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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

Help ! Really bad science gcse mock results

39 replies

Vinobianco · 31/01/2020 14:16

Exactly that ds doing combined higher level science and got a 1 in physics 4 in biology and 4 in chemistry bringing score down to 2 and 3. He revised ! Well at least he wS looking at a book ! Really have no idea what to do from here - I try to help him but he won’t accept help says he’s 15 and knows how to revise ! Obviously not . Any ideas ? Crammer courses ?

OP posts:

Drabarni · 31/01/2020 14:22

hello, my love. My dd is the same, I think she scraped a 4, but only really revised Chemistry.
Short of standing there supervising there's very little you can do. I know it's so frustrating.
Mine is a boarder too, which makes it harder.
I'm tempted to control wifi when she starts study leave, easier said than done though as both me and dh work from home.
You are not alone.

Gnome134 · 31/01/2020 14:27

No advice as my daughter is not revising effectively at all and is about to start second lot of mocks next week. However if the school has graded your son as a 2,3 on the higher papers you need to be aware that this would actually be a U grade in the real exams as grade 4 is the minimum available on the Higher papers. Maybe consider a move to Foundation to at least get a grade?

TeenPlusTwenties · 31/01/2020 14:28

I'd say you need him to go through his papers with you explaining for each question why he lost marks.
Did he

not know the info
not apply his knowledge correctly
not understand the question
make silly mistakes

If he 'knows how to revise' then what's his explanation as to his grades? At our school if doing the higher paper if you don't get a 4 it's called a U as that is what it will be in the real thing.

I'd be expecting school to be recommending moving to Foundation (max grade 5-5).

Gnome134 · 31/01/2020 14:31

My eldest son did find the online Tassomai resources useful three years ago. We got it at a much reduced price via school, it is quite expensive and aimed at those trying to achieve top grades.

Veterinari · 31/01/2020 14:32

I think you need to analyse his papers to see why he lost marks

TreeClimbingCat · 31/01/2020 14:34

You have to look at why he lost marks. Identifying the why is the key to improving. Also doing more past papers. Looking at a book may not be effective for revision, he needs to be testing his knowledge.

So you use the M A R C K S system, go through the papers and on each question write down one of those letters next to every question. The mark scheme may be available either from the school who clearly have it to mark the paper or online if you know which paper he sat.

Maths error
Did you make a mistake in your maths?

Application of knowledge
You know and understand the content but couldn’t apply it to foreign situation/this question

Read the question
Did you miss a key term such as explain rather than describe because of how you interpreted the question but ultimately you have the knowledge and understand the topic

Communication
You understood the application but the wording you used to communicate didn’t get the marks. Could be specific terminology especially in biology

Knowledge
Is your knowledge weak? Do you understand the concept?

Statements
If it’s 4 marks but you wrote 2 points and you can see that even though you filled all the lines you were lacking in points

Tally up each letter to see where he needs to improve first. Hope this helps.

TreeClimbingCat · 31/01/2020 14:36

Ooops, should have credited that, it is from UnJaded Jade, a YouTuber who does "study Tube" and it was from her science teacher. Ds used it and got 9,9 last year as he was able to see where he went wrong.

Skyejuly · 31/01/2020 14:36

Mine got a 1 also bless him.

MadamBuxton · 31/01/2020 14:37

I recommend mygcsescience. There’s a one-off cost (£25 for double award or £50 for triple I think) and for that you access to videos on every topic. My DS used it last year and got much better grades in the real exams than in his mocks.

RedskyAtnight · 31/01/2020 15:40

Maybe he needs to look at taking foundation instead? (More chance of guaranteeing a 4 or 5).

In terms of revision, my DS has found Seneca really good for Science (and it's free!)

Original poster

Vinobianco · 31/01/2020 17:50

Thanks for all the ideas and glad to hear i'm not alone - its frustrating as he's at a selective independent school so he had the knowledge to get
in and allegedly do well! They don't offer foundation everything is higher tier only- if they struggle with science they let them do combined rather than triple science but over half do triple science thats it. He usually does ok in Chemistry and biology he got a 7 in last terms biology tests. I know he doesn't read the questions properly and he's seeing a learning specialist at school to show him techniques but its obviously not working. I want to help organise him and would be happy to spend hours sitting with hime helping him but he's adamant he can do it alone - so frustrating, School will be on it next week i'm sure but their ideas don't seem to have worked so far !

