GCSE 2019 support thread 6

[DeRigueurMortis]

Hello All,

Welcome to thread 6 - results...

Last thread here:

Gcses 2019 support thread 5 http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3610608-gcses-2019-support-thread-5

It's been a fantastically supportive set of threads to date with a diverse set of expectations and challenges (for both parents and children).

I expect this thread may be the most emotive for us all (crikey how did the time fly!!)

Good luck everyone

Interesting to see people reporting lower than expected grades for AQA Eng Lang - in DD's case she exceeded expectations with an 8 in Lang but then did "worse" (still very well!) with a 6 in Eng Lit which is supposed to be her stronger of the two! Not sure what happened there and school have not provided the scores so we can't see how far she was off the boundary for a 7.

I'm still confused about double science - her results sheet said "76". DD says that means she got between a 5 and a 6, but when I googled it suggests she got between a 6 and a 7. Can anyone shed any light?? It seems such a confusing way of marking it to me!

@sammi38. It does sound worth considering a remark on the english given the surprise but where does her mark sit in the grade band?

Only the school can advise whether a remark is worth it. Do you know what she got on each paper?

My DD's grades were much higher than her mocks (they did 3 sets- November, January, March) and her teacher's predictions. She's wondering if the school had a mark harsh policy to make the kids work harder or the teachers don't have enough data on how to predict final grade for these GCSEs?

76 means a 7 and a 6. It's 2 GCSEs and it means her paper 1s was slightly stronger than her paper 2s.

solitude consider yourself kicked!

That's a very good set of results!

We got results just after 9am. Lots of nerves but nothing like as bad as her sister was.

If any of you remember DD refused to sit one exam - and got a very high 3 in that subject (1 mark off a 4).
The subject, Eng Lit where she had a panic attack so only sat one paper - she got a 7.
And everything else was 9,8 and another 7 in Spanish. Our problem now is that she isn't sure she wants to do her original A'levels and could do several others..
We may just end up going into college tomorrow to get advice.

@ArthurtheCatsHumanSlave

Sounds very similar!
DD got 1 x 9, 6 x 8, 1 x 7 and a 5 for Latin and is gutted she hasn't done better. All she can do is look at others with higher results and beat herself up

Am interested that Oxford treat 9 and 8 as the same - have any others heard this?

I was a right muppet and burst into tears at DD2's results. It was such a relief. She got an 8 in Drama, 5 in Maths and 6/7's in everything else.

We have had a tough year with my Dad dying , her big sister going to uni and I had breast cancer with a mastectomy/chemo/rads. It's been a lot so I am super proud of her!

Most importantly though it has boosted her confidence!

Another AQA English disappointment here- 6&7 today versus mock/predictions of 7/8. Selective boys school. All 8/9 otherwise so very chuff med and relieved!

Thankyou everyone. My Dd got 93 in the English language papers.
So 4 marks off a 6.

English Lit she is only one mark off a 6.

She got 7s in her sciences and a 6 in maths, Spanish and history. She wants to get into nursing so not sure wether to go for the remark in English language.

DS2 very happy, results range from 9 to 5 with 8s and 9s in his A level choices. Still waiting for current school to confirm timetabling ok, before declining second option.

His AQA Lit and Lang were exactly how he thought he'd done, 5 and 6.

Congratulations everyone, so many to mention but sounds like almost all have achieved their requirements for A levels which is a fantastic result.
@Frith2013 you may be gutted right now but it’s not the end of the world although that’s possibly how you’re feeling. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves life isn’t a race! 💐
@blondestresshead yes Dds school have said the same re Oxford.
For those asking we received supplementary sheets showing each exam paper raw marks, the adjusted mark and the final “ score “ both for CIE and Edexcel. including MFL orals and listening.

Twins here, 8s and 9s each. They should be very pleased with themselves. I'm chuffed to bits.

Reality is that one twin is upset that the other got more 9s... pass the gin, please...

Congratulations to everyone on the thread, we've made it! Well done to your kids.

