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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Drama GCSE yesterday

45 replies

Mika22 · 19/05/2018 07:49

Hi my son wants to follow a career in drama.
He has a level 9 in the practical but took the written exam yesterday and despite preparing like mad and being confident he had brain freeze and found it hard to write much.
He's so upset, has anyone got any words of encouragement for him. I don't think it's the end of the world and he could still get into a good uni/drama school but he's pretty devastated ☹️
Thanks.

OP posts:

farangatang · 21/05/2018 15:51

My post was also meant to reassure OP's DS that he probably didn't perform as badly as he feared in the exam... guess that didn't come across so well...

AlexanderHamilton · 22/05/2018 00:32

Drama GCSE & vocational training bear no resemblance to each other so tell your son not to worry.

Nettleskeins · 22/05/2018 14:51

mika another one whose son suffered brain freeze in the Drama paper. It was something about The Mother in 1984, and ds2 really did not know what to write, having revised all the O'Brian/ien aspects instead. He hasn't got such high coursework marks so was hoping this paper would pull him up, as he is quite insightful usually.

It's a hard paper, you have to think on your feet the whole time, apart from the second part which you can prepare quite well in advance. Ds2 did a NT play with a dragon in it and is assuming no-one else will have done that...who knows?

Nettleskeins · 22/05/2018 14:56

He just couldn't think of much to say..but ironically this has helped him cope with some of the other subject papers which are coming up, as we have now given him a strategy if he thinks he has no idea what to write, which is to stop and just brain storm on rough paper for a bit before trying to write anything structured. The information and ideas are there somewhere buried in your head, the key is not to panic and think oh if only I'd done more on this topic and I would be able to answer properly. You have to put those thoughts out of your head and just focus on what you do know.

Original poster

Mika22 · 22/05/2018 17:34

Thanks for all your answers, they have definetly reassured him and he is more philosophical about next exams. I think he'd heaped so much pressure on himself that he just froze. He seems so much more relaxed now and has realised he can't cope with that level of pressure .
The idea of a 5 minute brainstorm is a good one and he's going to use it if it happens again. Good luck everyone for the results in August 😊

OP posts:

LARLARLAND · 23/05/2018 14:30

Have any of your DC received their results for their devising log? I am just wondering how pupils have been scoring for that element?

Original poster

Mika22 · 23/05/2018 16:21

I think the mark they have been given was an overall score for the log and performances. Not 100% sure though.

OP posts:

LARLARLAND · 23/05/2018 17:24

Yes I think that's right Mika. I know your ds has been told he achieved a level 9 but what was his mark (if you are happy to say)?

Original poster

Mika22 · 23/05/2018 17:47

Apparently it is above 75/80 ??

OP posts:

LARLARLAND · 23/05/2018 17:55

That's interesting Mika.
I have spoken to DS's teacher and she is still saying that there is no way she can say where the grade boundary is. Perhaps she is just rubbish?

BubblesBuddy · 23/05/2018 18:38

You don’t know the exact grade but as they know the mark it give a teacher a good guess at grade. 75/80 is likely to be 9 or at worst 8, surely. At the moment!

EvilTwins · 23/05/2018 21:28

Bubbles - it is literally impossible to say. Different GCSE I know but two years ago, before it was ditched, GCSE Performing Arts (AQA) required a mark of 68/70 in Unit 1 and 59/60 for Unit 2 for an A grade. A 9 is apparently higher than A. Last year, it was 69/70 and 59/60.

LARLARLAND · 23/05/2018 21:33

That is a tough A* to get! It seems unfair that students need to get almost perfect marks to achieve the top mark whereas other subjects don't ask for anything like that.

Any idea about the marks for other grades?

EvilTwins · 23/05/2018 22:02

Performing Arts (my subject) GCSE last year was:

A* - Unit 1- 69/70, Unit 2 - 59/60
A - Unit 1 - 68/70, Unit 2 - 58/60
B - Unit 1 - 60/70, Unit 2 - 55/60
C - Unit 1 - 53/70, Unit 2 - 53/60

Essentially, stupidly high.

All grade boundaries are easy to find - just google the exam board, the year and "grade boundaries" and you will get PDFs. They release them in September (I think) because obviously they don't decide the boundaries until they get the marks in.

LARLARLAND · 23/05/2018 22:48

Those grade boundaries are insanely high.

EvilTwins · 23/05/2018 23:11

Yes they are.

HesMyLobster · 23/05/2018 23:12

My DD was told her grade from the performance and from the devised piece and log.
In fact we were told together at the final parents evening, as I presume all the other DC and parents were.
That's WJEC/Eduquas though, not AQA

HesMyLobster · 23/05/2018 23:13

Those grade boundaries seem crazily high! Might explain why my DD1 didn't get the A* she was hoping for 2 years ago!

HesMyLobster · 23/05/2018 23:20

Sorry Mika, meant to say I'm sure your DS hasn't done as badly as he thinks.
Which exam board is it?
For Eduqas it's 40% for the devised piece +log, 20% for the scripted performance and 40% for the written exam.
Hopefully with a strong 9 from the practicals (60%) it will be enough to offset a less confident exam, but it depends which exam board and how the marks are weighted.

BubblesBuddy · 24/05/2018 21:21

It was a few years ago, but in DD2’s year only one DC got an A. Everyone else got an A*. I hadn’t realised it needed such a high mark, although my DDs nailed it as I said before. Their performance was definitely out of 120 though. Don’t remember what board but it was a top school for Drama!

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