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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

October A levels anyone?

356 replies

Skerryberry · 13/08/2020 20:44

With so many getting results they were disappointed with, are any DS/DD's choosing to take the October A levels ?

Are they taking all their A levels or just one or two?

How are they planning to motivate themselves with exams only 50 days away? DC has not opened a book since March... eek!

I may need some hand holding!!

OP posts:
NadiSel · 08/10/2020 20:23

@rbsk12 and @kitnkaboodle thank you. Yet again it is this forum's members that I am getting sound advice from! I really hadn't thought about having evidence if the exams are cancelled in summer. Any ideas what she can do? She is doing Maths at a school and they have put a date in for Mocks already so that subject is covered, but any ideas what she could do for Chemistry ? In fact come to think about it that has a practical element so even if she continues doing her own studying at home to sit the exam in Jun what would happen to the practical mark?

rbsk12 · 08/10/2020 20:38

@NadiSel I would say ask the school to give her class tests and other assessments. Definitely the mocks too. That will hopefully give them enough evidence. From looking at CAG data this year our school basically used Year 12 mock, Year 13 mock and 3 best essays or private investigation in the case of English/History. So the school should be able to guide you on any assessments she needs to complete.

Can she attend the practicals? Was there any mark awarded this year (usually Pass/Fail) as that is normally carried forward on any "resit" attempts. Again the school might be able to advise about PAGS.

It might just be GCSE they cancel...

kitnkaboodle · 08/10/2020 22:43

I can't advise, I'm afraid. It just occurred to me that if my DS has to withdraw from a subject or two now, I'd better make sure that he got some tuition from someone who was "official' enough to give CAGs. I doubt very much that A levels will be cancelled, but I wouldn't risk it if I was paying £££ for some private tuition. My bet us that GCSEs will be cancelled in 2021, following Scotland, and I'd put money on them never being revived again! Just a guess given how all the rules are being rewritten this year.

Original poster
Skerryberry · 09/10/2020 10:55

@kitnkaboodle I remember Kenneth Baker speaking about this earlier in the year:

www.tes.com/news/state-and-private-schools-movement-scrap-gcses

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 09/10/2020 11:29

@Skerryberry my DS has just come home from this morning's Physics exam - said it went well Smile. It looks like he might have turned a corner and might be able to sit Maths and Physics in their entirety. He felt he didn't do very well in that first Maths paper, but we will be submitting medical evidence anyway, so it may be that all is not lost. Fingers crossed. How did your DS find Physics?

rbsk12 · 09/10/2020 11:35

Good to hear @kitnkaboodle!

WhatHaveIFound · 09/10/2020 14:32

DD thought that Psychology went really well this morning. She's on a high after that and finally escaping the house after two weeks!

Original poster
Skerryberry · 09/10/2020 17:13

@kitnkaboodle DS said Physics was 'rubbish' this morning. He said that about GCSE Physics and got a 9! Fingers crossed he has done better than he thinks.

OP posts:
rbsk12 · 09/10/2020 17:51

Fingers crossed for your DS @Skerryberry and @kitnkaboodle. My DS did Paper 2 for A level Economics this afternoon and thought it went better than Paper 1. So glad it's the weekend!

noblecause · 09/10/2020 19:32

Glad to hear that DS had a good day @kitnkaboodle . DD's response to physics paper was 'couldn't tell how it really went'. It seemed ok but she might have misjudged it completely.

Have just been thinking about any potential national lockdown - the one that they said may be for 2 weeks at the end of October coinciding with 1 week of half term. DD has some exams in one of those weeks. What does this mean? Are they planning on closing schools in that week and cancel exams?

Original poster
Skerryberry · 09/10/2020 19:48

I imagine schools will remain open for keyworker children and exam candidates if there is a national lockdown.

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 09/10/2020 19:56

Thanks for good wishes, everyone. DS was really quite chipper about the Physics today, but it's his best subject. A different exam board or a different syllabus from your DS @Skerryberry?? His was AQA.

I think he'll decide this weekend if he's just going to press on with Maths and Physics or if he will give Chem a try, too. He missed paper 1 as he was still pretty ill then, but apparently if he does papers 2 and 3 he might still get a grade based on those and on some sort of average of how all the candidates did. Yes! An algorithm! He got a D for Chem in his CAGs so I can't see he could do any worse.

I'm trying not to think of another lockdown - they can do what they like as long as it's after October 21st! I think if these exams are disrupted he will throw in the towel and figure that it's just not meant to be!

kitnkaboodle · 13/10/2020 08:40

How's everyone doing?

I'm very proud of DS as he has gone in this morning to sit Chemistry. If he manages to do papers 2 and 3 he can still get a grade. So hopefully that means that after all that's happened he will manage to have sat Maths, Physics and Chemistry this session.

