Y12 January mocks - how many grades able to improve?

[kidyounot2]

OK, so DD had a mixed bag for her 4x A-levels in her recent January 'mocks' in Y12. Her predicted/stretch goals were 2 x A star and 2 x As. Came away with A, A, A and a D!

Latter a bit of a shocker. With focused revision, what is the likelihood she can improve on this?

What grades are they expected to get in Y12 (in topic tests etc) or are they adjusted so that predicted A star should still receive A stars in topic tests or is it a case of B/Cs this year?

In my experience they tend to only improve a grade between Mocks and Actual (my subject is History and this may be different in other subjects).

With a D grade I'd assume they might get a C in the summer exam, depending on how much graft they put in between now and then. Be aware that many schools will use Mock grades for UCAS predictions.

Having said that, she is Y12, and there is plenty of time to improve before the actual A level. A lot of them are still cruising at this point and thinking that 'Mocks don't matter'. Did she do much revision?

DS had a C at the sane point in one subject and went on to get an A.

Does she have to do 4 subjects though? Woukd she do better if she dropped the subject that she got a D in and focused on the other 3?

Why is she doing 4 Alevels? It's usually better to do 3 well than stretch to 4

Does she need to do 4? Can she drop the one that was a D - or is it FM and she needs it for future plans?

If she is taking eng lit, history, geog and RE and the D was in RE then I would drop it.

Oh sorry just seen @CadyEastman says the same!

I know someone who got a tutor and went from a D to and A in Maths. But also echoing others, 4 is just not necessary, even for Oxbridge, so may be worth considering dropping. And I very much work in the field.

I agree. DD achieved AABB at AS level and AAA at A level. She was struggling with the volume of work, and dropped her least favourite subject.

The thing that’s more relevant at the moment is how those mocks will impact her ucas predicted grades. Most schools will determine predicted grades or at least give an indication of likely predicteds as theses inform the universities they will want to go to Open Days for in the early summer. They tend to confirm those grades in September as some students need to do early applications for Oxbridge or Medicine and many others want to get their applications in early.

Yr12 work therefore determines those predicted grades and the range of unis that you can be a read list if applicant to.

I agree that unless Further Maths is the 4th and 4 are needed, 3 is the way to go. 3 high grades are better than 4 mediocre ones.

Back to your Q about improvement…..quite a level of improvement is possible as essentially she’s only 1 term into the course. If this were yr13, I’d think a grade was possible and some might manage more but most wouldn’t.

Qs to ask school include whether these papers were marked to full A Level standard or ‘easily’ marked to give more generous grades or had grade boundaries set very low to deliver higher grades. Make sure you’re clear about what work is counted in determining predicted grades. It’s unlikely these Jan exams are the last pieces to determine the grades that will be set in the summer - as it’s so early in the course, but they probably will play a role. Make sure DD is clear that all work is really important and she needs to perform well to have a chance of ucas grades like her aspirational target grades.

Id actually say that the grades she got are good for this stage in yr12, esp if marked to proper standards. Often schools don’t want to give or expect to give too many A stars at such an early stage. It’s not surprising most aren’t at that level at this early point in the course. Understanding what these grades mean and the process ahead that this school uses is really important as yr12 whizzes by and before you know it they are doing ucas and the predicted grades are already set. In some ways these are the most important thing, because without the pred grades, you don’t get the offers, and then no matter how good your actual results are, the full range of unis won’t be available to you in the same way they can be if you apply with excellent predicted grades.

Such helpful advice, thank you all.

DD's schools ask they do 4 and then drop one so that's what she will do now (she's not doing FM), so she should have some more time and it does seem that it was the Physics electricity piece she struggled most with so that brought her down. There were definitely quite a few of the other girls across the year that got Cs/Ds in various subjects.

She's receiving some help and guidance from school now so should hopefully help. She did jump 3 grades in a stem subject and 4 in another at GCSEs so she has hopefully form. It's stressful, think she needs to work more efficiently and look at how best optimise time for revision.

They won’t be at their optimum point yet. It’s early days and apart from real superstars who might be top levels from the word go, many if those who go onto get top grades won’t be achieving them at this point, but will progress and get there.

Their confidence can easily be knocked though, can’t it. Instead of focusing on 3xA being a great achievement for having just done A Levels for a term, the focus all becomes on the lower grade. That’s often how girls are! Boys would be more likely to ignore the lower grade and feel good about the As.

But yes, honing use of revision time to the tight mix of working on factual content and practising exam Qs is important and all part of progressing. Sounds like these exams will have been useful as there are a number of things to take forward from them. She sounds reflective and keen to progress and is already starting from a strong point, so it bodes v well.