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Higher education

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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:
noblecause · 14/12/2020 09:21

For the grade boundaries I did try to work it out and then failed miserably. But found something on TSR several weeks ago where somebody built a model where you can calculate what it could be. No idea if accurate at all and not sure if helped. For maths it ended up being fairly low - in the high 60% for A star. Which felt too low to possibly be true. And for physics it ended up being in mid 70% because the previous year had a particularly high boundary as compared to previous years. So not sure the process was helpful.

AKissAndASmile · 14/12/2020 11:16

@kitnkaboodle I hear you. Our little cohort have been ignored and forgotten because there's so few of them. That's a sensible contingency plan. Good luck for Thursday... hopefully it won't be needed.

@noblecause I doubt DS' old sixth form will remember. I've told him to email them today to ask how he gets his results.

AKissAndASmile · 14/12/2020 11:17

@noblecausecould you give a link to that TSR post?

noblecause · 14/12/2020 20:32

Sorry @AKissAndASmile I can't find it easily but I think it was on the October exam thread - it was a few weeks ago.

AKissAndASmile · 14/12/2020 23:02

Ok, thanks

DS emailed the exam officer first thing this morning. Of course no reply. Wonder what she does all day. Apparently she's been working from home since covid

kitnkaboodle · 15/12/2020 16:19

I got DS to email school to confirm how to collect results and apparently they have been POSTED out today and will arrive on Thursday. Confused No results will be given by phone or email. Our post doesn't arrive til about 1pm! It's like the good old days and we shall have a Billy Elliot moment of DS taking the envelope off to his room ...

Original poster
Skerryberry · 15/12/2020 16:44

Goodness, with the Christmas post he could be waiting until 2021!

I did laugh at the 'Billy Elliot moment'. I remember doing exactly the same as a teenager!!

OP posts:
kitnkaboodle · 15/12/2020 17:06

Yes, we got ours in the post, or you could traipse up to school where EVERYBODY'S results were posted on a noticeboard for all to view!! I kid you not - 1982.

Ps we call any life changing letter a Billy Elliot moment 🙂

WhatHaveIFound · 15/12/2020 17:11

DD is getting hers via email. She has given permission for them to be emailed to me too as i'm working away this week. I have everything crossed she gets a higher grade than before.

Oldowl · 15/12/2020 17:15

@kitnkaboodle

I got DS to email school to confirm how to collect results and apparently they have been POSTED out today and will arrive on Thursday. Confused No results will be given by phone or email. Our post doesn't arrive til about 1pm! It's like the good old days and we shall have a Billy Elliot moment of DS taking the envelope off to his room ...
This is unusual as tomorrow is the restricted release day for schools to get A level results. Schools are allowed to release results to students from 8am on 17th December.

I have just checked DS's My Child at School and all his previous exam results have been taken down pending Thursday's results.

noblecause · 15/12/2020 17:29

It is odd how they can post them out today when they don't have them yet. A bit nervous now and we will check with school too.

noblecause · 15/12/2020 17:33

@AKissAndASmile just seen that someone has posted the link to calculating grade boundaries

www.notion.so/Proxy-Grade-Boundary-Calculator-Autumn-2020-a90e4435665e48d4bc5c165854115746

This is the link if you want to have a go

kitnkaboodle · 15/12/2020 17:34

My mistake!! Just re-read it and they're being posted tomorrow. So she's assuming that 1st class letters will only take a day. Confused All seems v odd and is probably because I reckon they are literally dealing with two students only.

AKissAndASmile · 15/12/2020 17:38

Ooh, @kitnkaboodle hopefully you receive yours tomorrow!!

Still no reply from the exams officer. Wouldn't be surprised if she replied with a 'who is this?'

AKissAndASmile · 15/12/2020 17:38

Oh, just seen your update

WhatHaveIFound · 15/12/2020 17:42

DD actually received her A Level certificates in the post today. At least that what I assume they are as it says 'certificates - keep safe' on the envelope. They'd taken 8 days to get here. I really feel for those of you who having to wait for the post. It such a bad time of year to be posting important stuff out.

AKissAndASmile · 15/12/2020 17:48

Thanks @noblecause

kitnkaboodle · 15/12/2020 17:59

Right - I've just emailed the poor beleaguered exams lady to ask, if we don't receive the results in the post on Thurs, if we can go and get them from school on Friday morning. That was definitely the original message we had in October. I've got a college who do a Jan-June resit course waiting to hear whether or not DS will be signing up with them. As both they and DS's (former) school both close early on Friday, we can't afford to wait - and our post arrives about 1pm! I am laying it on a bit thick, actually, as the college actually said we could get in touch up to Christmas Eve, but on balance I'm thinking now that posting them out is bonkers.

noblecause · 15/12/2020 18:04

It is a bit bonkers to post it out when you consider Xmas and a smal thing called a pandemic. Bizarre thing is it would be free for them to email - instead they will have to print, put in envelopes and pay for postage.

AKissAndASmile · 15/12/2020 21:30

@kitnkaboodle
I would say in this day and age to send it out by snail mail is ridiculous. What is their problem? My son's first choice university has asked that the school email them his results. Are they going to refuse and say no they send it by snail mail?!🤔
Absolutely ridiculous. Maybe go above her...I would do

AKissAndASmile · 15/12/2020 21:34

We actually did go above the exam officer and email the head of sixth form, who is an amazingly efficient person. As expected, she replied within the hour and said that he would be emailed his results on the day. No doubt he won't be, but we will email this lovely lady and no doubt get his results straight away on Thursday. Let's just hope she's in on Thursday, eh?

kitnkaboodle · 16/12/2020 09:28

I've communicated with the exams officer this morning. The results have definitely been posted out this morning, but I think they've messed up somehow. She seems to think that DS isn't able to come in and collect and, as they hadn't had any written authorisation from him for anyone else to collect them, they've done the standard thing and posted them out Confused We might as well wait for the post tomorrow, but I'm trying to establish that if he does decide to turn up in person before midday on Friday they will still let him know his @%!!* results. Great - another level of stress in this sorry saga. The exams lady has actually been very nice and helpful throughout this, but I'm sure she's starting to curse me now and want me out of her inbox!

noblecause · 16/12/2020 10:45

Hope the post is running to time tomorrow and that you don't have to wait too long. So do schools actually have the results today?

kitnkaboodle · 16/12/2020 11:39

Yes, schools get the results today and can release them to students from ?8am? tomorrow. You can also check the grade boundaries tomorrow on the exam boards' websites, apparently. I think I'll avoid doing that until we get DS's results.

We've sorted it all out with school. Apparently they have sent out the results by post "because of covid" ... naturally Hmm. If the results don't actually arrive in tomorrow's post then DS can email the exams lady and she'll sort it so he can go to school first thing Friday and actually get them from her. What a ... continuing ... palaver.

kpandthesunshineband2 · 16/12/2020 20:09

Waiting for Biology tomorrow - have confidence in ds but less so on how these grade boundaries will work. Stressful!

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