Year 12 / 6th form support thread

[minesawine]

The term is about to start and I though it would be good to have a support group to help us on our 6th form journey.

May the year be drama-free and our DC's study hard and without complaint

MrsBartlet glad I'm not the only person not to have been struck by the merits of Warwick.

Agree about not necessarily being able to 'match' unis to predicted grades being an issue. Also, although DS seems to be on track for good ones, he didn't do as well in his GCSEs as he should have done, so I definitely think we need a good fall back option - but currently struggling to see what that would be?

And agree that 'in our day' we did only visit places we had interviews at.

DS's Head of Sixth said 5-6 maximum to visit. I have a feeling there may be one or two on the UCAS form that we've not been to.

NewModelArmyMayhem18
The whole predicted grade thing is new to us and it just seems so 'stick a wet finger in the wind'. She's looking at one's slightly down from her predicted grades and won't consider looking at higher/actual graded ones as she thinks they're for the ones who didn't get into Oxbridge!
We're in Scotland (doing Alevels) and best for her course here asks for 3A's but we were told by admissions at Uni Fair that at least 2A*'s are what's needed to have a competitive application (from a Scottish applicant) so we need to find out if that's what generally happens. Nottingham tomorrow. On paper AAB. Does that mean 3A to be in with chance of offer - hoping not!

Dd has been given her predicted grades but on querying them has been told the teachers would be willing to revise them on request

LIZS that's exactly what I mean! Some of her friends have been given lower predictions than they've been working at all year and are now fighting for upgrades!
I'm looking forward to doing some on-site research over the next few days regarding what they generally take.

I'm sure I read somewhere that very few A Level candidates achieve their predicted grades, so many universities must end up accepting applicants who've not quite achieved their grades? Know that a close friend's DD got into Bristol with ABB having been asked for AAB.

That's a bit worrying eatinglesschocolate. Why would that be? On the basis of what have their predictions been downgraded?

At DS's school the Head of Sixth Form basically said predicted grades were non-negotiable to maintain the school's perceived integrity by UCAS and the universities!

NewModelArmyMayhem18 I wish I knew what ds was on track for! I think if you know they are on track for top grades then you it makes it easier to know where to look. Dd was like that and it was straightforward other than when the offers came in and they were all very close together.

Ds gets his predicted grades in July but for those not doing early entry (which includes ds) there is another chance in November to improve on these following assessment. I am not mentioning this to him as I don't want to give him any excues to rest on his laurels between now and then!

To me predicted grades are about making it through the initial screening for a uni/course offer. It may be the deciding factor as to whether the student gets an interview or not, or if the personal statement is read.

Do many applicants have to go to interviews these days, LIZS? I'd thought that was a yesteryear precursor to an offer?

Some subjects and unis still interview.

May I jump in? I'm just on my first batch of Uni visits with eldest DC. It's a whole new world out there. I'm rather enjoying it. I wish I had my time again.
We are off to Loughborough this weekend.

dd's first choice interview but her insurance doesn't. School base the predicted on these mocks, unless they seriously under perform in which case they get to do another set in September.

She's gone in today - temperature was still 39 this morning & tonsils are gross. She done physics ('sub optimal') :( is doing chemistry right now & is under pressure to do biology after school. I'm going to pick her up after chemistry, they will have to make some other arrangement for her - she needs to come home & go to bed. I could cry for her this year has been so shit.

Laniakea - I am so sorry you and dd are having to cope with this. We went through similar with our dd when she was at school and are dealing with illness again now when she was in her third year at university ( completely unrelated illness!) Dd should have graduated this week but has had to drop out of the third year and will restart in October if she is well enough. It is all so stressful and so I completely relate to you wanting to cry for your dd Wishing your dd lots of rest and a good recovery.

My DS has now finished his Year 12 exams. YAY! His whole class got the talk about considering moving elsewhere for Year 13 and they are all really worried. They all found the exams very hard. We have no plan B, but will get the results on 13 July, so I will just wait and see. I am being very calm.

