DD ucas predicted grades AAD.

[itsokaynow]

My DD is in year 13 and wants to go to university next year. Her predicted grades are AAD. The D is in Art and Design, and she made a mistake in choosing to do it at A level (She got a 6 at GCSE). If she were doing an academic subject; instead, she would most likely be getting 3 As. She can't study Art more and get better, but she is trying hard to improve her course work to get a C.

She feels she can't now go to a good university. She has GCSE 9 and predicted an A in the subject that she wants to study. Her subject teacher has given her an excellent reference. She has a very strong personal statement related to her subject areas.

She is worried if she is wasting her choices applying to the better universities, but I feel it is a shame as very academically bright. She wants to study English Literature, and she says it is a popular degree subject so feels they won't even consider her application with a D

Any advice I can pass on to her would be gratefully received?

One other thing she could do to get her grades up is have a look around at other schools locally that offer Photography and see how they fared at A level in previous years, and then approach the teacher privately and see if they can offer private tuition and to look over her coursework so far and offer guidance on how to improve her grade. As somebody above said, if she can write well about the development of her ideas that will help enormously. We effectively had same scenario but my daughter was lucky in that in 1st year 6th she had the less good art teacher for photography, but she went on maternity leave so the 2nd year was with the very very good teacher who pulled her up from a predicted C (by the less good teacher) to actual A* .

DD hadn't intended on going to Uni but achieved considerably higher grades than predicted, so had masses of choice through clearing (another low birth rate year), so I wouldn't worry over much as arts subjects are apparently less in demand now, your DD should have lots of opportunities in clearing.

That is a brilliant outcome for her. Have you ever been to Bangor? It's absolutely gorgeous around there.

We have been to the surrounding area on holiday, but not visited Bangor.

Today she got an offer from Dundee with the option of 2nd-year entry and they have also offered £ 3000 per year scholarship and £3000 for postgraduate study if completed at Dundee. Very pleased as Dundee was a favourite and most likely will be her firm. Hopefully, she can work at getting her grade up and is feeling more positive now.

itsokaynow I've sent you dm ....both of my dcs have been to Dundee and love it!

Dont forget clearing.

@KittyMarmalade

Westminster Kingsway is I believe the only state 6th form college that offers an intensive A level course over a year. I was told this by a friend who's DS went as they were not prepared to spend £10k on a resit.

www.westking.ac.uk/courses/a-levels/340

From your link kitty:

All of our A Levels are taught over 2 years at our King's Cross Centre.

Sorry from your link cake!

I think the experience of the OP and her DD shows that you cannot necessarily upgrade from a lower grade at GCSE to top grade with poor teaching. It’s clear this school doesn’t take Art seriously.

I would say to any Arts minded DC - only do the subject where the teaching has a great track record. It’s vital! It’s a subject that’s pushed out and schools don’t care about quality.

My DD only got a B at GCSE Art with poor teaching. She was better then that. She had her eyes opened wide by what her new 6th form expected and the knowledge and talent of the pupils. They had been taught techniques and clearly no stone was left unturned to get the top grades for the pupils. All but one got A* for Photography. The Art Dept had high status in the school. It still does. They helped DD realise her talent from a shaky start. If that quality of teaching isn’t available, don’t touch Art subjects.

There is still time to improve her written submission though. Also her other submitted work. It’s only January!

That is true @BubblesBuddy and she didn't have the easiest time doing her Art GCSEs. Her school usually requires at least a 7 at GCSE for popular subjects but not many take art subjects.

Her written essay for her coursework is apparently outstanding (though DD says this is only
a small part of the final grade towards her coursework.)

Can she take advice on what she needs to do for a better grade in the coursework? DD was taken on trips by the school to provide the right environment for landscape pictures, for example. I’m not very familiar with the syllabus but do they have to experiment and work through ideas to final shots?

Dd was heading for a C at Art GCSE. Her artwork was outstanding. The teaching was poor. I downloaded a copy of the syllabus and she worked through what she needed to do (basically a few essays on how her ideas linked up, adding a few preparatory bits of work she’d filed away rather than put in her folder and inspirational quotes). She did no more artwork as such. She got an A*.

This is A level Photography. Not quite the same. I think she’s being let down by the teaching and at A level it’s difficult for parents to intervene. I would possibly ask the school what she needs to do to improve. One hopes they know and there is still time!

We have asked, and DD has asked so many times and doesn't get a straight answer. She is now worried the art department thinks she is just whining. All she gets is told it is not good enough but not why or what she needs to do to improve it. I got told she needs to try harder.

DD says they spent most of year 12 doing art (i.e still life sketching) instead of developing their photography skills (not sure if this is normal). The photography and art class is taught as one class.

She is spending about 5 hours a day trying to complete her coursework at the moment using the internet as a teaching resource. (she is on study leave).

itsokaynow that’s awful for your Dd. I would suspect if they are not giving her a straight answer it’s because they are not sure themselves. You could be ‘that’ parent and send them specific questions in writing. Have a look at the exam board syllabus as well. You can get lots of useful information from their websites.

She got 2 of her mocks back and did very well. A A(only just missed A) No photography grade yet.
She has got offers from 4 universities so far that are all asking for grades higher than her predicted D, a couple of her offers are asking for three Bs, but one will reduce to a C if she firms.
She is a bit confused by why she has got all the offers as the school told her they would not look past her grades.

I’m surprised the school told her that. Surely they know that most students work towards improving their grade in exams and so universities will look at the potential for predicted grades to go up, hence why they often offer over the predicted.

She is a bit confused by why she has got all the offers as the school told her they would not look past her grades.

That would be because the school knows fuck all about uni admissions...

What school is she at? South Mancunian wants to know!