Year 12 - 2025/2026: Support Thread 2

[QueenMabby]

A new thread for us to keep chatting on!

Do they have to use the instructors car, back in the day I did mine in our own car?

I think my pp my have appeared goady..it wasn't meant to be. I learnt in the late 80's..my parents had no involvement at all. I was just like..wait what now!

@Eccle80 it's 4 in 1 Theory Test. Costs about a fiver. Guaranteed pass or money back if you pass their mocks to a high level.

Don't bother with the free apps, they are not as good. Good luck!

They do not need to use the instructor’s car according to the DVLA website, but our own car is huge as we were a 6 person household. So DD would prefer to use it. We have been really lucky with the instructor. Took a while to find a female one and she is really encouraging and nurturing. And she is up early on a Monday morning to help!
We are in London, I would be happy to teach DD if we were in a small town or the countryside, but it is so complicated here with endless bus lanes and box junctions and roundabouts everywhere and mopeds and people barging in and loads of traffic. We will help with manoeuvre happily but I am not confident to teach a near beginner in huge amounts of traffic.
DD did have the theory app, but got help from a friend - that is how things work here for DD. She will then help the next friend etc. I have had no involvement with that side and she did well with good scores on both parts of the test.

Ooooh driving! DD applied for her provisional yesterday even though she is only 16 and 4 months! Nothing like being prepared. I know you have to be 17 to sit the theory test, but does anyone know if you can book it before you turn 17? To overcome the issue of the test being months after her biorthday? (I didn't think there was such a wait for theory tests, but @waitingquietly has encountered one). DD is trying to ensure it doesn't clash with UCAT prep and then uni applications and mocks - but needs it out of the way so that she can book a practical test for once A levels are over - I hear it can be 6 months from passing your theory to getting a practical. So many things would be so much easier if she wasn't summer born!

Yes you can book theory test before 17th birthday to be taken once turned 17.

Currently new practical tests dates become available for dates 20 weeks away.

Ds2's driving is coming along nicely, he's a nice little driver. He's got theory booked for 3 weeks time.

He says he's got tests again in a few weeks. I am very concerned that his latest grades, in Oct? were A,C,D. 1 mark off a C for PE. But those grades aren't good are they? He's capable of so much more, I can't accept that the school are predicting him such low grades.

Thanks for this! Really helpful to know. I was getting mixed information from google! Probably asking it in the wrong way. My poor DD has had to plan out the next 19 months of her life like a project plan and so many interdependencies and a critical path with strict deadlines. We as a family have even booked our summer hoiday for next year based on when she plans to sit her UCAT!

@Oblomov25 - but are those the grades he would get if he took the A Level now? If so, given they've just started, they sound pretty ok to me?

I think it depends how they’re marked. Some subjects grade on a bell curve within the cohort and some grade on A level grade boundaries. Either way there’s still a long way to go and a lot more for them to learn before the real thing. When’s parents’ evening?

DC have said they are not interested in learning to drive, fair enough as we live in a city with good public transport. Is it worth getting provisional licences anyway for ID?

@Oblomov25 - we don’t have any grades yet but DS is definitely finding it all a bit challenging ( his a level subjects were all mid 8s at GCSE ) - he’s been allocated a yr13 to help him in physics ( as has 18 of his physics year group ) . He seems to be taking it all in his stride and isn’t panicked . How does your DS feel about it ? My thinking is that it’s very early days , I’ve let DS know that I will pay for tutoring if he needs it but that I’m reliant on him to tell me when/if it’s needed .

I've been wondering the same.

I have no idea where I read it but I read a post recently where the poster said that her DC was applying for graduate jobs and was coming up against quite a few where a full driving licence was one of the prerequisites. I think she estimated about 20% . We have taken the stance that it’s a life skill and they have time to do it now .

Is it worth getting provisional licences anyway for ID?

We got one for DS just before he left for uni - last 10 years and is an altenative to carrying his passport round - so yes worth it.

We don't drive so haven't offered lessons - I learnt at 17 then wasn't allowed to use family car - then off to uni and then not driving avoided the jobs requiring a licence and soon it's years since been behind the wheel.

If they find after university they do need to drive then we can maybe help them do that.

I seem to remember a clear split when I went to uni between people who lived in villages/small towns and had learnt to drive, and people who lived in cities and hadn’t, because of they used public transport. I take the point re. life skill (I don’t have a U.K. driving licence personally), but I know at least two people with licences who have never driven since, and XH had to take several lessons with a licence because he hadn’t carried on driving once passing. So I’m not sure it’s worth a DC learning now if they’re not going to have the opportunity to practice the skill after the test.

Anyway, things are rubbish here. DD’s OCD not improving despite therapy and medication, and she is really not enjoying Sixth Form. DM and I have suggested that she drops down to three A levels (Maths, FM, Physics) and see if that helps, but DD has not managed to go in two consecutive days since half term. I am a nervous wreck. (Meanwhile, XH went to a Halloween party in Florida dressed as a vine.)

@ChannelLightVessel I'm so sorry, that is rubbish....Remind me, is she at the same school? Are they being helpful?

Poor kid -and poor you.

Oh I thought they were just topic tests, and thus not good? Not what he would get if he sat the real thing now. Maybe I've misunderstood. I'll find out, thanks all.

Sorry to hear that Channel, is the Senco bring supportive and suggesting solutions, things to at least try?

Sorry to hear that @ChannelLightVessel , 4 is tough without any additional difficulties- hoping you get the help needed

it's hard to tell @Oblomov25 - but I saw DD2's composition marking, it's done using a form that definitely is the same as the real thing, so I'm assuming it's marked in the same way. Of course it may have more 'scaffolding' but otherwise the same. No idea on anything else - but certainly DD1's essays were marked as if they were the real thing from Year12 and the grades went up in year 13

@ChannelLightVessel- sorry to hear about your DS’s struggles. OCD is a pernicious beast. I hope school are on it and that they find a way forward for her.

@ChannelLightVessel - sorry to hear about your DD’s struggles. Physics and Further Maths are really hard A levels as is. DD does them too and reported some of the kids in her class got 30-40% in recent tests, despite strong GCSE results. It is a big jump.
I hope your DD starts enjoying Sixth Form more soon. Hopefully as long as she does the actual work she will be fine academically. Although I realise you are worried about her mental health mainly. There are kids doing it all online who do end up fine.

@ChannelLightVessel it IS such a worry. Their health (mental or physical) just has to be the priority. Education will always be there. I found This website (and the founder’s book and their FB pages) hugely helpful when my one of was struggling. May not be useful for you of course but just incase. xx