The grades that he will get seem like a secondary concern at the moment. Star

rbsk12 · 13/10/2020 10:11

That’s great news @kitnkaboodle. Fingers crossed for him and good luck to everyone else’s DC with exams today. My DS has his last paper on Thursday afternoon. Will be so glad once it’s done!

kitnkaboodle · 13/10/2020 11:39

It seemed to go fine. He's one of those who comes out of an exam 'not knowing' how it went - so I guess that could have been worse! DS doesn't finish until the 21st Sad

Original poster
Skerryberry · 13/10/2020 17:43

I am so pleased to hear that your DS sat his Chemistry today. Tomorrow he will be half way through all his exams.

My son is terrible at judging how exams went.

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 14/10/2020 18:08

@Skerryberry and anyone else ... how did today's Edexcel Maths go? My DS struggled with it. Something just doesn't seem to have gelled with the Maths this year for him. He thinks that the papers are 'weird' and have focussed on unexpected things. Also more questions than in previous years, for no apparent reason ...? Physics and Chemistry have been going OK and seem straightforward in his eyes, but the Maths is just ... weird. Could be subjective. I told him to go online and see what others are saying, just to get some context, but that could backfire, I realise! I just feel 'it is what it is' at this point.

Original poster
Skerryberry · 14/10/2020 18:45

@kitnkaboodle, DS said he thought the maths paper went well for him. He was more positive about paper 1 but as I said before, he is not great at judging how exams have gone.

Edexcel changed the format of their maths paper after the 2019 outcry. They released mock/specimen papers in January 2020 to show the new style. These are locked on the Pearson website. Could your DS try and get access to the mock Stats/Mechanics paper before next Monday?

DS has physics tomorrow. He does not feel confident at all about this exam.

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 14/10/2020 19:44

@Skerryberry - how would he be able to get access to the specimen paper if it is locked on the website? And why is it locked on the website?? I presume the differences are in format only and not in content, otherwise DS is completely stuffed!

Do you have any links to any other info about this? Thanks!

Original poster
Skerryberry · 14/10/2020 20:23

If you ask the Head of Maths at your DS's school they may be able to let you have a copy of the specimen/mock papers. These will probably be used with the current Y13s for their mock exams so they may or may not be happy to let your DS have a copy. He needs it now, not in January, but they need to ensure the integrity of their mocks and might not be able to risk this paper being in the public domain.

The content is the same, just a different style. qualifications.pearson.com/en/subjects/mathematics.updates.html?article=%2Fcontent%2Fdemo%2Fen%2Fnews-policy%2Fqualifications%2Fa-levels%2Fmaths%2Fimprovements-to-our-2020-papers-and-free-support-for-a-level-mathematics&pageTypes

"We’re making a series of improvements to our question papers from summer 2020 onwards, that will enhance students’ experience of sitting these exams.

The improvements will focus on:

ensuring early questions are accessible to all and then steadily ramp in demand to encourage engagement and help build students’ confidence through the papers

dividing questions into parts so students are clear where marks can be achieved and can manage their focus and exam timings accordingly

using clear, concise language to better enable all students to access the questions and understand the type of response expected.

Our next set of mock exams that exemplify some of these improvements will be available in January 2020 so you and your students can see what these changes will look like in practice."

The new style of exam should help students. DS said there were 16 questions rather than 14, so time was tight for completing the paper.

OP posts:
caringcarer · 14/10/2020 20:53

My dear nephew is sitting Maths as he was.givrn s B and could not get his preferred choice without an A. He has been working at Tesco full time since lockdown as s he had a part time job there already. He has had a tutor to get him back to where he was before lockdown. He is very motivated and is paying for tutor himself.

rbsk12 · 14/10/2020 21:04

He sounds really focused@caringcarer.

How did he find the Maths today? My elder DS sat the 2019 Edexcel Maths and it was horrific! The questions also got leaked hence the reasons why the format has changed this year I think.

caringcarer · 14/10/2020 21:23

He is just determined to show he should have been awarded an A in Maths. He was given one in Economics and Geography. He thought Maths was his strongest subject. I will find out at weekend how he is doing

kitnkaboodle · 15/10/2020 12:07

Anyone for Physics this morning?? DS was quite happy with it, but it has always been his forte.

Thanks for the info on Edexcel @Skerryberry. I'll mention it to him when he's recovered a bit from this morning. It doesn't seem anything too drastic, but it would explain why he's been finding the Maths papers 'odd' if the format, wording, etc has changed slightly (and nobody told him....). He might feel pro-active and try to contact his old Maths teachers or he may well just go with the flow. He mentioned too that he was expecting 14 questions and was a bit dismayed to find 16. He found Papers 1 and 2 both a rush.

@caringcarer well done to your DN. I do hope he gets the results he wants this time - what a stress it is.

rbsk12 · 15/10/2020 12:34

Glad the Physics went well @kitnkaboodle.

I'm just about to drop DS off for his last exam this afternoon.

He's meeting a friend after so I probably won't find out how he thinks he did until much later!