2015 Yr 12 support thread

[Needmoresleep]

Mocks this week, and the reality of AS exams in a few months is starting to hit home. I don't think it will be an easy journey, so would welcome some company.

Dd a bit tense tonight - maths and history tomorrow. Another day of churning stomach and fretting - for me! I bloody hate exam season!

Maths and history for my dd too - both Edexcel. Took her to the walk in centre this evening as was concerned she might have tonsillitis - 'just' viral though, swollen tonsils but not infected. However, we did manage some useful maths revision whilst waiting, so it was worth going!

My mum's ill in hospital (not life-threateningly ill, but not really very well) and I'm trying to keep it all very low-key and reassuring for dd2, not sure I'm succeeding French on Thursday, and then a long break before her last two maths papers, phew.

Good luck to everyone doing C2 tomorrow, and the History boys (and girls) in the afternoon And to anyone doing anything else!

Happy birthday to Gently's DD!

Atia hope your mum recovers soon and that DD feels OK for her papers today.

Good luck to everyone today - C2 Maths here and I know for a lot of you too - I really hope DS doesn't run out of time again . . .

dd was on her way to school at 7.20. Poor love :(

Maths this morning for dd too. Good luck everyone - it'll soon be half term and we can recharge the batteries ready for the last push.

DD leaves for school at 7:15 every day. Mind you I used to leave earlier when I was her age (my school did register at 8:15 FFS) and I, like her, am most decidedly not a morning person. We a heated debate this morning about the time of her exam, she was convinced it was 9 and did not even believe my photo of her timetable showing it is at 1 - she insisted in digging out her original from the depths of her bag to 'check'. :) She was pleased to find it was at 1 though, because she always feels sick for a while after arriving at school, especially in the summer (it's the bus. Driving into the sun doesn't help either). On the one hand you would think she would be fine today - she is literally steeped in the politics and history of the post war period - but on the other hand there can sometimes be such a thing as knowing too much. Sigh. At least after this she has nothing till music on 2 June and then only GS A2 after that. Good luck to everyone taking exams today.

So apparently Edexcel C2 was horrendous. Dd2 said "literally what the hell" and thinks she's lost at least 6 marks. The Student Room seem to agree with her, so I'm not getting too bothered yet!

Sorry to hear it was hard Atia. What are the grade boundaries like normally? Presumably they'll be lower if it was a tricky paper?

Yeah, I'm sure it will come out in the wash.

Haven't looked at the grade boundaries recently, but they're quite mobile for maths.

Oh crikey Atia! Haven't heard from DS but have also been reading TSR and it sounds grim. If it was that bad then I bet he didn't finish again poor soul.

Just had dd on the phone in tears again about Maths. Not looking forward to 13th August....

Hi, just sneaking in to say I've been following the thread to keep me sane. Thanks all! Ds texted me after the C2 Math to say it was awful - and everyone else said that as well. Fingers crossed on the grade boundaries. He has History this afternoon (he's doing 16th century and it's French history paper today - I have no idea what board it is ignorant mother but give me credit for sitting through at least 5 hours of 16th Century history being spouted and explained to me in the last week anyway I'm distracting myself with looking up open days and history courses at uni. Off to check out some reference books at the library this afternoon - HEAP 2015 is the one to check out I hear (except it should be HEAP 2016 I expect). Just want to get my head round the UCAS process and steer ds to some reasonable unis and courses at open days
Anyone booking open days yet? Where are you going?

DD has History this afternoon too - British politics. She went off this morning with all her mindmaps etc that have previously been displayed around the house. Quarter of an hour ago, I went to the downstairs loo, and almost started panicking because she'd left her Clement Attlee mindmap up in there! Suppose there's an Attlee question and she hasn't revised it!!!! Then thought I may be a little too invested ... Well done for sitting through the 16th century stuff!

She is supposed to be booking open days. She has been to a thing at Cambridge, and is going to another thing there, so isn't going to bother with a formal open day she says. She did Leeds with me and dd1 last year, loved it. She is going to Durham and Newcastle I think, with dh - they are on consecutive days so they are making a weekend of it and seeing some bike racing on the way back :) Possibly Manchester or Cardiff?

