Why did my son get these results?

[WishfulThinking123]

Hi,

My son got his GCSE results, like everyone else! He was predicted an A in English (both language and literature), B in Maths, C for all 3 Sciences, an A in PE, an A* for art, a B for music, a B for German and a merit for ICT. He had reached these targets in his last mocks, which is why these were his predicted.

He got a D in English language and a C in literature. He got a D in maths, D for chemistry and biology, C for physics, a B in PE, a B for art, a C for music, a D for German and the merit for ICT. Some are fair enough as of course you may well get lower but I think some of these are shockingly low. I'm not, not proud of him, I'm just incredibly upset for him. He had a place at sixth form (depending on results) which is out of the question. He did have a place at college as a last resort for an art course (he isn't even sure if art is what he wants to do, as he'd prefer to do something with English in it) but he needed at least a B in art, and that's still only after a proper meeting (you need an A really) we even phoned today and they asked about his other results and said they just wouldn't be able to take him on. So we are completely lost.

Is it me or isn't it really odd that his results are like that? He worked really bloody hard. Would always stop off at the library to do extra work after school, etc.

We have had a few tears today and not sure what to say to him other than we will sort something out but Honestly I don't know what, as he had his whole heart set on a levels as he'd like to continue a couple of subjects, instead of just one.

Aw bless him. It's horrible when results are worse than you expect without any clear reason why. I'm a private tutor in science and maths. I often work with students who work really hard but miss their grades through poor exam technique-not answering the question that's asked, not showing working, not using key words etc... It could easily be something like that that's caught him out.

I agree a good talk with the school about his options is what's needed. Remarks might be worthwhile if he's close to grade boundaries. The school will have these. Really good luck to him.

If you go to the exam boards they have a list of the grade boundaries, and on his results most of the exams should have the individual papers with the raw marks and grading next to them as well as overall UMS mark on one side. For example 46 is a UMS B for Ds, whereas 40 is a UMS C. That B could be made up of a 3 papers one marked 68, one marked 66 and one marked 45 (raw marks) added together they make (I cannot remember) but it just added up to the total which was on B boundary for Music that year, whereas the UMS total is the same year after year.

Statistics not my strong point.

He will be able to resit Eng Lang and Maths in November at school or college and get results in Jan. The good news is that his Controlled Conditions marks should roll over for any subject where this was a component. I suggest that you book an appointment with the Head of Year 11 or the Exams Officer so you can get a picture of his CC marks and exam marks profile. He needs to know which questions he scored well on and where he didn't and if he missed out questions- certainly for AQA GCSEs this info is all available now. You also need to know what the grade boundaries were for his subjects because it may be that the goalposts have shifted this year. They certainly have this summer in my subject, English and Eng Lit in particular.
There should also be a member of staff who advises on careers info (this could be a bought in service rather than a teacher) or contact the council to see who advises on 16-18 education matters ( formerly Connexions). They can give you info about Level 2 and 3 college courses which might be his best bet for a year until he brings his GCSEs for the subjects he wants to continue to A Level up to at least a C ( and most institutions want a B).
Best wishes- I know that he and you must be very upset at the moment.

Do you know how other children at the school did? It would be worth establishing whether this is solely down to your DS or whether there are any issues around teaching standards or the way the staff make their grade predictions.

Grade boundaries have changed so those who would have got Cs got Ds instead.

Could have been exam stress.

I performed badly in my exams in comparison to my predicted grades, (predicted A*s but got Bs and Cs). I simply can't do exams I had similar results in my AS levels, moved on to a 100% coursework BTEC and got the highest marks. So that might suit him better.

Many Sixth forms do a year where students do Level 2 courses to resist their gCSEs it's not unusual

It must be very disappointing for your DS.

I could be completely wrong but are predicted GCSE grades based on ks2 SATS? If these were inflated/incorrect then predicted grades would also be inflated/incorrect and, in the current climate, I imagine teachers would be reluctant to adjust them downwards. Also it is possible that your DS did not know how to revise effectively. Have you spoken to the school?

Hello,

I have just left sixth form and was also predicted very good grades but did not get what was expected (similar results to your son) at my school we only needed 5 GCSES to go to sixth form, If I counted correctly your son did have 5? Could you ring around other sixth forms nearby and see if they have a lower threshold for the amount of GCSES needed for sixth form?

also the reason why his results may not have been as expected may be because of pressure of the exams(sometimes I think parents don't realise just how much pressure is put on kids by teachers to perform well in their GCSEs), a bad nights sleep before exams and maybe not enough revision?(even though I know you said he worked very hard)

hope this helps and I hope your son is happy in whatever he ends up doingxx

He has 2 types of predicted grades, 1 from the KS2 SATS and 1 from the school.

