well @Elevenmillion - DD was up at 5.30am trying to figure it out herself. It is not like in our days where you just book a test when your instructor says so! You have to plan months in advance to get a slot and simultaneously check with the instructor whether they are available on that test date to use their car. DD’s instructor and her were texting at 6am but they had not figured out how to do it so next week I am getting up too. Of course they want to do it themselves, but it appears to be difficult to do.
Reminds me of when her friend had to appeal her English language GCSE result. Cannot remember that ever being an issue in our days either.

So yes 1) get the provisional 2) book the theory test asap because without passing that you cannot get an actual test and 3) book the test months in advance so you have something locally on the day your actual instructor is available with a conforming car I guess.

@CreamBeforeJamOnScones - well done to both of you!

DS unfortunately didn’t pass his theory test due to perceived overclicking on the hazard perception bit … apparently you need to click a lot to get it to register on the app 🤷🏻‍♀️. When I went on to rebook at the same centre ( and all the easier to get too centres ) the next availability was February ! I’ve booked for a months time at the centre people obviously don’t like going to ! Anyway we are evidence that the overclicking thing really is an issue . He passed the multi choice easily

Ours only took a week to arrive once applied for