Results Day 2018

[Groovee]

Hi everyone

Thought that as the 7th is fast approaching, it would be worth doing a thread to for the day and the build up.

Dd needs a B in anything to get into Uni and ds is getting his Nat5 results. Will be a tense morning.

Even at St Andrews I would still say it would be a better experience not to skip the year - but there again, my experience there is 35-40 years old

My best friend (from St Andrews )'s ds did medicine there recently, which at St Andrews starts off as a BSc before going to one of the other Scottish Unis or Manchester Uni (in the case of English/Welsh students like my friend's ds) to do their post-med and I don't think any of them skipped their 1st year.

It probably also depends on the halls you go into. Some are more "English" than others.

One of my neighbour's is a lecturer at Glasgow Uni with a responsibility for the 1st year cohort in her area. She says she gets lots of parents students coming and complaining because the teachers lecturers are not spoon feeding the little darlings lecturing

Sparkygal just to share DD2 experience
3 Nat 5s last year and 3 with no mark including PE.

We talked to the school because she wanted to do PE higher. They agreed to her doing PE Higher, English and modern along with Nat 5 Maths and another subject.

Results today 3 highers and 2 more Nat 5s and a place at college to do an HND. A year older, more mature and has better understanding and has worked hard.

Most of us have to try a few times to get what we want.

Yoga, don't leave the thread, my DS2 got fab results but DS1 left school with 2 Nat5s and either failed or rejected the next three things he tried. Today, at 20, he has finally passed another Nat5 and got his first ever A. I am just as proud of him as of his swotty brother and I love hearing other stories of late developers, gives me hope for DS1.

@Groovee I spent my first year in dundee in West park! Fabulous memories - though no double beds in my day. Good luck to your dd

@Yogafailure Dd hasn't waltzed in to Uni. In fact Dundee was the only one to give her a chance and was the one she originally was going to say no to. 2 years ago she believed her choice of teaching was over when she struggled with maths.

My friend's son was advised to go to college before being offered uni and she said he grew so much at college and has done so well in the transfer to uni. She doesn't think he would have coped going straight to uni.

Some of us have had a child burst into tears at seeing his results and I am totally split in wanting to celebrate Dd's success while being heartbroken watching my boy look at that text this morning.

This thread has really helped me keep a level head.

Yogafailure - my nephew (SIL's boy) is a late blossomer. He's in his mid 20s now but I suspect he'll be in his 30s if ever before he's even ready to apply himself - yet is doing well in a job now and also had a couple of successful years as a Modern Apprentice (to do with sports).

The important thing is that he is happy. and very laid back

His younger sister is away at Uni but they're both different. Neither is more successful than the other.

@Yogafailure - don't go! I think it's good to see the range of results, and the choices that are open no matter what. DD has exceptionally good results but she still got rejected by her absolute first choice... and she failed her driving test and is refusing to sort more lessons/re-sitting ;-)

i'm really proud of how hard she worked but i also know that plenty of kids won't see their hard work reflected in equivalent marks so actually i'm prouder right this minute of the fact that she's currently working two jobs over the summer. there is way more to life than exam results!

Ds didn't even get an offer from his 1st choice (Edinburgh) - on which he wasted used 2 applications - but he's now 100% convinced he is going to the best Uni in Scotland for him - he calls Aberdeen the "hidden gem"

ds got two C's at Higher - disappointed with the Higher English mark as had done well in the prelim - and two As for Nat 5.
He now goes into 6 th year with 9 Nat 5s and 2 highers under his belt so that's ok.
he's not interested in going to University so fairly chilled about things.
More interested in playing guitar in a show in the Fringe at the moment!

Yoga, don't go! My DD is a slightly different story to my DS. She is just finishing off her access course to enter uni, and it has taken her 2 years and 7 attempts to pass her driving test!
While she has had a rocky few years,( she did her 1st year at uni and then dropped out due to depression and anxiety) she is slowly getting there! Your son will appreciate what he has achieved.

