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Secondary education

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Original poster

GCSEs 2018

998 replies

DoNotBringLulu · 12/08/2017 16:19

Hi all, I am sure many of us with dc going into year 11 this year are trepidatious about teachers and pupils thrown in at the deep end due to the new GCSEs.

There is one thing I can do which I hope will help my ds (even though he thinks I'm mad!), which is to get hold of this year's GCSE English Language and English Literature papers, read the books and work through the paper myself - I studied English Lit at university over 20 years ago. I will know for myself after I've done this how difficult the exam papers are at least - I'm not sure who I can ask to mark it for me though!

Can anybody tell me how challenging the Maths and English papers were for their dc? I understand these were the two subjects introduced with the new format.

OP posts:
mmzz · 22/10/2017 10:22

Maybe it's because Chemistry has less maths than physics. I was told A level physics is 50% maths, so if you are good at maths and already doing the A level then you are half way there.
I did both at university for a year and the only thing that makes chemistry challenging is getting the experiments to work -i found that impossible!

BlueBelle123 · 22/10/2017 12:37

Loose DD did A level chemistry (reformed) and she would say don't touch it with a barge pole!! DS is not listening and is very keen to do it. However, I do think as the new science GCSE's are a lot more demanding if he is coping fine with the chemistry now then he should be ok but I would only go ahead if he got a good grade at GCSE, regardless of what the entry requirements might be.

TheSecondOfHerName · 22/10/2017 13:31

I found A-level Physics much easier than A-level Chemistry, possibly because I was doing an A-level Maths course which contained a lot of Mechanics.

A lot of Physics A-level was just applied Maths. The organic chemistry in Chemistry A-level required actual hard work (for me, anyway).

TheSecondOfHerName · 22/10/2017 13:35

LooseAtTheSeams I don't know what the other criteria are for repeat appointments (it's Herts Youth Connexions) but I would guess maybe looked after children, pupil premium, disability etc.

LooseAtTheSeams · 22/10/2017 13:37

Ah! Interesting - lots more work could be off-putting!

LooseAtTheSeams · 22/10/2017 13:43

sorry, that was regarding chemistry, not careers talks. Yes, it would definitely make sense to prioritise those, TheSecond, and glad to hear there was some useful advice.

mmzz · 22/10/2017 15:34

I didn't realise that careers advice was difficult to get that priorities need to be set for who could access it! It is so formulaic that it could be delivered by a computer programme.

The difficult but is in assembling the knowledge in the first place. The LEPs are supposed to provide that bridge between local business needs and the schools, colleges and universities. I'm not sure how well they do it tbh.

Allthebestnamesareused · 22/10/2017 17:05

Sadik Thanks - we have checked the only one that requires FM (for Economics) is Cambridge and as we live in Cambridge DS says that if he is Oxbridge material he'll go to the "other place"! Eek!

TheSecondOfHerName · 22/10/2017 17:05

It is so formulaic that it could be delivered by a computer programme.

Some young people need more support than others to understand how to achieve their goals, breaking it down into steps etc.

mmzz · 22/10/2017 21:30

I didn't mean that they could get a print out and that would be that.

lljkk · 23/10/2017 15:38

DD pulled a pretty scary (large!) pile of booklets out last night, they are her revision/homework over break. Mostly revisions guides, I think. She's good at time management & breaking the jobs down into manageable parts, thank goodness.

We are warming up to asking the Grandparents to help fund DD at expensive Indy 6th form. I'm thinking DD should contribute 25% of her own wages. That might convince her to drop the idea. She'll howl some protest.

mmzz · 23/10/2017 15:53

DS has been given no revision at all to do over half term. He hasn't been asked to revise for mocks at all - which are just over a month away.

He occasionally has to revise for end of topic tests. Does the school not think revision at this stage is worthwhile or are they expecting the students to figure it out for themselves? If it wasn't half term, i'd ask.

WhatHaveIFound · 23/10/2017 16:30

No revision here either but DD has been doing extra maths papers and sorting out her subject folders into a large pile of the bedroom floor.

She still hasn't finished reading Jane Ayre Hmm

lljkk · 23/10/2017 18:52

mmzz, it reads like you feel insecure that he doesn't have revision materials. Revising now feels like a recipe to burnout, imho good if they have a break instead.

DD is a hyper-over-preparer. I doubt she needs revision, but she will look at everything given. She hasn't had much homework the whole term so far, only this week suddenly a load. She's doing math while watching Prince of Bel Air.

LooseAtTheSeams · 23/10/2017 19:11

DS is going into school tomorrow to work on his composition and then going out for lunch with his friends. That leaves time across the week for some practice maths and geography but otherwise he’s taking it easy!

