Year 12-13 AS levels and beyond

[HSMMaCM]

Following on from the preparing for AS levels thread.

Hopefully everyone is finishing off AS exams.

"OMG Blyton, 100/100 for History? He's a genius! Hope he's planning to do it at Uni!" Not really. Though the history teacher says he will buy both twins' history paper to see why they did much better than quite a few others - was it that they followed the teacher's instructions better or just intelligently actually answered the question or had learned al ot - one had a history time line he had sent round other boys which he thinks is the key to it; or was it they did well not because of the teaching but some other reason.

Oxbridge was mentioned at school but I don't think they'd get in as not enough A*s at GCSEs.

They are now telling me they get £100 per A grade at AS apparently.....

There are also some boys with Us and 3 boys who may be leaving the school and some friends who won't tell them their results so they need to be kind and sensitive to others I hope.
Right back to earning some money now.

Juggling, my DH is a HT so knows what to look for I haven't got a clue! Enjoy the Lakes - it's so lovely there.

Dingit I know what you mean but it actually cheered DD up to know she was so close

I am now £800 down.... expensive day.

There seems to be some variation between the difficulty of different exam boards, never mind subjects - DH has confirmed similarly lower than expected results in Eco at his school, same board as DD and she thinks they all got lower than expected at hers.

However, she is cheered up now - just popped back with friends and now off to an afternoon "gathering" at some boy from her sixth forms house.

Hi all. Results were fine here in Casa Carl. Only one weird one, where DS got the best mark in the year for one paper and the worst in the other.

Teacher was very as you'd have put money on DS being in the middle for both!

He's asked for a copy of both papers from the board out of sheer curiosity I think.

DD's boyfriend sent her a bunch of flowers which was sweet ( especially considering he's a right boffin and would probably die on the spot if her got her results ).

We also got another piece of news today which has taken some processing; DD has been offered a part in a film. It would mean not finishing next year at school which is a pretty big decision.

Film parts don't come up often, but A levels can be taken any time. Depends what she wants to do really. Would she consider A2s by correspondence ?

I don't know what my advice would be to my own DD of course.

Awww, Carl - But eeeek re having to make that decision!

Carl, DD had a similar result with History - got an A for the subject she hated (because of the teacher, but the tutor we got for about 5 sessions must have been good!) and a C for the one (and teacher) she enjoyed

Just catching up with your posts today - not MNing in general while on holiday - good to see mostly positive results. My DD had been worried about the two new spec ones (physics and computing) but she got 4As so we will be celebrating at dinner this evening (we've been resisting the fab looking deserts thus far but not tonight!).

One of my sons' friends got U U U. It must be particularly difficult to do that badly. He has been just about okay in class. Perhaps he just wrote his name on the paper and nothing more.

Well done to everyone on here and Errol's daughter. My sons aren't really celebrating as such - in fact before they got the results on was saying AS does not really count and it was no more important than school exams although since they both got AAAA he seems internally very pleased. One said it proved he'd got his minimal effort just right and there would have been no point in working any harder (rather a dangerous strategy in my view). One has been persuaded to start all 4 and of the one he might give up decide in the first 2 weeks so that seem the plan for now. I and he does not want to do 4 however so that's going to be a bit complex.

2016 Blyton if one of your sons got 4 A's with minimal effort he must be a bloody genius!.
My dd worked bloody hard for her A in Maths and is in tears tonight bvecause it wasn't a 'good enough A' according to her .To get A's in Mary's and Sciences at A level is really hard in spite of getting A*'s in virtually all of her GCSE's.

Ds will probably go for the aab as his favourite as he likes the place as well as the university and he's got the advantage of being eligible for a contextual offer because of his college. That said, I've looked in clearing and they want AAA though at least there are places in clearing.

The results didn't show a module score, the ones which were A had 135 next to them, not sure what that is?

Blyton I admire the twin who thinks he's got the minimal effort thing exactly right. All credit :)

DS4 got full ums in every one of his maths papers so that was a bit of a surprise, since he's not one of those exceptional mathematicians. Very weird but we're not going for remarks :) I did ask over the phone if it was his name on the results sheet and he checked and said yes it was, so we'll just go with it.

Carl one of my DDs had a film part and kept on studying - is the filming miles away, is that why she can't do both?

"One of my sons' friends got U U U. It must be particularly difficult to do that badly. He has been just about okay in class. Perhaps he just wrote his name on the paper and nothing more."

Bit patronising! Not everyone can achieve 4 As with little effort. Some students know their subject but just don't get the specifics the examiners are looking for. It is possible to write more than your name and still get a u .

I am struggling to find any information on the new AS Levels for the sciences. These were sat for the first time this year, and it would be insightful to find figures on how many sat the exams and trend lines in grades received. Have scoured the net and cannot find anything.

goodbye the filming will take place mostly in the US.

In the back of my mind, I sort of think fuck it. How many people get this sort of opportunity at 17?

She's taken time out of education before, when she performed in a stage play. But that was in London and she was in year 9 so we were able to keep things going with the school's help.

But this would realistically scupper year 13.

God, I haven't slept at all.

