GCSEs 2018 (18) Well that's all over, let's get the party started

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www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3341060-GCSEs-2018-17-What-will-be-in-your-coffee-cup-on-Thursday

Ggirl27 that's good that he has a plan B, but hopefully the plan A college will allow him a place.

Ggirl your DS is having a rough time. I suspect his first choice school is trying to protect its results in a crude way, and not thinking about your DS's strengths and potential. However, the college may be just the place for him to have a good sixth form experience. In my college we see students do amazingly well and it has very close ties with some excellent degree courses.
That is so frustrating about the job, poor lad. for both of you.

whistl thanks for your reply unfortunately they don't do well in the sciences which is what DS will be doing, they are OK in maths but considering DS only dropped 9 marks I think he'll be able to figure that one out himself.

GGirl you have my sympathy I've been in your situation with DD but a few years down the line and it has all worked out infact the advice she gave DS the day before results was " when you get your results, if they are not what you were expecting, yes you will be disappointed but it will work out for the best in the end, you just won't realise it at the time".......hopefully this will also be the same for your DS

Bluebelle123
This is probably not what you want to hear, but in my experience the aspiration level of the peer group has a big influence.

In Y11 DS1 was mostly spending time with friends who didn't pass Maths & English GCSE and we're not planning on doing A-levels. In Y13 he was mostly spending time with friends who got A grades at A-level and are going to prestigious universities. Both times the peer group had a big influence on his aspirations, study ethic and level of motivation to study.

ggirl

Ds1 was nearly kicked out of an alevel following his AS results...that woukd have left him with 2 alevel and the alevel he bolloxed up was the one he wanted to do a degree in

At the interview he really tried to convince them of his love of the subject and his degree intentions. They were not very positive but in the end they spoke to his teachers and head of department and they let him stay

Fingers crossed for him but if he knows where it went a bit wrong and how he will change etc it might help

And if it doesn't then most colleges will be only too pleased to have him

Its very hard... for him and for you

Oh and ds went from an E to an A

So the college were certainly pleased they gave him a second chance

Thank you thethird for your honest reply, its what I feared plus his contextual offer is because we live in an area that has a very low take up of people progressing to University. I've just got to hope that his inner drive will see him through.

bluebelle he got 231/240?? That's incredibly good! Well done your DS.

Bluebelle123
During his GCSE studies, DS2 found an online community with a GCSE sub-board. Perhaps your DS could find something like that for A-levels. The Student Room often has threads for A-level candidates aiming for high grades.

bluebell

Do they have a gifted and talented section or aspire thingy?

A local college covers children who got 1 all the way to children who got 9 but children, its not 'academic' or selective

But they have an aspire group who obviously score higher on gcse and they go to Cambridge and have mentoring and stuff

I'm also very impressed by the 231/240.

DS2 managed to drop 26 marks in Maths GCSE, mostly in paper 3. Yet did really well in Further Maths...

Do you know that in real life people think im quite bright

You really cant tell from my posts can you

DS has been assigned a mentor to see him through to University, who will help with aspirations, its a government funded thing to help with the low uptake in our area, so he should get good advice at least. Unfortunately DS wouldn't be described as quirky or nerdy, he's sport mad and just likes a laugh and a joke with his mates so he wouldn't join any of those forums you mention.

Yes he did get 231 and his maths teacher just glared at him on results day and didn't so much as smile let alone say well done, you can probably tell I am not looking forward to his 6th form journey!!

Bluebell my DD has just finished A levels at a 6th form that averages grade C. She got 3 A* as did 2 others. They were apparently a good year group. Lots got Ds,Es etc. For her it was fine as she could "shine"which she thrives on and is motivated because she wants to do well and others expect it of her. If your DD needs to compete with others it may be different.

If the teaching is ok it can be fine. Schools like bright kids! What we found towards the end though was that the teachers couldn't help at all with exam technique which she really needed for biology.