OP posts:

Lovemusic33 · 31/01/2020 18:16

Are his school offering extra lessons after school/lunch? Dd didn’t do as well as expected either, mainly in physics, she didn’t sit biologically (she has a mock at the end of next month), she’s in top set and got a 9 for chemistry but a 4 in physics so she’s now doing after school classes once a week for a hour and hopefully revising at home. We bought the science revision cards off amazon too and I keep quizzing her (she’s not happy about this) 😂

TeenPlusTwenties · 31/01/2020 18:46

What do they mean 'they don't offer higher'?
So if someone is expected to get a 4 they would rather put them in for Higher and risk bombing out with a U?
They don't really need to teach differently, just enter for the more straightforward papers.

clary · 31/01/2020 19:17

Surely you, as the paying parent, can insist he does foundation? As teen says, it's hardly going to benefit the school, if he gets a U.

Have a look at some past papers and see if the foundation looks more doable for him. Then speak to the school

ProggyMat · 31/01/2020 19:32

@Vinobianco the ‘villain of the piece’, at this point in time prior to the exams proper, is the physics.
What attainment grades for homework and end of topic tests does he usually achieve?

TeenPlusTwenties · 31/01/2020 19:34

If you don't think he is going to get higher than 5-5 then Ofqual(?) guidance is to do Foundation.

Though if he's been getting 7s in tests he should be capable of Higher I guess.

Michaelahpurple · 31/01/2020 19:38

Most independents don't do foundation Pp - I didn't even know there was foundation for anything other than maths until recently, from MN

Some great advice upthread. I love the MARCK thing

He need to co-operate with you to establish where the problem lies. Does he not understand the content? Does he not understand how to answer he questions properly? Or had he just not memorised they material he needed?

A way to identify which factor apply would be for him to do a pay paper for each, open book, and for you to mark it carefully against the mark scheme. These are very detailed so you don't really need detailed knowledge to do this. Then go through them together. Also go through his mocks, but won't be as easy to really drill down without a mark scheme - conversation on the lines of "why did you only get 2 of the 5 marks" quite quickly deteriorate!

I am a fan of the cgp booms with matching exam style questions for revision - after every topic they should do the couple of pages that map and mark them. No way to hide then!

With marks like that I suspect he hasn't really got the hang of the content or at least not with the accuracy of answer language that is needed.

Michaelahpurple · 31/01/2020 19:38

And if that is the case, "revision" consisting of staring at his class notes or textbook will not achieve much

TeenPlusTwenties · 31/01/2020 20:12

Yes Michael but what does 'don't do foundation' really mean?

I can see that if they have selective entry then they don't expect to have pupils who need to be entered to Foundation papers. But if faced with a student who is getting say 3s and 4s in tests / mocks, why not enter them for a paper with more straightforward questions?

RedskyAtnight · 31/01/2020 20:30

There is a difference between "7 in tests" which might be more checkpoints that you've understood the topic, and what you will get in an exam (where you have to remember everything at once, cope with a longer paper and do potentially more challenging questions). He only got 4 in mocks even in his "better" subjects. I agree with PPs upthread that you need to understand "why" he didn't do so well (in all the sciences). Guidelines are that you shouldn't be entered for the higher paper unless you're likely to get higher than a 5-5. Do school think he is likely to get higher than a 5-5 taking his performance as a whole (including work in school)?

Original poster

Vinobianco · 31/01/2020 23:48

Redskyatnight I think he is capable of 6d if he puts his mind to it. He is very disorganised so his notes aren’t the easiest to understand unfortunately. I have the cgo revision books and Cgo revision cards. He’s going to have to commit. They’ll be resits probably after half term and hopefully a clearer picture then. Thks everyone for your support

OP posts:

bookmum08 · 31/01/2020 23:54

Does he need science for the next stage of his education/life? Unless he is thinking of going into a science based job does it matter?

Original poster

Vinobianco · 01/02/2020 05:22

He ideally needs a 5 at science particularly biology to do psychology a level

OP posts:

TheCatsPjammas · 01/02/2020 08:55

Another one to second mygcse science, DC used it for revising his mocks. Its 25 quid for double science, it gave him a starting point and it’s well organised, his notes are a complete mess.

bookmum08 · 01/02/2020 10:04

Vino ok if he needs the science is there other subjects he could drop or not focus on? I think kids have to do far to many different subjects for gcse and should be allowed to drop ones in Year 11 that they realise aren't really relevant to the next stage of their lives.

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