Has anybody got positive stories of gcse results after woeful mocks?

[Noth1ngtoseehere]

It’s going to be a loooooong 6 months otherwise.😩

Ds v anxious. Screwed up his revision and ended up covering very little, had a meltdown midweek. Supposed to get 8s/9s but got a range from 3 to 7.

We could both do with some positivity.😬

To be fair to school they don’t ‘predict’ it’s just the aim based on the numbers they crunch out post Sats etc. Pretty sure they’re not pushing 8s and 9s on him,not heard him say that and we’re not. They’ve been recorded somewhere, reports? Can’t remember will have to dig it all out. Yes we’re aiming for 6s and 7s. Ds has said he won’t be happy unless he gets 7s regardless. Will try and talk him down but need to be a bit careful I don’t make him feel useless.

Also, there is a woman on YouTube who has made videos explaining the whole curriculum for Biology, Physics and Chemistry, topic by topic in a really accessible way, specific to different exam boards. DS said he found it super helpful. I’ll ask him for the details later.

I am a tutor. At this stage I would recommend revision study and work books ( CGP do some good ones). The study books have already done the work of condensing the syllabus into notes and he can focus on learning and practising questions. If you get a tutor I'd suggest you ask them to focus on study and revision skills that he can use in all subjects.
A way of managing anxiety is to draw up a reasonable study/revision timetable. Leave plenty of time for relaxation, hobbies etc.
Then get him to follow the plan, reassuring him he is doing the best he can, that he should just focus on working hard in the study times and then the results will be whatever they will be and that that is fine.
If you can reassure him ( and keep reassuring him) that it will still be ok even if he doesn't improve on his mocks ( though obviously he may need a plan B for his next steps but that's fine too), paradoxically that's your best chance of helping him do as well as he can.

Cosima. I think that is Primrose Kitten!

www.amazon.co.uk/REVISE-GCSE-Revision-Planner-Companions/dp/1447967828/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=how+to+revise+for+gcse&sprefix=how+to+revise&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1575622791&sr=8-2

You might find this book helpful.

I think you want to strike the right balance between taking the pressure of and focusing on his mental health v using this time productively to fix the issues he ran into with the mocks.

A good timetable will be key and it sounds like he needs to focus on his revision materials. He could work on preparing these now and could also be looking into pre-prepared books and online resources.

Me. I barely passed my mocks. Went on to get mostly A's and B's. Still got a d in Maths though and had to resit the bastard.

DS is in this same position, OP. Did much worse than usual in mocks and now stressing (apart from computer science where he got 9s, he never gets anything else there - told him that could make him too complacent in that one!)

He usually gets 8 or so in maths, physics, chemistry, biology, and got a mixture from 5-7 so got himself in a tizz. In some ways it's a good thing because it has refocused him on revision,we've bought the CGP guides and he does these and past papers, then uses YouTube videos etc, assuring me that's how he learns best. Not sure if he's giving it his all - he'd prefer to be playing games - but he does seem to have doubled down. After Christmas we'll be upping the amount of time we expect him to spend revising, he's kind of on board with it. Sounds very similar in that he's always got excellent marks across the board, school predicting 8s etc based on sats results and now they are panicking he won't fulfil their value added stats so offering all manner of interventions etc. We do intend to take up all the extra revision classes on offer.

DD took her GCSEs 3 years ago and her mocks were fairly shambolic, but she pulled it out of the bag and exceeded expectations in most subjects so it can be done. I think it's a case of keeping on top of it all but also allowing them time to relax and breathe, and not piling on the pressure but being more of a gentle encourager. They get enough nagging from school. It's a hard balance to find though, especially when they are not working very hard...

Let's hope they get themselves sorted!

Ds is going through mocks at the moment (he's another anxious one who walked out of/didn;t write a thing on his year 10 paper in some subjects). He gets a separate room/rest breaks etc.

Dd did her mocks and GCSE's 2 years ago.

Things I have learnt form having 2 kids in 2 different schools.

January mocks are much more accurate than November mocks. November mock revision is shoehorned in between normal school/extra curricular activities, rehearsing for christmas concerts, applying to college etc. January ones you get a whole 2 weeks of the christmas holidays to revise at a steadier pace and still have some down time.

