Applying for Uni 2019 Part 6: exams, leaving school/college (the end of an era), a long summer holiday and Results Day on the horizon

[NewModelArmyMayhem18]

Just when exam season gets fully underway our previous thread has almost filled up. Everyone welcome .

Feel so sorry for those doing Edexcel maths, it's the uncertainty of it all that must be so difficult.

Dd had OCR biology this morning. She said it wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be after the first 2 papers being so rubbish (plants, plants and more plants). She's in RE right now and that's her last, so celebrating tonight.

Just wish we didn't have to wait so long for results!

I'd love to be a fly on the wall while Exexcel sort out this mess. No joke for your DC's who've done the exam, worked hard for it and have no idea how they're going to get the correct grade.

DD is currently sitting her last exam. She's worked hard but keeping up the momentum in the last couple of weeks has been hard.

Madhairday, which exam board is your DD for RE. DD is OCR, all the way along she's been saying it's the hardest paper for her.

Just wondering how much help seeing the questions in advance would be if it was just the night before? And if you were tempted to cheat would you ge certain it was the actual paper you'd bought or a fake?

To be honest, however bad it would be, I think the only fair thing to do would be to set a new paper (short of doing 60,000 lie detectors!) hmfff! I asked my DD how much it would have helped if she'd seen the paper beforehand - she was unequivocal about the massive boost it would give - not only would you have time to work out how to do it, but you could also look up or seek answers. I have heard that some maths groups were sharing answers.

I can well imagine that the questions would have been shared like wildfire using social media. I would have thought it is an increasing challenge to combat cheating.

I suppose if they did do a new paper the examiners could compare the two papers and see who is a real whizz at maths stats and mech, and who needed to cheat! Can't see the cheaters being prepared to do another paper!

This is the third year in succession that Edexcel Maths papers have been leaked to some extent before the exam. They didn't set a new paper in 2017 or 2018 and they're not going to do it this year either.

In the circumstances, the only way you can help your DCs is to report the details of any leaks you are aware of to Pearson (Edexcel). At the moment there are lots of rumours and hearsay of how many people had seen the paper, but a lot of that is probably exaggerated. If Pearson has the names of the people / Groups / Twitter accounts who shared the images and/or bought the papers, they'll be able to see how widespread or not it is and take appropriate action.

It seems to me that they very quickly identified the source of the leak (in East London) and will now be trying to plot out who saw it after that.

Although it's a worry, please try not to let your DCs get too stressed about it!

Not posted before but found this thread while looking for more info as my dd did the Edexcel Maths exams. Not sure if people on here have seen this statement from Edexcel which gives more detail than their previous comments: qualifications.pearson.com/en/subjects/mathematics.updates.html?article=%2Fcontent%2Fdemo%2Fen%2Fnews-policy%2Fqualifications%2Fa-levels%2Fmaths%2Fa-level-maths-update-17-june-2019&pageTypes=

LIZS re feedback for AQA paper 3. DS says it went exactly how he planned and he found it straightforward. DH teaches this syllabus, he said there appeared to be no surprises.

My son does AQA biology and wasn't looking forward to this paper but actually found it pretty good.

DD said OCR Law paper 3 was awful. Stuff that they had never been taught. Looking at Twitter it was generally a tough paper. All exams done here. Off out for dinner to celebrate, however dd2 has GCSE mocks all week. Will it ever end!?

DD sat her last exam today, OCR RS, she sounded pretty happy but I think half of that is that she's now finished her exams and going away tomorrow!

What other exams are still to be done?

Congrats ifonly!

Chemistry (weds) & further maths (next week?) not sure if there are others still to be done.

Dd is done! I think the ones remaining are Chemistry, Greek, Russian plus STEP3

DS has gone off this afternoon to clean out a barn, they are having a party there tomorrow night. OH said is he home for tea. I said no idea as far as I am concerned he can do what the heck he wants now, we have spent two years breathing down his neck he has earned his freedom and as much fun as he wants this week. He will be working this summer and saving.

With the end in sight I'm interested to know how you and your DC's are celebrating.

Just chemistry left for DD now so will all be finished by Wed lunchtime

Hi. I got a nice reply from Ofqual - they sent the link given above and quite a good reply - they are monitoring Pearson's investigation and how they will seek to ensure no student is advantaged.

Chemistry weds, further maths thurs

Will edexcel publish grade boundaries? If they don’t force a resit (seems unlikely) then I hope they don’t try and compensate by increasing grade boundaries - that would just hurt those that didn’t cheat.

My son is needing AA in pure/further maths so this is pretty stressful

@ifonly4 DD is OCR as well. She said today went ok - she's found the RE papers ok overall, it's biology she's struggled wíth, which she also had today (OCR). Said it was better than P1 and P2 but still hard.

All over and done with!

Good luck to those DC who still have exams. Big sigh of relief here but a bit tempered with worry about biology .

Last exam tomorrow, we are going out for cocktails and food afterwards.

Well done everyone. We got them all to this point!

My DS spent 3 hours playing basketball with his mates and then passed his driving theory test this afternoon. He is loving his break and I am loving not having to nag him. He is determined to pass his driving test before he starts uni. Then he becomes my taxi. Payback

He passed! Hooray! Mine has done 3 attempts now...

Interesting news for anyone looking at UEA, they have announced their pre clearing courses today and you can register your interest on their website. DS's course is listed so I am assuming they will be a little lenient on grades? What do you think?

Well done to your DS minesawine. DS is treading water until his friends all finish (think it's Thursday afternoon).

On a different but related subject, when do youngsters have to start paying for dental care and prescriptions? I said to DH that I thought this period twixt end of A Levels and going to university is a bit of a 'Twilight Zone'. I believe that Child Benefit payments continue until the end of August (or am I wrong?), so would have thought the same thing would apply for other 'state subsidies' too? Does anyone know, please?