No he never said minimal effort. He said he had gauged the effort needed exactly right to get the AAAA. His twin this time (who usually gets a grade less although not in every subject) did work harder than he did although I would say they both worked hard consistently all year.

They teenage boys' comments should always be taken with a pinch of salt anyway. I hope the good grades encourage them to work very hard this year as trying to judge exactly how much effort you need for the precise grades you need seems incredibly risky. He's very keen on predicting which questions will come up too which some teachers agree with and others (and I) think is too risky a strategy. I do think they are doing better than some boys at school at A level because GCSE was more about cramming and working 7 hours a day which some of their friends do (immigrant parents etc, tiger mothers etc etc) and A levels is perhaps more about thought, ideas, not just churning out answers so perhaps that is helping them so a bit better now. Anyway none of the older children got AAAA so I'm just happy but I am certainly not unaware of how hard A levels are.

We keep having discussions about science and maths at home. The twins and I love maths but we thought/think it can be harder to get A* or A at A level in it as an A level and indeed science. Load of their friends were virtually forced into STEM subjects by their parents who we don't think were suitable for those subjects and who actually have done worse. Of course it depends what you're good at and mine were not good at science for example.

On the filming - difficult decision. Perhaps just find out what she wants to do. Also could she film and have a private tutor. I think the Harry Potter girl did that and still went to a good university. That super model who went to Oxford did the same too and the education is a good thing to fall back on when acting or modelling ceases to keep you as very often it does after a year or two.

Blyton she's unsure what she wants to do in the future exactly, but it will involve acting/writing/directing/producing.

None of which require any sort of formal qualifications of course.

So this would in some ways be an ideal opportunity to get started, to see how it all works. But I just wish she could have finished her A levels and gone to university first, not only for a back up, but also to give her time to grow up.

And of course being so young, she's very keen on some firm advice from her dad and I. And I for one, am at a loss...

Getahaircut I would confirm if education support can be provided while filming. I'm sure in the USA they don't sit formal exams until 18, so education should be provided (I could be wrong about USA education) Lots of films are made that never get released or finished. There are no guarantees in the industry but I would be looking at the company's previous track record to help inform any decision. When younger my ds had small parts in three films. One was a huge success, the others never made it past the cutting room. One of the films was with a recognised film company so it was a surprise nothing come of it. Also, a number of the older actors were not paid and all sorts of legal action was being taken. I don't want to be a kill joy, but I'd want to know as much as I could before I sent my daughter. However, experience in that field is important and it could be the most amazing opportunity.

eating I will look into education in more detail. To be honest, we'd happily pay for tuition, if the film company didn't offer. But we're worried that there will be little time to study realistically.

I know exactly what you mean about films not being made. But I'm confident (as I can be) that this will be as there is too much money involved and various household names attached to it already.

Of course films stall in production and post production all the time though.

Actually, I think I'd be happier if this were a small independent film being made in England, with little chance of it ever seeing the light of day. Then there would certainly be the necessity to continue wit studies and it would be more doable.

Aploogies for taking over this thread. That's not what this thread is for.

Carl, some great advice there from others in the know.
You are not taking over - it's really interesting! Great that she has been offered this opportunity, though after Y13 might have been better timing

Easy mistake to make on my part Blyton, given that you said one twin said 'it proved he'd got his minimal effort just right'! Didn't intend to imply he was a slacker, sorry! It's an invaluable skill though, judging the right amount of effort.

The US makes it more tricky but I'd tend to encourage her to go. Films don't take forever to make so why doesn't she simply film, return and drop down a year? It's not all or nothing necessarily and there's no big rush in life.

Oops sorry that last bit was to Carl.

On the other hand it would need to be a big part and not as an understudy. We've lived in CA - it might be a good experience to put her off the synthetic lifestyle apart from anything else....

In fact that's my fault then. I implied he'd made minimal effort or even said that and that's not true. He always says he just does exactly the right amount of work to get what he is after. I should not be suggesting he's not put in a lot of work (but he could put in more - eg he told the school yesterday getting into Oxbridge and once there the work there would be too much effort.......) I think it's risky going by what amount of effor tyou need, particularly all his calculations about which quetsions will come up, which are due to come up etc as there is no guarantee examers will say ah we haven't covered XYZ for 3 years so it will come up this year. I don't lik,e that tactical revision. I think you should learn the whole syllabus and even more around it if you like the subject. In fact the thing I'm most pleased about is not their 4 As but the fact the other twin who is usually a grade behind got the same for once (and he worked particularly hard). I think it just shows that some children only come into their own at 16+ rather than younger and some only once in work, and mind you some of them never do (my graduate postman son.... who I still hope will move on to better things - at least he's set a low bar for his brothers. He 's done all the cousins in the family a favour with that - they will all presumably exceed his career choice) .

Godo bye, cannot remember if your duaghter is about to start 12 yars of A levels or has just done lower sixth. If she is in the middle then I would just hire a tutor if the film people won't even if it uses most of her fees from the film to go out there with her who can also be a chaperone and can make sure she still takes A2 next year. If she has not started lower sixth then just postpone sixth form for a year. (My sons have a boy who is a year older in their class and he's fitted in fine)