Yr 11 support thread - the scaffolding is holding up well

[pointythings]

Because we need a new thread now that things are really hotting up!

Can I just check my understanding, a 7 is going to be considered equivalent to an A?. DD's school told us a 9 was A+, 8 A/ A and 7 B/A. I

I have been led to understand that 7 is an A.

dd's is going with 9 A*, 8 A, 7 A, 6 B, 5 high C, 4 low C. As I understand it the proportion getting 7 & above is capped so that it will be the same as the proportion getting A and above last year, so that seems to make 7 & A vaguely equivalent.

Thanks for your replies. That maybe takes some pressure off, DD's new sixth form ideally require A* (8) in Maths if they want to do A level maths or a science subject (they do state they take other things into consideration which I think will be relevant in her case as she should tick all their other boxes).

Things are definitely flagging here and dd has come home with a new worry today. Hoping some more experienced can advise. She has always struggled with maths (a 5 grade would be a dream) but has felt the first two AQA papers have gone OK. But today was told by a friend that because lots more children in higher sets than them have been put in for the foundation paper than normal (for fear of doing really badly on the new higher paper) the grade boundaries mean they'll (the 'struggling' kids) will end up doing worse this year. As a result she's descended into (hopefully temporary) despair. From the comments on here it does sound like more than usual have been entered into foundation rather than higher, is it true that those slightly more able kids will raise the foundation grade boundaries compared to what would normally happen? Sorry if that's not expressed very well, I find the whole grade boundary thing hard to keep in my head!

DillonI have been wondering exactly the same today for DD about whether more of the more able children sitting Foundation maths this year than normal will effectively raise the boundary for a 5 on that paper? Can anyone advise? My DD is predicted 4/5 on a good day but I'm really worried now.

Omg I hadn't thought of that scenario Dillon.

Tiggy, the thing is I can see that this time there could be a bit of a car crash in the middle of the grades, because children who could have got a 6 may well have been entered into foundation by cautious schools, and many more of the 5s will have taken Foundation than higher this year.

So I can imagine a scenario where the % needed for a 7 on the higher paper - to make that top 20% figure work - and that needed for the 5 could be very close indeed, in order to accommodate a large bulge of 5s at the top of the Foundation paper. I suspect that there may be a much higher % of 5s on the Foundation paper than used to get Cs.

OMG just reading the last few posts makes my head spin

What a fecking mess the whole thing is!

Me: how was maths?
DD: 💩 horrible 💩

Roll on end of exams!

Hang in there all! Try to remember kids are different, the ones saying they have done bad may be saying that because they focus on the negatives rather than positives.

DS said Edexcel higher felt like it was tailored for him, maybe he was just lucky but after the crash in the first paper where he said he only finished 50% of the paper I was dreading it. I am now a bit more positive even though reading the feedback both here and on twitter makes me believe DS sees the glass half full and worries me but we won't find out till results day.

Biology unit 2 and 3 tomorrow and then one more week and we can relax.

Exactly this cantkeepaway. My DS was entered for AQA Foundation maths days before the first exam!! School freaking out over 'borderline' students. The first paper was 'fine' and the second paper today 'super easy' - he finished with 10 mins to spare. I actually think he could have got at least a 6 in the Higher, but can now only get a maximum of 5. Also (and I've asked this on a maths GCSE thread) is it harder to get 90% for a 5 on Foundation or 30+% for a 5 on Higher? So many variables such as so many more able students being entered for Foundation (which affects the less able) and the Higher weighed so heavily towards the top performers. I just don't see why they couldn't do maths exams like the double/triple science exams with those wanting to do it for A Level doing the extra content, while the rest achieving a perfectly respectable standard. Gove's car-crash changes have knocked the confidence of the less able, denied higher grades to the middle set and put a whole load of kids off maths forever. Rant over

Are there any welsh maths numeracy calc experiences out there? My DS came back saying he found it good but all his friends struggled so now he is anxious?

I might be missing something, some of you are saying your dc are doing edexcel biology B2 and B3 both tomorrow? Dd has B2 tomorrow and B3 on Monday 19th? Just had a sudden panic we've got it all wrong...

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39921799

Only one problem - ds loathes eggs.

ds has AQA Biology tomorrow.

Edexcel looks like B2 in tomorrow and B3 on the 19th:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/Support/Examination-timetables-for-UK-Edexcel-GCSE/8088-GCSE-Final-Timetable-2017.pdf#page11

Madhairday it's AQA Biology 2 & 3 tomorrow

Ah OK thanks, I was confusing exam boards

And ds has OCR Gateway Chemistry paper 1 tomorrow, just to add to the confusion

DS has EdExel Biology B2 tomorrow. I can't see any B3 anywhere on his timestable, i'm really worried now.

Tia is he doing double science or triple? If double he won't be doing B3.