His friends got lower than expected too, but not as big as the A to D jump

a predicted grade A to D? I had one of my GCSEs remarked because it was a B! and the remark showed up some kind of error and I got an A instead.

Could something have gone wrong, maybe not in the marking of all of them, but in some of them...?! sorry if grasping at straws.

I'm picking up on just the couple I know about, to get a sense of what it was that caused him to get lower than expected.

For the music, what was his performance like? What grade is he working at and in what instrument and how sound is his theoretical knowledge? Schools often say you can do GCSE music as long as you're around Grade 3, but in reality it's hard to do well at this level.

Maths, was he in a stream that taught right up to the A* questions? Sometimes pupils in sets predicted B or C don't get taught the very hard stuff. They have good reason - they want pupils to get a solid grounding in the bits that will get them through and not get confused by the top end of the syllabus. BUT if those C grade bits slip in the exam for one reason or another it's then easy to end up below the C. If there were questions in the exam he couldn't even begin to attempt i wonder if this was the case.

I tutor both these subjects for GCSE so with this info I may be able to tell you a bit more, at least about those. You need to know if school over predicted him, or the exam went wrong on the day, or if he wasn't understanding it as well as he thought, or didn't revise effectively. If you find those things out the will help with a way forward - especially the maths which I assume will need to be retaken.

Condolences, by the way. I have a DD who managed a U in one of her AS level subjects (she'd had lots of extra lunchtime tuition). Being a parent is bloody difficult at times.

Have you spoken to anyone at school? They should be able to advise? With those results I would resit at least science, maths & English as these can make a huge difference to a career choice/change in the future. Although it may not affect what he wants to do know they are worth banking. What about an art course or college course alongside the GCSE's? An extra year now, will mean nothing in a few years but those grades once got may mean everything in the future.

Does the local fe college offer a resit year? One of ours does. Limited range of options but aim to get near misses through with 5 good passes.

I'm not in England, so not sure if this is possible there, but can you appeal based on prelim results?

Now not know

Sorry OP, he must be feeling so disappointed.

This popped up on my Facebook; it's a good reminder that exam results are not what define you or your future career (in case you want to show him).

Craigavon Police

I'm not in England, so not sure if this is possible there, but can you appeal based on prelim results?

No we don't have that here. We can ask for remarks though.

Did he not turn over the final page of the exam paper or something for english? Surprising to hear of such a big drop.

Doing retakes will give him a lot more options than taking a course he isn't sure about.

Sorry if this is already clear, but pupils with a D in English or Maths will have to resit them to stay on in education at all. So start from there and then think about A-levels or a level 3 vocational course.

Our local sixth form college offer a re-sit programme. Is this an option?

From comments on other thread you need at least Bs to cope with A levels.

How close he is to a C in the maths and english? Are they close enough to warrant a remark

Try a different college to see if they will accept him on a level 3. He does have 5 A-C passes just not english or maths but they can be studied along side the level 3.

ihate Hope your DS enjoys the BTEC course. A levels were never an option for my DS but he loved his BTEC course.

He won't have to resit English because he got a C in English Lit.

He will need to resit English as it's English Language that requires a C grade.

No, you don't need to resit if you get a C in English lit. However if you do have to resit, you have to resit English language, you can't resit English lit.

www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-maths-and-english-condition-of-funding

So sorry this has happened and it is upsetting and shocking and hard to bear when our children live through things like this.

You've had really good advice about remarks and exam debriefing. What came to mind, reading your post, was to relay the story of a friend who left school without ANY passes (or maybe just 1). He was a summer baby so took those exams before he was 16. Didn't get anywhere with applications for apprenticeships, did some GCSEs at college in a year and was then offered a place on five different schemes. After that, he kept at the studies while working and got a place to do his degree. Graduated in his late 20s and became chartered in his field at around age 30. Has a very successful and fulfilling career. None of this could have been predicted from his initial GCSE results. He has always said that he was a late starter - many, boys in particular, actually do benefit from another year (mentally and emotionally). Their brain is maturing still and they can really take off. It happened to DS with Maths and he's so glad now, to have started university at 19.

No matter how it looks and feels tonight, he will find his way and I just hope he keeps his confidence. He's interested in quite different subjects, it seems - so maybe it's important not to focus in on one thing yet (and maybe not later either, if that's a personality strength he should bring to his career).

Good luck in the next days and weeks OP