Can anyone help with GCSE Science grades (AQA). Seeing college this afternoon to convince them DS nearly got a D

[AnnaForbes]

DS royally screwed up his GCSEs. He hated school (lots of bullying, changed schools, dyslexia CAMHS interventions etc) and was so keen for a fresh start this year away from school. He was offered a place on a BTEC level 2 at college. He needed 4 Ds to get on the course. His results are C in Eng Lang, D in Maths plus E grades in his other subjects.

He was awarded E for Science. The breakdown of marks is:

Biology 49 (E)
Physics 51 (D)
Chemistry 51 (D)

And for Additional Science the overall grade was E. The breakdown was:

Biology 57 (D)
Physics 43 (E)
Chemistry 55 (D)

I dont understand why he got a E when two out of three marks were a D. Can anyone help explain this to me please? If his science was almost a D it would make all the difference.

TIA for any ideas

Everyone knows you can't mend a car or be a nail technician unless you can deconstruct a 19th century text and use trigonometry I know, it's maddening isn't it. There must be so much wasted potential as young people have their potential stymied because of this.

I didn't realise pass rates for retakes were so poor. Hopefully ds wasn't far from a C and will be ok next time around. I think he got a nasty shock on results day so he should remember that and pull his finger out. He is actually very good at maths and was originally in the higher group and predicted a B. Then things went quickly downhill after a serious bullying incident when ds began to fear and hate school

The pass rate for compulsory retakes is poor because the kids who are forced to take it often aren't committed, they are more interested in the courses they've chosen to take. I've also seen kids struggle to fit in studying for it alongside A-levels/BTECs with a heavy workload. Also, some of those forced to resit GCSE scored very poorly first time around and don't really have a chance of passing. Some colleges are also overwhelmed with resit kids.
It is perfectly possible for a committed student who should have passed originally, who studies effectively (identifies weak areas and addressed them) to pass the resit. All of my resit kids passed last year.

Your DS needs to create an account on mathswebsite.com and start brushing up right now. The first resit opportunity is in November and if he passes then, that will free a lot of his time up. Requesting his script for his GCSE so he can see where he went wrong would also be a good idea.

Everything noblegiraffe said. Do that and good luck.

Noblegiraffe is spot on as usual and although I am a big fan of functional skills, it sounds like he really can pass the GCSE and that will keep more doors open. He's a perfect candidate for a resit! Glad the college interview went well - that's how it should be!
On resits, I teach GCSE English in further education. The main problems students have and why it affects pass marks is lack of commitment (they don't want to resit a subject they struggled with), not taking it seriously until it's too late (despite everything we tell them) or having unrealistically scraped a D at school thanks to controlled assessments, which is another can of worms. A big problem is the removal of EMA so they find jobs to earn some cash and miss crucial classes or fall asleep during them. By the way, I agree with the implied criticism of the new English language GCSE - it isn't a test of proficiency in English language but a test of ability to infer information from unseen texts. OP's son did very well to get his C this year and I am sure he's going to succeed and flourish at college! Good luck OP in all his courses!

Aargh - apologies that was so ungrammatical! The main problems, and why they affect resits, are... Etc etc. That'll teach me to fiddle with text and not check it!

Loose - my DD missed her Eng Language by 2 marks, so obviously re-sitting, I think in November. We are currently trying to sort a tutor, and she will be committed, but is there any advise you can give us on what else to do, particularly if we cant get a tutor?

She is doing a level 3 business btec at college, but I am concerned about the comments above saying the college will be overwhelmed with resits and not give the resit students much time.

Kath it's upsetting isn't it - I have 2 diligent students in exactly the same position. We're going to ask for a remark but to be honest unless there's a clerical error it won't change the grade.
Check with the college. Ours is running a crammer class for the November resit and we have a one-year course on the new spec otherwise (that is 3 1/2 hours a week, not sure about the crammer). I would request a copy of DD's exam paper and see if there's an area that's particularly weak - that would help the tutor as well. She can keep revising with Mr Bruff on YouTube and download his e-book for the old spec. PM me if you need any more advice on revision as there are a few possibilities but depends which areas need most work.

Thanks Loose, upsetting is not the word, we are devastated, so close but yet so far - and this would be the year that re-marks have changed wouldn't it. Her cousin went up to C when he was 5 marks off last year, but I know it is very unlikely that DDs grade will change. When do we ask for paper back, presumably when the school contact us with outcome of re-mark?

I am not sure who to contact at college, DH went with her to enrol on Thursday and she has induction next Mon & Tues, when she will find out her timetable and personal tutor. Her timetable will no doubt show English lessons, are the crammer session at your institution extra? Should we wait till after then, to find out about the resit? And who should we contact, her tutor?

Kath it really is awful to be so near. I must admit I was devastated for my students as they tried so hard. I think you can ask the school to request the paper at the same time as they ask for the remark and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you as mistakes do happen -and if you don't query it, you'll never know for sure.
The personal tutor should be able to direct DD on the resit classes. If English isn't already on her timetable when she goes in next week, it may mean that she has to meet someone from the English department first. Our crammer ones are free to selected students (i.e. the ones who were very close like your DD) and everyone else will have to take the one-year course on the new specification. All colleges have their own ways of doing it, though, so it's important to check. It is absolutely do-able to revise with a tutor and resit in November.

Kath, as I understand it you can request a photocopy of the paper at any time, just not the original if you want it remarked.