GCSE Summer 2020 Thread 9 : Carry on Corona Cohort ‘Let’s Ofqual the whole thing off'

[OrangeCinnamon1]

Welcome all to the 9th Thread for this year's GCSE cohort - the Corona Cohort!

This is a thread for supporting all young people ( and their parents) taking GCSEs regardless of the institute they attend or the grades they need. It is respectfully requested that we are all supportive and helpful to each other.

If you want to start a debate e.g state vs private - please do not within this thread.

Similarly it should be recognised that the grades our children need/deserve/want will vary across the board- we wish to celebrate and comiserate with all. One same grade outcome can simultaneously cause joy and despair for different posters and their families. Please be sensitive when responding to threads about grade outcomes.

Some of us have been here since I started first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. It is hoped this will continue. Going forward we intend to stay on the Secondary Education Board (at least until Mumsnet HQ chuck us out ) as from now on our DS/DD may go down various paths such employment, apprenticeships, higher ed etc so we decided not to be exclusionary.

Any new threads should have 'GCSE Summer 2020 Thread # : Carry on Corona Cohort' in title just to make it easier to find. There is no preciousness about who starts new threads!

At this precise moment in time we are still awaiting GCSE results . At first these were to be that seem to have been produced by an algorithm that also takes very little account of Teacher Centre Assessed Grades. There is an appeal process but it was changed to include mock results and coursework, then taken down again for review. Now it has been decided that the higher of Centre Assessed Grades and Calculated Grades will be awarded in two parts??!?!

We are all STILL trying to protect our young people's mental health, which the government claims is their priority...when they talk about wanting students back in schools/college in September...

First Thread

Previous thread

Sorry to here about lower than expected grades, its so bloody hard right now.

Hope everyone finds a good alternative plan.

We’re all exhausted.

Thanks @singingstones he’s looking forward to getting stuck into his A-levels 😊

@OrangeCinnamon1

My nephew has just passed GCSE maths. He had a terrible time up to GCSEs and it impacted his results. The school let him go on to what he wanted to do...he is thriving now and looking at some great Unis for what he wants to do - Politics inspired by BLM movement and his heritage. To all who are dissapointed there WILL be a way for your children to get to where they want to be

Just to clarify he has been retaking during sixth form

Sorry to hear that blobby
So unfair for some students to lose out through no fault of their own or their schools

Sorry to hear confused

DS very happy. No more English Lit!
2x6s
1x8
7x9s

Daughter very happy. 1x7, 5x6 & 2x5.

Signed up for her animal mgt course.

Those of you who are taking kids for lovely sixth form outfits, I've bought wellies and bottle green lab coat!!

My dd got slightly higher than expected

English lit : 9
English Lang : 9
Business studies : 9
ICT: 9
History: 9
Science : 8/8
Maths: 8
German: 6

I’m a little shocked at her science as her mock results were all over the place (8 in chemistry but a 5 in physics) she did the joint science and was expecting a 7.

Dd has autism and I really want to shout her results from the roof top but I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging as some of her friends (or my friends dc’s) at the same school only just scraped passes. Dd has struggled socially all through her school year being constantly bullied, I am very proud how she managed to stay on track throughout the last 2 years. She has secured her place for six form and has her eye on uni in 2 years.

Sorry for those who have been less fortunate. I told DS before he went in to remember it was out of their hands from March.

Another one feeling exhausted and a bit deflated here. I think it’s partly because DS has not been able to go into school, so there’s no ‘buzz’.

Just following on from @crazycrofter’s comment about high achievers - yes it’s occurred to me about this thread today too, lots of clean sweeps of 7s/8s/9s etc. I am thrilled for each and every one of them of course and every grade is so well deserved but it is probably worth saying (especially to any lurkers with dc with more moderate grades who might not feel they want to post) that this thread is not really representative of real life, probably says more about the Mumsnet demographic of posters as much as anything, lovely as you lot all are .

To put in context DS’s school had I think two students with a clean sweep of 9s last year and possibly another 15-20 (can’t remember exactly but it was no more than that) with all 7-9. This is a non selective but leafy comp which achieves a very high percentage of 5s in maths / English etc etc but still less than 10% of the year group achieved a clean sweep at grades 7 and above.

