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Secondary education

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Original poster

Do you have a Year 11 doing GCSE this summer?

112 replies

BertrandRussell · 03/04/2017 09:55

There have been lots of threads, some quite heated, about the new grading. I thought it might be interesting for those of us with current year 11s to say what their predictions for English and maths, what they need and what sort of school they are at.

My ds is at a secondary modern. He is predicted 8 for English and 7 for maths. He needs a 7 for English and a 4 for maths.

OP posts:
Laniakea · 03/04/2017 09:56

Yeah, I do - dd is at a comp.

Original poster
BertrandRussell · 03/04/2017 09:56

Sorry- forgot to say, I'm hoping that we can come back again in August and see how accurate the predictions are.

OP posts:
Original poster
BertrandRussell · 03/04/2017 09:57

Sorry- forgot to say, I'm hoping that we can come back again in August and see how accurate the predictions are.

OP posts:
Laniakea · 03/04/2017 10:03

Bollocks - sorry :D

Mocks - 6 maths (7 on second mock) 8 English
Predicted - 7+ maths, 8+ English
Needs - 6 maths, 5 English
Hopes for - 7 maths, 8 English (there will be happy tears if she gets a 7 for maths)

Last year's English teacher said she'd like to be able to predict a 9 but she doesn't know how to & 'they will probably go to the private school kids'. This year (head of English) said dd is 'type of pupil' who should get a 9 but who knows, he'll put 8+ down on paper not risk 9. She's consistently losing 1 mark per essay question in English - whether that is 9 or not don't know?

Danglingmod · 03/04/2017 10:07

Ok, I'll copy and paste just the English comment from other thread (ds already has maths).

Danglingmod · 03/04/2017 10:15

Ds predicted 5-7 for lit. 6-8 lang.

Needs a 5 to do A level lit.

Independent school. Not predicting anyone a 9. Really underestimating, I think, to be on the safe side.

Doesn't matter for post-16 places. I think everyone is staying on to their sixth form except for one student who has unconditional offer elsewhere based on music grades.

AtiaoftheJulii · 03/04/2017 10:24

I don't think their teachers bothered to give grades for their mocks as they would have been mostly guesswork!

Maths - 9
English - 7 (in both)

Grammar school (not a grammar county).
To stay at his school, he needs 54 points across his best 8 subjects (A* being 8 points, number grades being the actual numbers), plus a good mark in additional maths to do maths and FM in one option block.
To do the subjects he wants at 6th form college, he needs a 6 in English and an 8 in maths.

AtiaoftheJulii · 03/04/2017 10:28

It will definitely be interesting to come back and compare results, and if we can put ums too, hopefully useful for next year's y11s.

pointythings · 03/04/2017 12:20

DD Maths: November mocks 8, February mocks 8, projected 8, aspirational school target 9. She got 75% in her mocks.
English: November mocks 7, February mocks 8, projected 8 with aspirational target as per maths.

AlexanderHamilton · 03/04/2017 12:42

Watching with interest as a parent of a Year 10 with currently wide ranging predictions of 5-7 for Science, 7/8 for English & 7/8 for maths.

We don't know what she will need as the 6th forms she will apply for next year havn't yet decided, one of which is a private school still doing A*-G IGCSE's. Anecdotally we think she will need Grade 7 is an y subject to be taken to A level and Grade 6 in the rest.

TheFrendo · 03/04/2017 13:23

I am surprised that schools have predicted 9s.

My son has target grades for maths and English of 9 and 8.

Based on his March mock, I think he will get a 9 for maths and a 7 for English.

Ailisha · 03/04/2017 13:34

Predicted 7 for Literature; 8 for Language
Predicted 4 for Maths

Same as she got in her mocks.

School is an outer-London comprehensive.

AtiaoftheJulii · 03/04/2017 13:34

Is that to me? The govt document about grading predicts over 20,000 grade 9s for maths. There's plenty of evidence that ds is within the top 20,000, so it seems a perfectly reasonable prediction to me.

Hillarious · 03/04/2017 13:39

No idea. I'd better ask DC3. I think he was due to bring something home from school on Friday. To be honest, I don't really care. He's bright. He'll get the grades he needs for Sixth Form, so we'll just wait and see what happens.

TheFrendo · 03/04/2017 13:59

Atia..,

Just musing really, if your son did the latest Edexcel mock, what mark did he get? I am wondering myself where the boundaries are - and your son should be in the 9 band given your certainty (which I accept).

AtiaoftheJulii · 03/04/2017 14:41

Just looked up his report - he is doing Edexcel, although I don't know if they did the official mocks or not. He got 226/240 before Christmas, which tbh I consider pretty sloppy on his part, and would expect nearer full marks in the summer when hopefully he won't be treating it as a speed exercise.

TheFrendo · 03/04/2017 15:04

OK, well done that lad, that's pretty nailed on 9.

ChairinSage · 03/04/2017 15:19

DD1 is predicted a 7/8 for maths but is battling to turn it into an 8 because she wants to do Maths and Physics at A level. She's at a failing comprehensive school... some fantastic teachers and a shiny new head teacher.

ChairinSage · 03/04/2017 15:24

Forgot to add - DD is also predicted a 7 for English. We shall see. I'm torn between encouraging her and preparing her for plan B in case she doesn't make the grades...

Gnome134 · 03/04/2017 15:30

DS1 got 6 for English, couple of marks off a 7.
4 for maths, couple of marks off 5.

They're not predicting grades as such, but have "aspirational target grade" based on the old level 5 KS2 result. These are both 7.
He needs a 6 in maths to do physics at sixth form college.
School is an Ofsted "outstanding" comprehensive with GCSE A* to C usually in the high 60%/ low 70% range for past 5 years.

Gnome134 · 03/04/2017 15:32

That's GCSE A* to C including English and maths on my previous post!

Peppapig · 03/04/2017 19:01

My dc, at a selective independent, is predicted A* for English and A for maths. They are sitting the 1-9 exams but I am guessing the school doesn't want to get involved in arguments over what the numbers mean, which seems sensible from the other thread!

Laniakea · 04/04/2017 12:32

There are a few who've been predicted 9s in maths at dd's school - like Atia's ds they are the kids consistently getting full marks in everything maths related. I should bloody hope they get 9s as they are clearly of different ability to he other bright kids in the top set.

No one has outright been predicted a 9 for English - even those scoring very highly - I guess the marking is considered too subjective to predict who will be in that top 3% come the summer?

coldcanary · 04/04/2017 12:35

Interesting thread.
DS Academy
Predicted 5-7 in maths and same in English.
Needs 4's for his college course.
School aren't predicting anyone 9s as far as I know.

Violetcharlotte · 04/04/2017 12:40

DS2 is sitting GCSEs this summer. He's at a comprehensive which received notice to improve last year 😬

He needs 6 c's or above (or level 4's in maths and English) to do the level 3 Btec he wants to do.

He's been predicted level 4 in English but got a U in maths in the last round of mocks. Maths and Science teaching has been appalling throughout his time there. I'm paying for a maths tutor, but fully expecting him to have to re sit maths.