Year 12-13 AS levels and beyond

[HSMMaCM]

Following on from the preparing for AS levels thread.

Hopefully everyone is finishing off AS exams.

Good luck to all the Biology-takers!

DS has his final RS GCSE paper this afternoon too

After thinking we had a free rest of the week DD said last night she needed to be in college at 1045 today. I told her she could get the second bus. Needless to say, she missed it. Cue ranting and raving. I said, "phone up Mrs G and tell her your mum didn't wake you up ... And then listen to her laugh".

I think the penny almost dropped that she could be responsible for her own timekeeping.

I wonder how they'll cope if they do go off to Uni/college in 18 15 mths or so HSMM?

Still I suppose being late for lectures isn't unheard of in student life!

DS is back from Biology but hasn't come up to my cupboard study yet. I think he's in the kitchen.

Well he's spoken to me and says the Biology paper was 'odd', especially a very badly worded mathematical question. But he thinks he did 'ok'.

DD thought it was "OK" too, but of course she's knackered now as she stayed up half the night.

Beginning to get demob happy now as so nearly there now - just a Maths Stats paper to go next Wednesday

Physics on Thursday, also Statistics next Wednesday.

DS always seem to have a hugely long exam season.

Then it's straight into A level teaching the following week, for about a month.

DS says it wasn't as bad as the first one and was better than he thought. He's now got two English Literature projects due in and they start the A level work in the next few days.

Sorry, that's the biology exam I'm talking about.

dd's exams carry on for three more weeks. She is so sick of it all now.

Why does it have to go on for so long?

Unfortunately Physics (Breadth) was a bit of a disaster, apparently, so the pressure is on for Thursday.

At least Biology seemed generally all right for everyone, thankfully.

Littlehum, 3 weeks Is that because some are "internals" or are some AS's just incredibly late?

DD starts A'levels next week. But only for 3 weeks, and she will miss 2 days going to Open Days!

Good Luck again if anyone is taking anything today!

She still has S1 (now), Physics paper 2 (tomorrow), then M1, C3 and C4 (maths papers).

The reason they go on so long is that there are some A2 papers.

Her A2 teaching starts a week before the exams have finished so I'm not sure how that is going to work!

DS1 just has the Stats paper next Wednesday, as does DS2 who also has Physics tomorrow and Chemistry on Friday.
They go back after study leave on Monday though, before the Stats paper.
DS3 finishes GCSEs next Friday so the end does seem in sight now.

You have a lot doing exams Truffle.

S1 was 'ok'. No idea what that means.

It's so different in each sixth form re study leave/A levels, etc.

And I see on the BBC website an article on the massive discrepancies between different LAs on the take-up of A levels. As if it were the only "decent" option it looks like many of those near the top if the table are LAS with grammar schools or highly affluent anyway

Littleham, OK for DD means she aced it

They are never Ok

This morning's OCR S1seemed better than the previous two OCR maths AS levels papers, C1 and C2, which is odd but welcome, as it's usually the paper DD finds hardest!

Stats is usually her worst bit of maths.

She usually loves the pure maths modules which makes her the opposite of her class. Everyone else hated the OCR C1 and C2 whereas she thought those were easier. She finds the A2 modules easier than stats so she is just plain contrary.

Most of dd's class agreed with your dd Abraid.

Btm I read that article about a levels. It didn't even mention btecs or anything else.

I know, HSM Why does everyone think that only A'levels count towards anything? Aside from the fact that with a decent Btec result you can go to university to do a degree, they actually do lead to jobs in their own right.

Littlehum, she must be a true mathematician! I thought the stats bit was the best and most useful when I did A level maths, and I have never used anything from the pure bit since

The areas with so many doing A Levels are also a worry I would have thought, I would think that A Levels would suit about 45% of 16-18yo, Btec about 35% and apprenticeships about 20%.

I think those figures may count those doing 1 A level with something else too but the new white paper suggests that won't be possible in a couple of years.

Really Odd Whyever not? Why can't they just back off and leave schools and students to it?

I think the areas with such high percentages of A'levels are grammar (eg Sutton) or areas with a high percentage of parents who have done a degree?

LittleH, that's interesting about the rest of your DD's class.

I would never have guessed that the maths papers would have been so all over the place.