Is anyone else starting to become anxious and constantly trying to second guess GCSE results?

[drivinmecrazy]

Less than two weeks to go now until GCSE results day and it's really begining to dawn.
DD is reasonably confident one minute, the next all gloom and disaster.
In theory she is a straight A student, in practice she's convinced all the examiners were out to get her with incredibly difficult papers.
Throw into the mix the horrendous new exams, it feels as if results could go either way.
She's convinced she wants me with her when she opens her results, I on the other hand would rather be far far away on a tropical island with a super sized GnT with no communication with the outside world!!

Mumteadumpty

Yes, we usually pop in because there's always office staff in to prepare for the day itself and we usually get a good look at the results. Usually it's 2 days before the kids get them but in one or two years we haven't found out until the kids open them.

Teachers nearly always know the results in advance - it's how they cull down what students might want to open them on camera/for the local press etc. E.g. you wouldn't ask someone who got BBB when they were predicted AAB if they wanted to open them in front of the camera.

I'm much more nervous than dd1. She says she's excited and can't wait. Personally I'd like to zoom into the future about a week after so any disappointments are over.
She's a perfectionist so I have a horrible feeling that anything lower than her possible top will be a disappointment,

She's also cross that they're not releasing grade boundaries. She really wants a 9 for maths (that's probably the one that she's the most nervous about) and she thinks that she'll be round the boundary and has worked out what she thinks she will have got. I'm quite glad, because if she's made a couple of silly mistakes she doesn't realise then she won't get excited then disappointed.
Problem is that the maths is totally up in the air. She was doing Edexcel, and she seemed to think the opposite to everyone else-papers 1 and 3 were okay, but 2 was terrible. So don't know what that mean.

She's asked me to take the day off. I hope that it doesn't mean I have a day comforting her.

@BabychamSocialist - at my school teachers don't get to see them before the students (other than senior staff). I go in every year for results days and book my holidays around them so I can be there to support my students if they need it, answer any questions (hopefully) and congratulate them on their achievements.

Waiting anxiously here as well. O e minute she veers from 'let's go and buy stationary' to 'I haven't got a back up plan, what am I going to do when I've failed them all?' I am feeling sicker and sicker the closer they get but am being positive for her sake. When DD1 went to get hers I let her skip in on her own as we knew that she would have passed them but with DD2 I really don't know how she has done. Coupled with the new exams we are just so unsure. Fingers crossed.

Well I don't think mine will be skipping in or skipping out, but we'll see. It's good to know staff are around to share the news though.

DoctorDonnaNoble

I think it depends on your head, to be honest. A neighbouring school where my friend teaches doesn't let staff look at results in advance (except head, deputy and SEN teachers) and it makes her miffed!

I'm nervous for Dd. She might have failed art but should pass everything else and hopefully pass well enough to go to her New sixth form.

If not we will have to drive to the new school and beg!

Then to the train station to sort out an annual ticket, then bus station for an annual bus ticket.

Then off to Heathrow as she's starting a two week course at university in China! Will be a busy day!

Is dd missing the beginning of sixth form then, SoPass, if she's going for two weeks after results day?? CHina sounds amazing but will be a bit of a shame to miss the beginning of a new school and courses.

Not talking to Ds about results day at all. Expecting anything from Bs up. He's not a predictable sort in exams. Two years out of four, he came top of the year in English; a different year he flunked, got 40% and lower than everyone in top and middle set...!

She's missing the first two days with permission from school. I do think it's a shame, especially from the making friends point of view but it's not every day you're offered an all expenses paid trip to go one of the world's top universities. Will look great on her uni application......the head of the uni course she wants to apply to (Dd knows her) is excited for Dd about the trip and given her advice about how to incorporate stuff from the trip into her application portfolio.

Nope not bothered but think DD is a little stressed . I'm sure she's done well but it does seem there's heightened pressure to when I say exams ( old enough to have done O levels ) . At the end of the day kids can have done no more than their best . Good luck to all .

We are waiting here as well. We are on holiday though so won't be getting the results till we get back on 1st September....

I really hope these levels of parental anxiety are being kept strictly private. Otherwise that is a hell of a lot of pressure for these youngsters.

Honestly, it's just GCSEs. They don't really matter that much in the grand scheme of life. Even if everything goes tits up, a 16 year old has so much of life ahead of them to get it right - and alternative paths sometimes turn out to be more rewarding. While no-one wants to see their kids devastated, learning to fail, and to pick yourself up again, is also a skill that we all have to obtain at some point.

Wow, SoPass, that is a remarkable opportunity. I hope she has a fabulous time!

Longer term, I agree with you. But it will make a significant difference to my ds's next two years!

I'm constantly second-guessing dc1's results (that's when I'm not panicking about dc4's 11+).

But I try to remember that they're not my results. It's not about me. And my job is simply to support dc1 whatever happens.

Has anyone been through what happens if your DC don't get into any of their choices? Can you just start ringing round colleges to see if any of them have a space?

My DC is quite bright but had very bad nerves during GCSEs so it is not impossible that they will not have received the required grades. Ideally they would study for a year to lift their grades then reapply, but I'm not even sure this is an option?

All input welcomed!

I agree that there are lots of other options for students who don't quite make the grade and one poster, Drayton I think, is very enthusiastic about the route her first son eventually took.

However, there seems a gap for students who are keenest and most able at written/essay/humanities/arts subjects but are not quite suited to A level. Ds's chosen A levels are Literature, history and art. If he didn't make the grade to take those at A level, he could take an art btec type college course, but there is nothing at a lower level for the other subjects.

Science/engineering/tech/IT all have BTecs, as do perf arts/tourism/music tech etc. Nothing for humanities/English lit nuts.

Another reason some of us may be anxious (I'm not especially).

I'm definitely stressed, as an English teacher who had 2 classes this year! We are not allowed to know until after the students have found out, unless we come in before 7am on results day.

This year I can't be there because I'm away with my family. Plus no childcare and trying to speak to my students with a noisy toddler making mischief will not be acceptable in the eyes of my Head.

DC1 seems pretty calm. 6th form is sending out details of Induction onbthe presumption that all will be well. They're doing the IB, so GCSE grades could affect which subjects are 'higher' or 'standard'.

Babycham socialist, if you are in England then your exams office and head are breaking exams regulations, google it. Only exam officers and the head of centre may have access to exam results prior to 6 am on results day. There is no wriggle room on this matter.

After hearing about the debacle of a level results at dds school I'm now worried.

The arts dept seem to have fucked up withmany students getting several grades below what they were predicted, in coursework heavy subjects such as art,photography. One student was told she was on track (internally marked?) as an A and after it was moderated got an E!

Dd is doing art and photography and now I'm worried.

Ds is my oldest and surprisingly nervous. He's requested that we go together and open the results somewhere private and to make sure we turn up half way through the hour allocated to y11 picking up results.

His dodgy subjects are English Lit and Lang. Hopefully he's done well enough that he doesn't have to do any more English lessons.

Foreigner here not really getting what the big deal is (for non-teachers... I totally get why teachers are stressed out).

The results they get will be whatever they are.
There are always paths forward with whatever results they get.
The time to be a bit stressed was back in May/June, during the exams season.