Maths C2 "was not great" which means a disaster. But I'm not surprised given DC's extremely laidback approach to revision

Still nothing from DS and as I've got a meeting this afternoon I probably won't find out til about five thirty! Not sure I can bear the suspense but it really doesn't sound good . . . . . .

We're going to open days at Oxford, Cambridge (he can't decide which but if the maths was that bad we may cancel them!) Bristol, Bath, Imperial, Southampton, Surrey and Exeter. He is also considering Manchester and Birmingham but we haven't booked those as I was getting a bit panicky at the number of days to be spent driving the length and breadth of the UK! It's going to be a bit of a long haul. I think we may have booked too many.

Dd has booked a couple of open days in June, we will leave the rest until the autumn when we have a better idea of what is achievable.

Every loo needs an Atlee mind map. And a relief to know that we can rely on Morvah to provide us with insights into half the campuses in the UK. DD has not booked any. She's taking a 'as long as she is studying medicine she doesn't care where' attitude. I suspect she wants AS and UKCAT hurdles out of the way first. Trouble is that she then does not have long before her application needs to be in. I foresee some busy weekends in September.

DD1 has already been to open days at Guildhall, Trinity Laban and RCM. She really needs to go see Royal Northern and possibly the Welsh. She know plenty about Birmngham already so can probably skip that. Of universities, she has done a thing at Cambridge and is going to an open day at her first choice college (should she apply) in July. She did have a York open day booked for late June but won't be able to make it (I'm going to be in Brussels, unavoidably, and DD2 has show week for a show she is in so there is no way that DH can take DD1 up there and cart DD2 along too even if DS was prepared to stay home alone (which he wouldn't be)). DD1 going on her own just wouldn't be an option I don't think, it's a bloody long way. She thinks she could but the trains are just too unreliable and too expensive and take way too long. And flying is really no better since you then have to get from Leeds to York. I can see her applying to someuniversities withouthaving visited them, to be honest - but since they would be below plan C I don't think it's that much of an issue, I think it's highly unlikely she would in the end go to any of them, she'd prefer to re-think. So maybe she will end up just having 2 or 3 universities on her UCAS form (but with the 5 UCAS conservatoires AND the Guildhall as well). Autumn is looking like it will be a time of hell for the whole family - DD1 will have auditions interviews and tests, and I will probably (it looks like) be overseas (and really far some of the time, USA and Africa, not just Europe) most weeks in Sept/Oct and Nov. Nightmare. Although I think DD1 is cool about that - but it will bring real organisational headaches I think. Sigh.

I keep looking at my watch to see if the history exam is over yet. It isn't. I don't really expect DD1 to text/email the minute it is over...but I kind of hope she will. Even if it's only our customary code for 'I'm alive' (I don't know why we don't just say 'I'm alive' but we don't. Instead we quote lines from our favourite song and manifesto for life 'Rage of Thrones'). anyone who pinched our phones would think we were mad. Possibly not incorrectly.

Had a text off DD2 to say C2 was good - which I am pleased about after yesterday's awful physics B paper. She has started booking open days but still unsure what she wants to study! Had booked Cambridge but I think that might be in the bin after the physics EMPA and unit 1 going so bad; Sheffield, Durham, Leeds so far. She went to Nottingham, Manchester and Birmingham last year with DD1.

It's at times like this that I really regret living where we do. Everything is so far away.

C2 was good apparently. His texts are always very brief.
He has some open days planned at the end of June. He went to a taster day at York and has crossed that off the list as he really disliked the campus. He's been to Nottingham before and liked it plus they do a course he likes so he is going back for a second look. Also on the list are Durham, Manchester, Sheffield, Oxford and Warwick.

Re open days - don't worry if you haven't done many (or any), many places will offer open days for those who have applied and received an offer. These are usually in late winter/early spring.

Morvah, DS said the worst questions on c2 were at the end, so if yours didn't finish, at least they only missed questions loads of other students were probably failing to get marks on anyway.

Just heard from DD1. She said history was 'good'.