Mocks shoehorned into 1/2 weeks are much more stressful than the real exams over 4 weeks with a week for half term in between.

Some teachers are not very accurate at grading papers with the new exams and grade boundaries.

At this point they won't have learnt exam technique.

Dd's actual results were all 1-2 grades higher than her mocks, she got mostly 6/7 in her mocks and 7-9 in her actual exams.

I think I must have had one of the only children on mumsnet whos mocks were exactly the same as her final GCSEs!

The school will offer revision sessions and these are great because they will really focus on what he needs to do - revision techniques and exam techniques. Mocks only reflect the real situation if revision has been optimal, which it has not been for your DS.

My DDs both improved on their mocks. DD2 did dramatically well, going from 3 to 7 in Chemistry, 4 to 6 in Physics, 5 to 7 in Maths, 6 to 8 in history and Geography. The only subject where there was no change was English where she stayed at 7 and 9 for lit and lang. Do not despair!

I could give you a positive outcome of woeful GCSE results....my daughter failed the lot, despite working hard, due to the stress of it all.
She got into college on a slightly different course, and is doing fine now.

I still don't really understand the new marking system - I understand the letters are now numbers but what's that in old money (%)?

Well the problem is that the new numbers don't correspond exactly with the old letters.

The new Grade 4 is referenced as being the lower end of an old C and we know that for the first few years at least the same percentage of students who got an old A or above will be getting a 7 or above so it's fairly safe to say a 7 is equivalent to an A.

So most tables end up something like

4 - Pass (lower end of C)
5 - Good Pass (higher end of B/lower B)
6 - (B)
7 - (A)
8 - (higher end of B lower end of A*)
9 - calculated as the top percentage upper end of A*)

5 should read higher C/lower B

POsting again as I messed it up

4 - Pass (lower end of C)
5 - Good Pass (higher end of C/lower B)
6 - (B)
7 - (A)
8 - (higher end of A lower end of A*)
9 - calculated as the top percentage upper end of A*)

In maths, you probably need to be aiming for about 85% to get a 9.

I think most schools and colleges require an 8 in GCSE Maths to do Further Maths. I'm sure @noblegiraffe will correct me if I'm wrong.

And if you understand the new system you get an A* in statistics!

Not terrible mocks but nothing exciting

English language 6 mock 8 GCSE
English Lit 5 mock 8 GCSE
Maths 6 mock 7 GCSE
Science 5/6 mock 8/8 GCSE
Geography 6 mock 8 GCSE
RS 4 mock 7 GCSE

Final grades were mainly 8 and 3 x 7. He worked his socks off using a combination of GCP, online tutorials and a tutor in English and science all while his dad was terminally ill. Couldn’t be prouder

Wow Answer you should be rightly proud.

How much is the school doing to help OP? My DSS did his GCSEs last year and the school after Christmas ramped the revision sessions up to the max. After school sessions, weekend sessions and holiday sessions ( average school in an average area).
He pulled his PE from a 3 in mocks to a 6, the rest he did well in as the school supported them so much and basically dragged them through their GCSEs.
The only problem is now he’s at a 6th form college (school didn’t have one),they don’t offer this level of support and wrap around pushieness to he is struggling at alevel.

I say last year, I mean the academic year so got results in August

OP do you know what boards he’s doing?

If it’s AQA there is a woman called Primrose Kitten, as Sprout days above, who does the whole curriculum for three sciences online in bite size chunks.

If it’s IGCSE Edexcel there is “Science with Hazel” which is similar. DS found this brilliant.

If he’s doing IGCSE maths the Paper 2 was so ridiculously hard last year, they were getting grade 9s with about 40% or less. They were all in a state of shock when they came out of that one. Nothing else was like it. So if it is IGCSE maths he’s doing, do tell him not to get over anxious if he sees samples of the Paper 2. Everyone will be

Also. Is he doing any courses with a coursework element eg Music or Art or DT as this can take the pressure off a bit too when it comes to the exams?

Yes he will most definetly go up if he actually revises well and can deal with the stress. People in my school got 3s and 4s in their mocks and ended up with six 9s, and nothing below a 7 in gcse.