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.

If he goes to college he will be required to resit the English Language and maths alongside his main programme. It's English language that 'counts'.

Most colleges will have already started enrolling, so if you get nowhere with the school, I would go and speak to your local college fairly quickly as some courses fill up quickly, especially resist GCSE programmes.

You need to be taking a pragmatic approach. He is where he is. He could do a full range of resits or combine some resits with a Level 2 GCSE equivalent BTEC course.

Good luck, we were a similar position last year. A year later DS has passed his level 2 BTEC engineering at double merit but needs to resit his English (again) but is able to move on to level 3.

Tralala That must be a college requirement, because it's not the government requirement.

When I sat my GCSEs in 94 I was in top sets and predicted to pass all of them. My grandmother died 2 months before the exams and I lost it. I also had a boyfriend and In all honesty I didn't put the work in: my results on the day were the biggest slap in the face ever. I had a B in art and C in design and all the rest were E's I was devastated and so was my mum. She was livid. The only one I could not understand was history as I had actually revised for that so I was upset over that one.
After a week of replanning I was accepted to 6th form to re sit my GCSEs and I was allowed to do my a level art as long as I passed the rest of my GCSEs to go onto the second year.
It was embarrassing not being the same level as my friends but needed to be done. I got my head down and ploughed on.
Thankfully after a year I passed them all with Bs and went on to do sociology and human biology a level. I then went on to do A Bachelor of Arts in Graphic design at uni. I passed.
there is light at the end of the tunnel provided you are willing to knuckle down and learn.
It's frustrating when you can see he has worked but only he knows how much more he can push himself.
Good luck to him.

There are two areas that you need to concentrate on and both need you and your son to get into school and have a very basic conversation over the future.

Firstly for me, looking at the results against the predication, you need to get an understanding of what the school understand has happened. I would be concerned that the school has vastly over-egged the likely exam outcomes, which they should not have been doing knowing that things were going to be tough this year for all sorts of reasons. The first question for me is what level of 5 A* to C were you predicting as a school and what did you get. If they are only marginally lower than expected I think that says something about the level of work your son has been doing and his understanding of the subjects. If however the prediction for the school is a lot higher than actual, then the finger is pointing very much at issues in the school.

If you are not getting an honest open appraisal of what went wrong from the school, then I would question whether the school is the correct place for them to be going to again this next year.

I wonder whether this is a combination of the school being to generous with the expected grades and a level of complacency by your son based on an assumption that the school's suggested grades meant he did not have to graft to much to get the grades. Only you and your son can have that conversation about just exactly what he thinks he did and did not do.

If at the end of that conversation you are 100% convinced that your son did put in the effort, then that suggests that the school have failed to ensure that he got the basics right in the exams. A drop from A expected to D reality is an enormous drop, as is B to D. The question is where else your son might be able to re-take his exams and get input that might allow him to achieve the kind of grades that were predicted.

sorry to hear that
I thought we were heading for no surprises (continual assessment and stats)
that is roughly speaking 15 points down for 11 subjects roughly a grade and half down on every subject
If I had achieved the mock results your son had I would be thinking my work rate and work ethic seem to be on track and if I was happy with those results keep on doing the same maybe ramp up a little
If you cant rely reasonably on the mock/predicted results then what is the point of them?
we all know that they are predicted and there will be some deviation but that is a huge difference (and unfortunately the wrong direction)
there seems to be something very wrong there
I am not a teacher just a parent of same school age kids
what I have noticed and heard is that some predicted results are inflated in order for students to get offers in 6th form
(if this is true it would only applies to non-6th form schools)
I would ask the school for an explanation how your son can drop 15 grades
the very best of luck for your son

Has anyone suggested getting them remarked? There's quite a short window of opportunity and you have to pay but get your money back if the grade changes. Last year I got my money back on 5 exams, ALL of which went up a grade.

yearofthehorse
that is a fantastic result