Hi congratulations to all. Agree with everyone else Yoga - don't go.

As others have said all dc are individuals and need to find their own path - and what they feel passionate about. University is not for everyone straight from school. One of my colleagues left school at 16 worked for several years and then did OU while working part time and bringing up her kids - has a 1st in maths related subject and a postgrad qualification in something statistical.

Had to smile at pmac - I took 7 attempts to pass my test - was the first thing I'd ever failed ! .

Thanks for sharing that Hockneypool.

I am feeling more positive for ds tonight, even if he's not quite there yet..

He obviously isn't ready for some of the highers, so resists on some of them and 1 higher this year will be good for him. Hopefully that extra year will make him more confident that he knows the subject and feel ready for the jump up next year.
I think he will feel happier once he has talked to school which is 1st day back, he'll also listen to their advice.

Interesting and encouraging to read the different pathways our dc are taking to reach their ambitions.

Congratulations to all whose dc have done well

Glad to hear that so many have done well but prettybird what exactly do you mean when you state that some of the halls at St Andrews are more ‘English’ than others ?

I find the new nat 5 qualifications confusing. What value is a C? In my head I'm seeing it as the old general grade 3 and thus not really a pass and also not useful for getting into a higher but then I see jobs that simply ask for five national 5s for example, without specifying grades

Flopsy if you are comparing to standard grades, I understand that Nat 5 is like Credit level and Nat 4 like Foundation level. I'm no expert though and Standards are after my day but before my DCs day.

Cream - some of them, like St Salvators are more traditional and seem to attract more of the English, public school types (that's where a William and Kate went ). Others, like John Burnett Hall or (I believe) Macintosh Hall (which was still single sex in my time but is now unisex) are less "elite" and appear to have a wider demographic.

I can't comment on some of the new (and expensive) accommodation.

I was told Nat4 was more general while Nat3 was foundation.

A c is a pass.

A C at N5 is a much better qualification than an N4 pass.

When it was explained to me (we were talking about Maths at the time) I was told that the N5 curriculum is essentially the same as Credit Standard grade /Int 2 so past papers in those would be good practice and he (school teacher) said that Nat 4 is like foundation and it's a shame that there is no in-between because for kids who aren't natural mathematicians Nat 5 can be a stretch but employers etc look at that the same as a general pass at standard grade but it's harder and most aren't interested in a Nat 4 because they don't really understand.

prettybird, you do realise that not every ‘ English’ student who attends a Scottish university is a ‘public school type’ so prob best not to make such sweeping judgements/ statements.

I do very much realise that: many of my friends (who are still friends, many many years later) were English and not all of them went to public schools!

(I'll gloss over the fact that I initially insulted quite a few Scottish Eastcoasters as to my West Coast ears, their accents sounded not Scottish "English" in my defence I was only 17 )

In my time, the "snobbiest" of the "Yahs" were most often not the wealthiest/most aristocratic, who were actually pretty down-to-earth and didn't have airs and graces. And talking to my best friend (from my time there )'s ds who recently did his pre-med degree there, his experience was similar.

Nat 5 - standard grade credit level
Nat 4 - standard grade general level
Nat 3 - standard grade foundation level

Teacher here just popping in the day well done to everyone.

Also to confirm this is correct...
Nat 5 - standard grade credit level/ int2
Nat 4 - standard grade general level/ int1
Nat 3 - standard grade foundation level/Access 3

And to post this link to the grade boundaries...
https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/filesccc/GradeeBoundaries2018.xls

Don’t want to derail thread because it’s about shared experiences of Scottish exam results but prettybird, there are unpleasant people/ snobs from every nationality and I don’t think it’s ok to single out the ‘English’ or indeed Scottish east coasters!

One of the benefits of attending university is that it’s supposed to broaden the mind and your horizons.
At least it did in my case and is doing so for my DC, born and brought up in England.