Phew! Am I allowed to come on here and brag a bit?? DS just got the last of his UCAS predicted grades back: He has A* for all three, maths, further maths and Comp Sc. I am so proud of him. He worked so so hard for the maths ones too. All mock exam results were around 96%!
He has one last class tomorrow (not sure why!) and then he is finished for the summer.

Wiifitmama - of course you can! Well done to your ds for getting such great results. Does he know where and what he wants to study?

that's fabulous Wiifitmama what a relief & well done your ds!

It's awful isn't it MrsB? I'm really sorry so hear about your dd. It's been one thing after another here - the original problem isn't resolved but investigating it has thrown up other problems. She's back now - in a terrible state - ran out of time in chemistry, which has never happened before & she said that she forgot the one formula she had to remember. Think she's resigned to redoing them in September and unless she dramatically improves overnight I don't think Bangor will be happening.

Well done for making it through minesawine (& staying calm)! I spoke to the welfare officer at dd's school last week - she said that they were all aware of how miserable & stressed their year 12s are ... she described the atmosphere in the common room as horrendous. They are mostly all finding it really hard.

Those are great predicted grades Wiifitmama, well done to your DS.

Laniakea hope your DD feels better soon and manages to get some rest this evening.

glitterbiscuits There seem to be so many more options these days than when I went to uni. DS wants to do Geography - there's almost too much choice out there.

Newmodel my DS also looking at Geography! And that's his exact problem.
He seems to have picked random universities to look at and dismissed some good ones for no particular reason.

glitterbiscuits perhaps we can compare notes at some point? All the ones DS is interested in seem to be after similar grades. A bit stumped as to 'fall back' option(s)? It's Newcastle Uni for DS this weekend.

DS now thinking it might be worth doing the combined BA/MA or BSc/MSc option. However don't you think they are very early on in their careers to be going down a post-grad route when they may wish to follow a different path later on?

DS very interested in some of the options at Exeter (Penryn) Campus but a bit shocked that some say it's really quiet.

My DS - who I have written about before - but not been on this thread for month- just got his year 12 exam results back.... a C for politics and Ds for Spanish and Business... oh dear.

I am in despair at his lack of work ethic but, more importantly, his lack of self belief, of aspiration, ambition and ability to do better. I am trying to step back and not nag or intervene too much but UCAS predictions will no doubt be based on this.

What on earth can anyone do these days with a CDD at A Level (even assuming that goes up to CCC it's pretty bleak).

Please don't start suggesting vocational stuff. he has no practical skills whatsoever (:

"Vocational " does not just mean bricklaying, hairdressing etc. He could do something like a btec in Business, which has slightly more emphasis on coursework than exams, and leads on to more specific careers. He could even get an apprenticeship which would give him work experience. Tbh with C and Ds he could still go to uni but I can't help wonder if over ambition, poorly managed expectations and accumulating debt are contributing to the pressure some students are experiencing and having an impact on their MH.

I agree those results aren’t great. Does your DS want to continue to year 13, or would he be open to starting something new?
Looking at his A level choices, perhaps he would enjoy a BTEC in travel and tourism?

He is awful at anything remotely related to computers so the BTec option is a no : besides which it is not offered. Starting all over again is not an option...

I am a teacher ,s o can say with confidence he is not a BTec type. he has very poor organisational and presentation skills and his IT skills are somewhere approaching zilch.

The students I have taught who have applied for apprenticeships at 18 are driven and ambitious. There are lots of interviews and they usually have work experience behind them.

This is why I despair...

The only thing he does is sit and write endless lists of imaginary league tables and countries in a notepad. he is very reclusive. We have managed to get him to do a Level 1 coaching course in football : but he will never actually coach anyone!

Oh, and I forgot he is also impossible to talk to!

He last expressed an interest in international relations. He is better at Spanish than that result suggests (he got full marks at GCSE) but he hates the teacher (who is leaving but who knows what will replace her) and has also found A Level hard.

My personal opinion is he never should have done business but options were limited at his school. He would have preferred economics and now they offer law but I think eh is unlikely to be able to add an AS in the current anti AS climate and really what would the purpose be?
I should add he is at a state school in a semi rural location. Limited opportunities.