DD's mocks results are a disaster - what can I do now?

[Earningsthread]

Art target grade A* - mock grade - A/B
Biology target grade A* - mock grade - C
Chemistry target grade A* - mock grade - C
English Language target grade A* - mock grade - A
English Literature target grade A* - mock grade - A
French target grade A* - mock grade - D
History target grade A - mock grade - A
ICT target grade A - mock grade - A
Mathematics target grade A* - mock grade - A
Music target grade A* - mock grade - B
Physics target grade A* - mock grade - D

This girl is talented. So talented that her English teachers in every year have told me that she is the most gifted student they have ever seen. But just look at those mock results. They are APPALLING. She is underachieving in every subject bar 2. What should I do? What can I do? There are only six months between now and the exams. The school thought she was an Oxbridge banker. I know my rebellious DD and knew she would not work. But there is not working and not working. THose mock GCSE results are appalling.

What if anything, can I do to help at this late stage?

Everyone is different when it comes to how good they are at long-term planning, breaking down work, and on staying focused on it without an imminent deadline. (These are the types of traits that, taken to an extreme, give you the highest achievers and people who would qualify for an ADHD diagnosis, at opposite ends of a spectrum. This is quite separate from IQ!)

You don't need to be diagnosable with ADHD to have planning and focusing skills that might lag behind your IQ, leading to underachievement unless you can specifically work around those issues. So OP, don't be too hung up on whether or not you 'ought' to have to do things like help with timetables and so on - if I were you I'd focus on whether it's helpful. If it is, then do it, regardless of how bizarre it may seem to you as you didn't need it yourself at this age. Everyone is different - you'd help with reading if she was struggling with that, so if she needs help with the planning, organisation and motivation don't just write her off because you think she 'shouldn't' need help with those things.

People who say she can't really want Oxbridge or she'd be working are oversimplifying - it is quite possible to want something and still screw up getting it!

As a lawyer I wonder why she isn't going to do law at undergraduate level -in my experience it will make her more attractive to employers than someone with the CPE.

The CPE is a 9 month crammer which gets you through the basics of the core subjects, but doesn't enable you to get a feel of areas like jurisprudence, constitutional and administrative law, international law. If she really wants to do law, reading English might be 'really interesting' but she might be better advised to take Law. Just my opinion/experience.

That's DH's point of view as well. However most of our legal friends come with the opposing point of view that it is better not to do a law degree because of breadth of interest etc.

We recently had a careers evening at ds' school and he had a chat to a leading barrister who told him categorically NOT to do law at undergraduate level - said he was much better off doing something like history at a really good university, followed by a law conversion course

Yes, heard that a million times myself (and thought it too). One of my closest friends really regrets doing a law degree. Last time we got drunk together he was very morbid about having done a law degree. I did try to point out that if his major regret in life is having done a law degree rather than a French degree, he didn't have a lot of problems but still, he was very concerned about it, Then again it was late and he was drunk

All of this law stuff is pretty academic actually given that DD is on course to do pretty badly in her GCSEs ...

Dd went to talk to a solicitor's firm: the younger ones all said, just do law degree, cheaper and more efficient, and the older ones all said do an academic subject and then do law after.

But on the subject of mocks: I do think there is plenty of time for her to sort herself out. My dd didn't work half as hard for mocks as for GCSEs, and we were a bit surprised she didn't take them as seriously as we'd have liked.

She is going to do some work experience with a local solicitors actually. Maybe they'll help to get her focussed. Or not

"All of this law stuff is pretty academic actually given that DD is on course to do pretty badly in her GCSEs ..."

She isn't, you know. She may not be on course for all A*s and Oxbridge, but there are other universities!

This all sounds so familiar. My DD is just the same, predicted 11 A*s but has done barely any revision for mocks so I dread to think what her results will be like. She is thoroughly fed up with being at school, knows what she wants to do for A levels and study at university and just wants to get on with it all. I do like to point out that some good GCSEs are the first stepping stone in all of this, but what do I know? I'm only her mum.

On the law side, I'd say she should do a degree in what interests her - 3 years is a long time and she might change her mind.

I say that as one married to a senior partner in a law firm who did do a law degree then straight through with one year law school then articles. But also DD is signed up for law school next year and is just finishing her English degree - it will have 'cost' her only one year to take the other subject route but she's changed her mind about 3 times in 3 years over the path she wanted to follow.

That said, a law degree would never be wasted, even if you didn't want to be a lawyer.

Don't you mean what can she do

One of the big issues is parents micro managing their children

So sit her down and make it clear its up to her, offer her if she wants help with planning revision but make it clear it is up to her

A lesson many children and parents need to learn