A level results disaster

[LadySadMum]

DS was predicted CDD which was low and based on not doing much work in year 12. However he really started working much better in year 13 and seemed to be getting better marks in his results for mocks and class tests.

So we were hopeful that he would get better than the predicted grades. He seemed happy after each exam, completed all the questions. There were a few questions that he said were hard but this is normal, right?

Anyway he got CEU. Obviously he missed his firm and insurance but it’s not even enough for any foundation courses.

The C is fine and the E was in his worst subject so can understand that. But the U is unexpected and I feel it can’t be right as he wasn’t that bad at it!

We’ve asked for a review to make sure all the questions were marked correctly and if it changes to an E that would get him onto a foundation degree. We made a mistake as we didn’t ask for it at the time (we were shocked and didnt think to ask) and by the time we contacted the school again they had left.

The exam officer is not available until next Wednesday now so it’s an agonising wait.

The worst thing is we’ve had to lie to everyone that everything is OK and he’s been accepted into uni. His grandad is ill and would be devastated if we said he failed. We also don’t want to navigate all their questions and worries until we’ve worked out the next steps ourselves.

So now we’re getting congratulation messages from all the family and his uncle is also visiting later today, probably with a present. It’s all so so awful.

So pleased to hear your update OP.
I was the poster at the start of the thread whose daughter had also missed out on her uni place. Her exam also went up after a remark but we have been waiting a week now to see if her first choice will still accept her.

Thank you for some lovely supportive comments.

And also for the ones that haven’t - it shows exactly why we needed to protect our DS because there are people like you, who want to see others not doing well and and feel gleeful about it.

Then, as I explained before, there are also family who would have been genuinely very worried and upset and we wanted to spare them. It’s been an awful 2 weeks, but we are his parents so it’s our job to worry. They didn’t need to go through that. And now it’s all fine anyway and should have been from the start, if the papers had been marked correctly.

Oh and just to reassure anyone concerned, of course this is his decision. He loves his subject and the uni course is a lot more practical with only about 35% exams. We are confident he will do well.

With hindsight he should have done a Btec and I did suggest it at the time. But he wanted to go ahead with A levels, which was his choice and he was doing OK in them. He knows he didn’t study in year 12 as much as he should have, he does seem to have matured a lot more now though.

I think he will have learnt a good life lesson from this whole experience and will appreciate his time at university even more.

I do hope everything works out for you and you hear back soon.

Some of these comments are ridiculous.

I know someone who failed their A levels, did a foundation year and is now a lawyer at a top london law firm, another who did a foundation year then went onto get a first for their degree and is now doing a phd.

A Levels just don't work for everyone. Aged curriculums, rigid assessments focusing on writing to a specific exam technique to hit points on a mark scheme rather than showing in depth knowledge of a subject then facing questionable marking isn't the only measure of whether you can be successful in a subject at degree level.

Only time will tell, but for now he has a place on a foundation course. Will the young person manage the course? Who knows? But as the mum of a DS who hated school and dropped out for a few years as a teen before taking an alternative route in education it hasn’t done him any harm considering he now flies very big aeroplanes for a living.

Hopefully though enough will have been learned from all of this that, if university isn’t right for the YP, he’ll feel able to say that it’s too much for him, and his family can support him without lies having to be told to extended family because of cultural expectations. As someone who has lived with cultural expectations, which is why I recognised it for what it was as the thread went on, this is where I’d be deciding enough of that nonsense, never will I do anything like this again and I don’t care what the outcome is in the family/society.

I’m really glad it has all worked out. My only take away here would be to question why it was such a horrible 2 weeks, and why a set of exam results could cause so much upset to extended family, and maybe reflect on how the outlook can be approached incase the uni place and results don’t work out as hoped. Exam results and grades are not the bee all
and end all, and do not reflect a persons value. Perhaps reframing their importance and alleviating some of that level of expectation and pressure on your son could avoid this level of stress and upset for all involved moving forward .