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

The importance of the personal statement is pretty mixed for DD. At least uni have said they don’t read them and offer an audition to everyone who applies, while others have said they use the personal statement to decide whether to offer an audition, so DD will be playing safe and making it as strong as possible.

2 of the 3 preferred unis have said that they will refer back to DD's PS if grades are dropped, so rather than a way in the door it might prove to be the way to stay on the right side of it if it all doesn't go to plan!!

I tend to think of the ps as a tiebreaker. Ds had an offer very quickly then a few days later it was made unconditional , by which time they would have reviewed his ps. For dd it may for some unis make the difference between getting an interview or not.

yes, for dd's they said that after you've reached their baseline grade criteria (which is slightly lower than advertised) they use the personal statement to decide who to interview. The interview determines whether you get an offer or not & they said don't panic if results are a near miss because they will probably take you anyway!

I think dd's personal statement is going to be mainly academic (?) & related to her EPQ because that's what she'll want to talk about at the interview. She's editor of the school newspaper this year & might talk about her creative writing stuff as evidence of an interest in science communication but beyond that she hasn't really got an relevant extra curricula stuff. She'll talk about the gap year too I guess.

She's just started learning to drive so that's what she's most interested in at the moment!

So I’m the context of how much work DDs versus DS are doing at the moment, I’ve just read an article in The Sunday Times which reckons boys will get more of the top grades in the A levels on Thursday as the new system of terminal exams better suits boys style of study. (Also more of the v low grades tbf).
Meanwhile girls will get more of the middle grades

Dd is saying that what the college is telling them to write for the PS is in places at odds with what the universities are saying.
She's not too worried as all the ones she's looking at are saying for maths that they're all but not interested, but she finds it frustrating.

Apparently she's a similar problem on the computer project. She's being told by the college that some things aren't needed but it seems to be on the marks' scheme.

Hi Witchend if it helps I think DD may come across this when she returns to school with what she thinks is a 'pretty much finished' PS. Her 2 fav unis both went on about the PS being 'personal'...'tell your story with 'feeling' sort of thing and how they wanted to see how you 'wrote'. I think that school are going to want to make it more standard to make sure she has included everything. Not back for another few weeks so will see when the time comes. Does she have a tutor that she trusts who is overseeing it?

error One thing which gives boys an advantage is that they do more science/maths subjects which, as they are objective, may be harder to pass, but easier to excel in. It may also be skewed by private and grammar schools - at our comprehensive, at GCSE they announced all the people who got more than 4 As last year - there were 4 boys and 10 girls. Across the board, girls got twice as many As as boys. Maybe boys get their act together when they are only doing subjects they like?

Witchend, having looked at the guidance for the courses my DS is considering, they all vary so much that it must be very hard for schools to give general advice about PSs. Luckily your DD has you to help her navigate the waters, it must be tough for students trying to work it out with just the school generic advice. You should take up the discrepancy on preparing students for the computer project with school management. It does happen and they need to know!

Or at least take the mark scheme to the teacher and ask them about any discrepancies. Ds has barely started writing his first section, so hasn't come across any issues yet!

My eldest had that with her drama AS. The teacher didn't really engage with dd pointing out the differences, so dd just made sure everyone had a copy of all the relevant bits from the exam board website. (The teacher then left that summer.)

And go with what universities say about PSs. Schools, even 6th form colleges that you'd THINK would be giving accurate information, don't always.

Good point about boys taking more stem subjects. Though I’d be interested to learn if there’s still a huge gender gap in stem, as I know there are a lot of very positive initiatives to encourage girls to take up these subjects.

Witchend Some really good advice about dealing with the coursework upthread.
Re the PS, is it the content the school are querying? It can be tricky to get in all the pertinent detail, but your DD should ensure it includes the reasons/enthusiasm and experiences that she wants. Ultimately, she is the one who could end up having to explain her statement to a uni tutor at interview (or clearing/adjustment).

Error, there is definitely a gender gap in DS2's school. Top set maths in Y9 - 26 boys and 4 girls!! The school does not seem to be doing anything about it, which I find shocking. A friend with a daughter in set 3, which is a cross-over class working for foundation and higher paper (which I can't see working well for the marginal higher paper kids) is really frustrated as her daughter is predicted 8s in sciences, but is drifting in set 3 maths.

I’ve asked DD about her old GCSE maths class as I assumed it would’ve been a fairly even split (top group), but in fact it was mainly boys, 8 girls, 22 boys! So much for my equality hopes!!
Though dd says History GCSE was even lower, 6 girls to 24 boys- not sure what the message is there!

Did they set for History? In both my kids' schools the option subjects are not set.

No, wasn’t set at all. I meant I found it interesting as if there are more boys taking stem subjects then I would’ve expected more girls in the humanities classes.

Depends on how big school is and how option groups are done. If there were 2 history classes and the other one was in the same option block as computer science, that would support the STEM theory. Just checked our school stats and 48 girls and 37 boys did history GCSE last year. A*s - 13 girls, 0 boys!

Fair point, I counted earlier, around 75 students but the school doesn’t publish the split. So it may well be a timetabling issue.

Anybody else getting AS results tomorrow? DS did Physics and Biology and is in the grumpy don't-ask-I-know-didn't-get-As mode!

Waiting for maths and further maths here. Ds not seeming at all bothered. He should have A's, good ums should be helpful!

Do they still get UMS? I thought that was gone now that they do linear A levels. Good luck to him!

ds has maths result tomorrow.

Re ums - I have no idea tbh! Good marks then, in whatever format

Is that the whole A level, Little? Hope he gets what he wants!

I’m feeling quite nostalgic for the days when AS results were worth half your A level grade, with the chance for resits too!
Good luck to those waiting AS results tomorrow x

Maths and further maths A/S tomorrow. Should be an easy A in maths, but the further is going to depend on grade boundaries. I'm nervous. She said she wasn't but then got tearful a couple of days ago over dentist, growing up and results. I hope she's got the A she needs, as I'll be cross with the college if she hasn't as I think they prepared them badly.
She's on shift with the student room tomorrow as advisor in some capacity from 6am. I have given her strict instructions that when she gets her result I want a text. Not sure I'll get it though.

The Computer coursework, she's fairly certain the college is wrong as she's gone through it with some people on line who know what they're talking about. The college also has not got a good record in the coursework over the last few years, I think she said the marks were down at the 60% level and she'd be looking a 80%+.

Yes the whole Maths A Level and he really wants a high mark for his applications.

Fingers crossed for everyone.