Bad mock exam results

[SecretRed]

Dd got her year 11 mock results today and they were dire. Mainly d's, e's and a g (or the equivalent of). She has been predicted a-c's throughout and this was a bit of a shock.
It's come out tonight that she didn't do a lot of revision and she did not understand a lot that she had learned. I plan to kind of tutor her (although I am not really sure what I'm doing) for a couple of hours but is is possible to pull this back at this late stage? Any advice on what I can do to help her?

This was my dd this time last year. She admitted she did no revision for the mocks but was still shocked by the results. It was what she needed and she really worked hard after that. From Ds, Es and a U in her mocks she moved up to As, Bs and Cs in the final exams. Passed everything!
There are 5 months before the exams so there us time to make a difference.

The majority of children could not possibly do well in their mocks if they havent revised. She should have been doing past papers since October really. Print out lots of past papers and mark them yourself or get her a tutor.

It's very common for DC not to take revision for mocks seriously because "they don't matter". This especially in schools without an emphasis on achieving well in internal exams.This leaves them in the dark about how well they could do if they actually prepared for exams and also they learn nothing about exam techniques.
To those who fear over involvement will result in DC never learning to self study - I disagree. Many 15 /16 year olds are very immature and to discover you have not achieved your potential at 16 is avoidable. Poor GCSEs in a student capable of good ones has a knock on effect at A level and beyond. Doors close, subjects are harder at A level. What I'm trying to say is it's too important to let them fail if you could intervene hard and prevent it.

Don't panic! If you've identified there's room for more revision, that holds the key. My DD was the same. Mocks were a couple of Cs, mostly Ds, think there was even an E and a U. In the real thing she got As, Bs and Cs. Exactly the same happened at A2. She's currently in her first year of uni crying on the phone because she has an exam tomorrow that she'll fail! It seems she'll never learn, but she does pull it out of the bag when it matters.
Mocks are a practice run. They highlight the gaps, the weaknesses and serve to show how much harder they need to work for the real things. Good luck!

Encouraging Ladybird, thanks

I would be far more worried if she'd worked her socks off and got those results - lack of revision is fixable with a bit of a boot to the backside. She can definitely improve a lot on those grades, let's hope this is the shock she needs.

Wex I think your point about being used to high stakes internal exams is actually a very good one - the secondary DDs go to does have those and it definitely focuses the mind - and teaches revision skills from the start of Yr 7. It pays off in the long run.

I am a teacher and its not too late. You will have to organise her time and sort out a timetable for her now. Email the teachers and ask them exactly what she needs to do to improve on her grades so they can outline what she is weak in. Go to AQA and EDEXCEL websites and download past papers and answers. If you cant afford a tutor get your daughter to start answering them ( 2 short questions 2 longer answers) according to her scheduled timetable. Go through the answers with her. Get revision cards, write down the questions and answers on the back so she can start to understand the pattern of Q/A. She should go to revision classes in school for Easter. During half term make sure you concentrate on past papers. Any questions get in touch

Sorry to bump this. Just wondering how the students did in the end?

Do just got mocks at all 1s and 2s. Feedback sounds like she did no revision (or just sat staring at a book!) And didn't read all questions. So I'm hoping it's salvageable.

Her esteem is now at an all time low.

Make sure she has all her notes in one place in order and actually knows what she is meant to be revising and has the correct revision guides - you can then help with testing the right stuff.
I have noticed that my daughter has her notes the littered around various online places which is not at all helpful for a poorly organised person.