Haven’t posted for a while but have been watching.
I think this thread is the most supportive, uplifting thread ever.
Dd did amazingly well, we’re thrilled
Huge congrats to everyone, pass the Chardonnay please

I've only spoke to ds1 on the phone but he told me he got 4 in maths and was so close to a 4 in English
But because he hasn't come home yet I don't know the ins and outs.
He can do his collage course but it just means he has to do English as well. All in all I'm happy and more importantly he's happy.
Well done to everyone else's dcs

Proudest mum in the world here- DD got 7,6,6,6,6/5, 4,4 and a distinction. Absolutely buzzing. Did not expect a 6 in eng lang as she is dyslexic- her teacher has dragged her through the exam and is worth every penny shes paid. Also buzzing with the 6 in science as she spent her chemistry exam with her head in a bucket throwing up. The 4 in eng lit is going for a remark as its 1 mark off a 5. On holiday at the moment so cocktails all round tonight!!

Lot's of weird results in Eng Lang & Eng Lit at dc's school this morning. Some pupils predicted to get high grades coming out with a 6 and some people like my dc have done better than predicted. They did always say that some members of the Eng department had a tendancy for favouring certain students/styles of writing over others and we can't help but wonder if this erroneously influenced the predicted grades. It may just be that these are the subjects most different to tackle under the new style (no modular approach with course work anymore) and teachers across the country may have been worried about the results as a consequence.

dc is beaming from ear to ear. A raft of 9's, and 2 8's.

Minor hassle of a slow puncture for me to sort out now but it's hard to be too irritated by it when I see how happy dc is.

Congratulations/Best Wishes to all the Y11's for the next stage in their journey.

Great to hear so many fantastic results.
Dd got
2x8’s
6x6’s
1x4 ( French- she had a panic attack in her speaking test so didn’t think she would even pass - she was in top set and only one person in her year got higher than a 6 - he got a 7 and his dad is originally from France so I’m sure there will be an investigation into the French teaching !)

I am so pleased for her and am waiting outside college whilst she enrols for her A level choices my only concern is that her marks are quite a way off her mock marks. She was one mark off a 9 in her biology mock (got a 6), 2 marks off an 8 in English Literature mock (got a 6 ) and got an 8 in maths mock (got a 6) she was upset after the English literature exam because they hadn’t covered the character that the highest mark question was about but was more confident about the others and did much more revision.
We haven’t had a mark breakdown just a list of results, would it be worth asking for marks or just accepting them and being happy that she has got onto her chosen courses?

We had a wobble this morning as dd's results were a bit lower than predicted. She was bitterly disappointed.
But we had an enrolment appointment for college today, so off she went, expecting to be told she could not do her 3 chosen A levels. But as she was so close, and her predicted grades had been higher (we had been advised to bring her school report with us) they let her do her chosen subjects.
Dd hugely relieved and we are now chanting the mantra 'your grades are yesterday's news, they got you on to your next step so now they don't matter'.
May not be entirely true but is making dd feel better

Well done to all those that got amazing results to move onto the next stage of their lives and the parents for getting them there.
For those that didn't get what they wanted I feel your pain.
My son got good enough grades to be considered for his course with maths and English along side which was his biggest fear as he's worried it's too much for him. The meltdown I was fearing happened, I talked him down by suggesting differing his place and just doing maths and English, this has helped a bit, so we will talk to the college at enrolment next week.
Just cuddling up to watch a film and then cook him his favourite meal to keep his mind on an even keel. It's gonna be a long week while he stresses over which course to do. X

Annie bittersweet as you predicted.

Glad the suggestion to defer has helped calm him somewhat.

I very much hope the college will be supportive (and no reason to think they won't as it's a very sensible way forward).

I haven't posted before but am an avid lurker. I agree, what a wonderfully supportive thread this is.

My DS has gone to Reading Festival so the envelope will be sent out first class today. However, he rang me this morning to say that he thinks he'll open it on Monday when he's back in case it's bad news as he doesn't want to ruin the weekend! I think I'll combust if I have to wait until Monday!!

I'm still confused about double science - her results sheet said "76". DD says that means she got between a 5 and a 6, but when I googled it suggests she got between a 6 and a 7. Can anyone shed any light?? It seems such a confusing way of marking it to me!

I think that means she got a 7 fir one and a 6 for the other (2 science gcses)

@blondstresshead

if you look at:
www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/study/medicine/pre-clinical/statistics

It says:
"The GCSE measure used was a combination of proportion of A grades at GCSE and number of A grades at GCSE (with equal weighting). For shortlisting purposes a grade 8 or 9 is considered equivalent to an A*"

That is for Oxford medicine, but I imagine it is the same everywhere. Of course this might change by the time we all get to the point of being (theoretically) able to apply to Oxford, but at the moment, at least while the 8/9s are bedding down, that is apparently the attitude.