KingscoteStaff · 23/10/2017 20:30

Music composition, French vocab and a Cold War essay going on here, with some revision for his Quantitative Chemistry block test after half term.

However, I have discovered that DS working means that I feel bad about lying on the sofa reading my new book so I have ironed everything in the ironing basket (stuff at the bottom I couldn't even remember) and cleaned out the fridge. If he keeps this up, the house will be unrecognisable by the end of the week.

mmzz · 24/10/2017 06:32

@lljkk thanks, but what was bothering me is the result of the back of the envelope calculation I did:-

Time remaining to first day of mocks

  • time doing other stuff (eg going to school, football, taster days etc)
  • typical number of hours per week of homework and end of topic test revision
  • actual rest time that everyone needs

= not a lot of spare time for revision after this holiday.

DS may have something of a scewed view of what it means about his true ability if he does relatively badly in an exam that he did not properly prepare for, but sometimes it is just easier to spend the time doing the revision than wasting hours afterwards rationalising that the GCSEs will have tons of revision time so the results should be a lot better.

mmzz · 24/10/2017 06:41

https://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/media/5272/informedchoices-print.pdf
May I recommend this document to anyone choosing A level subjects? It makes it crystal clear how well some subjects are regarded (the facilitating subjects) versus others such as critical thinking.
After reading this, my impression would be to choose whether to focus on science or arts and only mix to the extent of doing one from the other side for interest. And only do the "extra" to AS level. And even then consider that you are wasting the opportunity to do something useful to your future degree.
Ditto choosing something unrelated for the EPQ.

Until I read this document, I thought it just meant that you were generally clever if you did well at both and so chose a mixture. Now I can see it means clever but I'll-advised.

lljkk · 24/10/2017 08:01

There is some interesting evidence that concluded that the RG hype about "facilitating subjects", is unwarranted, almost myth, even. The analyst looked at real admissions data on what A-levels people actually took compared to what courses they go on.

It's worthwhile to think hard about whether each A-level is useful, but must be very hard for kids who can't decide what to do, so they just have to wing it. DH has a cousin who got highest possible marks in 4x A-levels in hard science / math subjects; the lad just started law course at Durham, so not the A-levels you expect for that at all.

Wanted to add more links, but laptop seizing up, I think due to MN can't load the advertisement bar.

Stickerrocks · 24/10/2017 09:17

mmzz is your 6th form still giving the option of AS levels? None of our 6th forms are offering them & taking 4 A levels will be the exception now.

We have rented a cottage for a week, but the dodgy WiFi is both a blessing & a curse. DD can't spend hours on line watching twaddle, but she can't get her 6th applications in or look much up online.

mmzz · 24/10/2017 10:29

@Stickerrocks there are 2 sixth forms DS is thinking about - the current school and another that is only a sixth form. The school doesn't do AS levels, but the sixth form does.

Also the school says 3 A levels but 4 if Further Maths is included whereas the sixth form say 3 A levels including Further Maths.

Both offer an opportunity to do a EPQ.

DH and I favour the sixth form, DS doesn't want to leave his friends behind so favours the school.

We are at an impasse, except DS gets the casting vote. He has not finally made up his mind yet though.

BlueBelle123 · 24/10/2017 10:38

If your DS wants to do further maths then I would favour the school as the sixth form would only allow for one other A level which would really narrow things down. Obviously not a problem if not considering FM, but I think I recall you mentioning your DS is very good at maths.

notsomanky · 24/10/2017 10:47

We are still no further forward really.

DS1 is an all rounder, good at most subjects and really unsure what to do after 6th form.

Careers service is geared up for the children looking for a vocational route post gcse, and he is definitely thinking either uni or potentially a degree level apprenticeship (accounting) maybe......

He needs to keep his options open but is struggling to decide.

mmzz · 24/10/2017 12:45

@BlueBelle123 thanks. What you wrote is one of the things to be weighed up. the problem is the school will only confirm in September that they are doing Further Maths. Right now, they are saying that they want to and the maths dept will fight for it, but it depends on the SLT being happy with the number of other students who want to do it. Suppose DS is the only one since this year is the first year of the new maths GCSE without some deal in place to make the %s look better.

I looked at maths at Cambridge and all they want is maths, further maths and physics. So only 3. If its good enough for Cambridge, then surely its good enough for other universities too?

BlueBelle123 · 24/10/2017 13:04

I would be more concerned that its really narrowed down his options, as he will effectively only be doing 2 subjects, fine if you are 100% sure what you want to do but if you change your mind.

At DS's 6th form evening they have subject talks and if FM is full to the rafters it would give a good indication that there was a lot of interest, which at his school there always seems to be.