GCSE Summer 2020 Thread 10: Carry on Corona Cohort ‘The Next Step''

[OrangeCinnamon1]

Welcome all to the 10th Thread for this year's GCSE cohort - the Corona Cohort!

This is a thread for supporting all young people ( and their parents) who were examined for GCSEs 2020 regardless of the institute they attended or the grades they needed. 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 needed/deserved/wanted 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 grin ) 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 it us 'results day ' most have GCSE results and some awaiting BTEC results .

We are all ALWAYS 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 popping this here.

previous thread

first ever thread

Thanks Cinnamon hard to believe it's thread 10. Thanks to all for support & wisdom along the way so far.

Thanks @OrangeCinnamon1

I feel like I’ve taken my eye off the ball in the last thread, my apologies for not responding to everyone individually!

I really do feel that the media is making this out to be the best year ever to do GCSE’s with record high scores, but these threads have shown that our children have not had any control over what they have been given & little recourse apart from re-sits (without sitting any to begin with). Being a control freak myself, I genuinely can’t imagine it.

I have a huge amount of respect of our children.

Thanks for starting the new thread.

Thanks @OrangeCinnamon1 I'm a bit nervous as the college is two buses away and if she had signed up for a levels that's just the one. But it's what she wants to do.

Well done to everyone's dc's today.

Please can anyone suggest what this might mean on the exam page of my ds' school internet page:

"IMPORTANT. GCSE Grades for History are awaiting final moderation from the exam board and will be updated Friday morning"

Will be delighted if ds's grade goes up to a 9 but disappointed if it goes down

Thanks for the new thread!

I thought that link on the last thread with analysis about the algorithm and Ofqual (anyone think that sounds like a character from the Handmaid's Tale?) was really interesting and enlightening.

Thanks OP!

OMG to Ofqual sounding like a handmaids tale character yes!!

@LimitIsUp that sounds odd. Which exam board?

Thank you @OrangeCinnamon1 for the new thread and thank you all for your company, help and humour over the past few stressful weeks and months. Is anyone else absolutely knackered? I feel like going to bed for a nap!

Never posted on the other threads as our circumstances are a bit different from the standard but have followed all of you and your DC’s from the beginning. Congratulations to all those with good news. Horrible for those DC who haven’t quite got what they need but they will get where they want to be, there is always a way. Lots of happy tears here today.

DD has struggled with massive depression and and mental health for years. She’s had 6 long years being in and out of education. Sometimes hospital stays. She has been through so much, bullying, bereavements etc. She’s had so much thrown at her that it’d take me all day to list it. She was meant to take GCSE’s last year but was too ill to do so at the time. This year she has been studying 4 full time (English, Maths, Psychology and Chemistry) on a college course and when Covid-19 came it just felt like another blow as she thought she hadn’t done enough for her results to pull through.

But she’s passed them all. She told me she was just praying to have scraped 4 grade 4’s. She’s only gone and got 2 5’s and 2 6’s. I am so proud of her, I am so glad to see her finally get some payoff after everything she’s been through. She’s enrolled onto a Level 3 BTEC course and wants to go to uni and do nursing once that’s done 🙂

Takeaway tonight and taking her to Edinburgh at weekend for some spoiling.

@comefromaway great set of results for DS is he hoping to do Music after? Dd is too at moment.

@OrionAdternog Well done your girl! Edinburgh is the perfect place for spoiling - a new small shop of loveliness round every corner!

FlyingPandas, CIE. Its okay I have just had this response on another thread:

"CIE were later than Ofqual to confirm that they would revert to CAGs. But they will honour higher grades awarded by the algorithm. On Friday morning, the grade confirmed will either be the CAG or the CIE algorithm-assigned grade.

It's just to cover in case the CAG which a pupil received today is, say, 6, but the algorithm had actually awarded them a 7. On Friday their official result will be 7, even if the pupil received a print out saying 6 from their school today."

