Year 13 -2025/26 - Support, discussion and looking after each other - thread 2 - exam time

[SilverBlue4]

Here we go

Approx 70% each paper

@4andnotcounting and @newmum1976 My DD was a bit tearful after AQA bio paper 1 due to the graph question and how odd some of the questions were worded. After we talked through her worries she thinks she will have done well on the rest of the paper but not her usual standard. She needs an A (medicine) and has always got at least As or A stars previously so I really hope she is just being harsh on herself (she always is) and that she will have done better than she thinks.

It hasn't helped that she now has psych paper 3 this morning and has had next to no sleep as she is worried she isn't prepared enough for it. I can only sympathise with her and provide coffee.

@Ventress what a relief for you and your DS that he is done with exams, hope he and you enjoy a little down time before we have to start thinking about results.

Good luck to anyone with exams today 🍀.

@bluefineliner I'm sure your daughter will have done better than she currently thinks. One or two duff questions won't hopefully impact too badly. You can always get marks for certain key points even if you haven't got the whole thing correct.

FM this afternoon. Then a week off until the next one

3 still to go here - one for each subject - on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday next week.

DD is going into sixth form to revise for whole days at the moment. She admitted last night that she feels sad about leaving (she’s been there the whole 7 years) so is taking every opportunity to be there , with her friends., while she can.

made me cry!

@bluefineliner as @AuntyBulgariasays , I’m sure your daughter has done well despite the graph question . I’m sure your dc have done better than they thought @4andnotcountingand @newmum1976🤞

Good luck for FM this afternoon everyone and psychology this morning! 🌟🌟

according to last years grade boundaries, the AQA biology total mark was 260, of which an A star required 192, an A was 169 and a B 139. I think your dd could definitely drop a few marks and still hit her A or A star target.

Oh bless her @BlackBean2023. My sons school only went up to GCSEs so he had to move for A Levels which wasn’t ideal. It’s good that she can go into school to revise and be with her friends and teachers.

Best of luck for exams next week!

@bluefinelinerDS was also a bit doom and gloom after Bio 1 (OCR) but has now reflected a bit and is a little more positive. He was annoyed that over 90% of the questions were on plants and very little on human biology which he prefers. At least he managed to pull himself out of the spiralling following Edexcel maths on Wednesday to give it his best shot. I hope Psych 3 goes well today.

@Ventresscongrats to your DS on the prize and finishing exams.

6 more exams for us….

Sounds like there has been a bit of a flurry of difficult exams @Lalux. It’s good that your son has avoided spiralling as a result.

I hope psychology 3 goes well today.

We have nothing now until Thursday, for the final history papers.
DS is going to school today as he didn't get enough done yesterday.
DH is delighted, he WFH on Friday and has Download "prep" to do!

DS said he found his AQA Biology paper 'beautiful' and that he learned some interesting facts about the mechanisms of banana ripening in it! I had a quick peek on the student forums and they're all complaining about the banana and deer questions. DS is a bit quirky though. Honestly, it seems quite hit and miss - one person's horrible paper is a gift to someone else. DS also confessed that he'd had a bit of a panic attack in the hour beforehand over something he thought he hadn't revised (Biology is 'his' subject) and his friends calmed him down and then took him through a bit of that topic, which was helpful as it came up!

No more exams until Tuesday now, thank god. 5 to go ...

DS is similarly sad to be 'at the end of things' as he's been with some of his current peer group since preschool! 😮 He's feeling conflicted about starting university as he knows it'll entail the final parting of the ways (except of course, it won't be - they'll be coming back to the same area during vacations, and there's always WhatsApp). Never mind that several of them may well end up at the same university to him ... I wish he could be a bit more forward-looking but he does him. I'm sure he'll settle once he gets there.

WJEC further maths this morning, DS said he ‘needs to nail this one’. Fingers crossed he does 🤞🏻

He’s probably going to defer for a year and work doing something that he really loves but it’s a huge change for them all whatever they decide to do

Further maths was ‘hard, but good’. That sounds pretty positive to me.

Sounds good to me too @MuchtoomuchtodoWell done to your son 😊 Hope everyone else did well with further maths!

Sounds great @Muchtoomuchtodo
DS' FM is this afternoon.

Hope it goes well this afternoon @AuntyBulgaria

That’s great to hear, @Muchtoomuchtodo.

@Ventress- how sweet of you to be on here cheering everyone on now that your DS is over the finish line. Congratulations to him on his prize. I thought you were brave to post over on the thread about parents being too invested in their DCs’ outcomes - they would all hate me over there! DD (with ADHD and dyslexia) has needed plenty of support to become the confident learner she has blossomed into. It’s been a key part of my relationship with her during her teens, and she still likes to discuss what she’s learning while we cook or eat or drive together. So whether it’s game theory, the Sewel Convention or French literature, I’ve travelled the journey with her! I shall miss that when she goes, and won’t be asking AIBU to opine.

DS (Y9) is such a different character - naturally organised, tidy and unruffled. I will still know his exam timetables, though!

Best of luck to all those with exams today. DD has a double-hit of Politics and French on Monday.

Mine too
Long difficult one for a Friday pm!!

@AuntyBulgaria , @SilverBlue4 Friday afternoon FM is not the best end to a week is it! Hope it goes well.

@Ventress I was looking at the other thread too, I had to hold myself back from commenting to not look like 'that' parent they were complaining of but I did want to.

I am so not an overinvested parent and have been through all this before many years ago with my much older DD (who has turned into an amazing, well educated young woman surprisingly!) so am an experienced parent. I do offer as much support to DD2 as possible and encouragement is endless, if this classes me as one of 'those' parents so be it 😂. I have never done any of her work for her or helped with revision as it is way beyond my ability, just a cheer leader for her. The amount of parents commenting who don't even know what exams their YP have is worrying.

I’ll have a nose at the thread. In between going through politics essay plans with dd 🤗

Thank you @HighburyHopeand @bluefineliner. I really want to support our children, perhaps that makes me over invested but we’ve all been on these threads since year 10 and I so want our dc to get to their chosen universities , on their chosen courses, or on the gap year or apprenticeship they deserve.

i may have lost my temper a little on that other thread! Apologies . I am rather fed up with people who competitively want to put other parents down for trying to be there for our kids. My parents had no idea what they were doing in the early nineties either but they would have liked to have been more knowledgeable and involved.

Good luck further maths students!

I hope psychology went well this morning!

You have all got this 🤩

@Ventress which thread, I can’t find it? And yes good for you !

I have hidden it now @Countrylife2002. I was getting a bit stressed! I think it was in AIBU , something about parent’s giving too much to their dc at/for university.

Hope the politics revision is going well 🌟

I've also not seen the other thread, am curious now! I strayed off the Education part of mumsnet once before to comment on a horrendous post where someone was highly distressed that her neighbour's child (age 5 I think) was looking over the garden fence. I realised that a lot of people on mumsnet are not actually parents (I had always assumed it would just be topics relevant to mums/parents given the name) and I was a bit shocked how nasty and small-minded some people were. So I quickly came back to our lovely Further/Higher eduction threads where people are much more kind and supportive of each other.

Good idea, I think I’ll stay in education section too @Fabfabfab 😊