And as @OrangeCinnamon1 said in her lovely opening post - it’s about the individual child and their achievements. For some kids a 4 in maths will be a brilliant achievement.

Sending a mixture of to all of our lovely DC and parents - whatever their grades, whether they are pleased with their results or not, whatever their next steps, and particular hugs to those who feel gutted today.

@Shark2020

Daughter very happy. 1x7, 5x6 & 2x5.

Signed up for her animal mgt course.

Those of you who are taking kids for lovely sixth form outfits, I've bought wellies and bottle green lab coat!!

Sounds amazing!

Sorry, I have been side tracked this morning. DS eventually got up and his grades were good but a couple he was disappointed with including one where they have marked him down from his mock which is ridiculous. I have spent some time on the phone with the school and have now written an email appealing a couple which genuinely seem to be wrong. Who knows what will happen but worth raising I think.

Anyway, he got more than enough to get in to do his A levels and got 8s in his A level subjects so were delighted about that.

He is planning to go to a party this evening which is in a field somewhere and all I can think of is this

Does anyone know if DD does GCSE’s over again if she could apply to sixth forms then at school? Or would she have missed the opportunity?

Congratulations to all DCs and commiserations for those that didn't get quite what they expected / needed.

Yes sorry to hear some dcs are disappointed today. I hope they can still progress to the next stage of what they want to do. Ds broadly got what he deserved I feel - mostly 7-9’s. Surprisingly he got a 7 in Computer Science when he got no higher than 4 in his assessments all year! I think that more than makes up for the couple where he thought he would have done slightly better based on his mocks.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn my DD is off to corner in godforsaken field tonight, too
Yet more stress...

Well said Pandas

Exhausted here. Lower than expected in some of the A level choices which meant some drastic shuttling between schools to beg. Current school wouldnt budge at all (bastards) so we are moving for A-level.

I just dont get why they are so all over the place - lower in subjects that should have been 8s and high in some subjects that really should have been 4/5.

DS got 12 grade 9’s which was what he was predicted so no unpleasant surprises.
Just want to move on now to the next stage after all this unnecessary stress.

Amen to that @Nard75

This has been posted elsewhere on the secondary education board but thought I’d add the link here as was a really good and sensible compassionate read. Especially for any dc feeling that they haven’t really “earned” their grade.

debra-kidd.com/2020/08/15/what-really-went-wrong-with-exams-2020/

Well done to everyone, whatever the grades and least we now know!

Poor DS, he ‘sat’ Further Maths early this year in Y10, they only put the able mathematicians in for it so they tend to get 7/8/9, he knew he didn’t have the proof he could get there by March so hoped for a 6 but got a 5.

He’s got an EHCP and so many other challenges and is so deflated. Lots of talking about not bothering for next year. I hope he’s just to getting it out of his system but I’m a bit worried.

@ProggyMat ooh it might be the same party. Maybe the MN matchmaking can happen without parental intervention! 😂

You are quite right @FlyingPandas: mumsnet is never worth viewing as 'normal' and a GCSE support thread is bound to pull in the more involved parents too -whether that is because they focus on results/education and are aiming super-high, or whether they are the most worried/anxious and in need of support. Or indeed, both!

In ds's direct peer group, we have everything from one guaranteed straight 9 student to a few who have failed a few this time - ds says none of them have been telling their exact grades on their group chats - just whether they are happy/can go onto the next stage, or whether they need people to huddle round and support them through frustration and disappointment. It's a testament to their good sense :-) I'm gutted many of them are leaving the school as their support and ability to ignore the BS have made a huge difference to ds' experience of school over the last couple of years (they are a very mixed ability group; with lots of SEN and a fair few complicated family issues!)

@HairyMaclary he musy have the skills forr them to put him forward in first place.

New thread is here for when this one is full

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn
She’s a 5ft 9ins, bonny lass from ‘oop North’.
Not musical whatsoever nor sporty and has a penchant for ‘bad boys’ as she’s under the illusion that she ‘can change them’