Orion - that's made me cry again. Huge congratulations to your dd. Enjoy your spoiling!

My DS got the GCSE grades needed today for a college place so I'm really pleased but does anyone feel their school just simply gave kids what they needed to move on? My DS achieved better mock results in some subjects but it looks like all his results have been levelled out to meet the entry requirements for his course.

School have asked parents not to challenge the results and just 'move on'. I wouldn't appeal anyway but it does feel odd that he ended up with the same grade in most of his subjects irrespective of how he was doing in them!

Well done to her Orion - so lovely that it turned out well.

I am off to Edinburgh next week (leaving the 16 year old and 18 year old at home though). Have done a bit of research, Loudons is great for breakfast (but best to book) - recommended on the Time Out guide. Also check out the Real Mary King's close, looks very interesting.

GlassoOfPimms - there are some inconsistencies between centres on how they awarded grades. I am trying not to think about it because it annoys me too much otherwise. Tbh its hard to see how this could have been avoided.

It's been a roller coaster here, first relief as some results as expected and then tears as some are inexplicably worse than predicted grades or mock results. Then made even worse by friends getting higher grades despite having achieved less than than DD in mocks. Could impact schools 6th form A level subject requirements which is such a shame and causing great distress.

Pulling up a chair for the next instalment!

@BackInTime

It's been a roller coaster here, first relief as some results as expected and then tears as some are inexplicably worse than predicted grades or mock results. Then made even worse by friends getting higher grades despite having achieved less than than DD in mocks. Could impact schools 6th form A level subject requirements which is such a shame and causing great distress.

Oh that's tough

@LimitIsUp yes absolutely! I imagine there are inconsistent results and it's probably to do with the ranking system they had to use? Just seems quite an odd set of results for a child that was quite polarised in his subject areas!

That sounds pretty rough BackInTime - can you do anything?

Sorry to hear that @BackInTime

Thanks for letting me sneak in on thread 8 which was only about 4 days ago

Ds has crashed with exhaustion I think!

3 days of birthday and results day meaning 4 days of socialising over meals in past 6 days has addled his autistic brain and killed his poorly muscles!

Agree with everything flying said thread before.

It is unusual for clean sweep of 9's and also all 7-9's but it's amazing that some students can do this and should be celebrated.

Likewise it's far more 'normal' for typical grades and sometime to be really good at some things and not so good at others.

But that's why there are so many options post 16. It all leads to same place - Uni, apprenticeship or employment.

I like the fact that currently we still have a system that allows students to pursue a path that best suits their ability.

My ds actually did as we expected which turned out better than we had originally expected before choosing college.

In fact his grades would get him on the T level he was originally told he would get grades for (this was pre mocks)

He could actually do A level physics chemistry and maths and would likely do really well.

But he wants to stick to BTEC level 3. That's for him, it's specialised on what he wants to do and opens the same doors.

I have suggested and we are investigating if he could do A level maths or something alongside but the college he's going to don't do a levels, the 6th form he never even considered only does a levels and the other college does both but not BTEC in computing.

Plus having spent past few months getting his ehcp right and naming college I'm not sure changing his mind now would be wise

Thank you Orange for keeping us all going. It’s a mixed day listening to the highs and lows. I really hope those who’s DC have had disappointing outcomes have good engagement from their schools to be solution focused with possible options moving forward. And more importantly, provide reassurance to support them on achieving them. Horrid to hear some just being cut loose.

The ability to go into school (or not) also would have made a difference. We were part of the fortunate ones able to go in. The most positive thing, results aside, was DD’s music dept confirming she’d be able to resume her quartet ensemble from the start, which was then tarnished with the caveat that all members would have to be from same year group. So finding a new Y12 cellist, and losing the lovely and very brilliant one from last 2 years. This year has really sucked with injustices, so whatever everyone’s outcomes, I wish them all the best on maintaining strength beyond today...they still need to keep going.