Ggirl so sorry to hear your DS is having a hard time x

Bluebelle - Amazing Maths result well done to your DS. I think friends achievements can go either way...my DD had a very low period where she just thought everyone was good at something apart from her...actually her GCSE results were somewhat inspiring because she achieved higher marks than most of her closest friends in all the science subjects and DD was in set 3 whereas as her friends were in set 1 - I think having an end goal makes all the difference. Situations with girls and boys are different with sharing results - all the bitchiness seems to have gone from DD's group of friends and they are genuinely happy for each other....I think having the mentor will be brilliant for your DS....

In terms of 6th form DD's will be tiny at just 65ish girls I'm guessing that 50% of that cohort are medicine orientated....so I'm hoping the school help the girls in terms of UKcat and Bmat examinations.

Ggirl - I do hope your DS gets his place and so sorry to hear about the job - I found that volunteering helps pick up DC's with low self esteem - not sure whether this is possible?

The results at DD;'s school are a tale of two ends because I was surprised that the 9-7/A*A were similar to last year just 1% down but there were a few girls who didnt achieve grade 4's in some subjects but its a credit to the school that they never exclude anyone or ask them to leave - they just do there best to help them.

Just checking in briefly. Am away for the weekend (Bucks Fizz reunion tour) so won’t be posting much. Sorry to those who are having a hard time, hope resolutions found soon.

Ggirl sorry ds's next steps aren't working out as easily as you would want. Hoping his interview helps in the process!
Bluebell for my DS cohort has meant a lot. He has just finished his A levels at a none selective state school. His further maths class have been incredibly bright and have really spurred each other on. At least 8 of them off to Oxbridge, 14 of the year group off to Oxbridge in total, and 12 of them got all A* at A level. I think ds would still have applied to Cambridge and got his results without his cohort, but, having a bunch of mates who want to study and gee each other on and celebrate each others' successes meant it was ok to work, and ok to do well, and frankly be ok to be a nerd and a geek.

All that said, it sounds like he has a good bunch of friends, and he should, with the ability he has shown thus far, do well anywhere. 🙂

for ggirl. You know that he will come through this just fine, but it doesn't help in the mean time when you can see how sad and deflated he is...

Just keep reminding yourself that things will pick up and that one day these GCSE results won't seem important (possibly sooner than you think)

I have everything crossed it works out on Tuesday - I just hate how everything has happened at the same time. With regards to the job, he does volunteer and has been doing that once a week for the last couple of years - it would just be nice if he could get paid for his time as well! He has no sixth form at his school so he always had to go to a college and I think that moving and starting fresh is compounding the results as its not easy when outwardly you give the impression you're OK and inside your lack of confidence is eating you up. I was hoping that good results would help him believe in himself more and of course that hasn't happened - although he should realise that B's and C's are not terrible. I'm beginning to understand why the teachers at his old school were keen to share the fact at his last parents evening that they hadn't had time to teach the entire GCSE syllabus on his courses now...

Dd has maths test to do too. I think it’s stabdard if you’re doing A level maths. She needs to start the exercises soon, which I printed out ages ago!!

Ds1 got a 9 in history. He scored 159/168 so dropped 9 raw marks over three really tough papers. I am beyond thrilled with that result!

Maybe of interest for someone around the Manchester area :

jobs4teens.co.uk/job-search/princes-trust-team-programme-manchester-m4

Ggirl fingers crossed for your DS's course at college. It may well depend on how many students they have in his preferred subjects. If over subscribed they may stick with offer grades but if others have just missed the grades, or they have low numbers it might be easier. They do want the courses to run with high numbers, it's not financially viable otherwise.

Bluebelle as DS3's old school they had one very high achieving A level student who got to Cambridge to do natural sciences. He's way ahead of his peers. He's definitely the poster boy for their sixth form. I think he was nurtured by the staff as they lived teaching someone like him. He thrived on the big fish in small pondness. Conversely at my old school their poster boy at GCSE, 3x9s and 6 A* moved to the grammar school sixth form and feels like he's no longer 'special.' Hard to tell what will happen, but that frankly ridiculous score in maths from your DS shows he can do it!

I meant to also post the full link to Princes Trust too :

www.princes-trust.org.uk/help-for-young-people/get-job