GCSE mock disaster

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DD is doing combined science. School have never raised any concerns about her work or ability and predicted 5-5 in October and entered her for higher level mocks.

She got U in her Physics mock. She hasn't got a result for Chemistry yet but she finds it harder than Physics. She got a low 4 in Biology.

She does homework, did all online work set over lockdown and hasn't had any time off school since they went back. She didn't have any end of year 10 exams and no earlier marks were ever low like this. Something has gone very wrong!

She didn't do a lot of revision so has not helped herself but I'm wondering if she understands anything at all they have covered. She says she doesn't understand Chemistry at all but thought she understood some Physics.

She's become very unmotivated in general since lockdown. She does what school asks of her but I am struggling to get her to do anything else except lie in bed on her phone ☹️

Assuming I / she can improve her motivation, is there any way she can get up to a pass standard?

You know the exams are different this year, they are given sections to revise and can take in sheets etc?

we have just been given which areas to revise for the Jan mocks...sounds like yours didn't do this perhaps. Might help her in the exams....

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55160374

This says the advance notice of topics is due to be released to students by the end of January. Have exam boards already released it?

I'd suggest you buy her the CGP "exam practice workbook" for each subject which are usually only £6/£7 or so from Amazon (just make sure you get the right one for the right exam board). They're probably better to work through than past papers for someone who seems to have a very weak knowledge to start with. They have pages and pages of questions, starting at low level for each topic, so will really highlight the weak areas for her to concentrate on. If her school text books/notes aren't good, then you could also buy her the CGP "complete revision and practice" (usually around £15 on Amazon) which are a good substitute for text books for the core facts/information and concentrate on the facts rather than a lot of waffle which some text books suffer from, so are pretty quick to go through and also have some practice questions. Really no point in working through past papers if the basic/core knowledge is lacking.

Having just run 2 weeks of Mocks, including Sciences, it may be just down to a case of apathy of your DD’s behalf. Let’s just say that motivation was waning in some cases here and you could palpably feel that the kids had had enough. It’s been an odd draining year too so if her were late like ours were that might have affected her effort.

For a U she obviously struggles but if her predicted grade was 55 then there’s something off somewhere.

We have today been given the topics to focus on for the mocks after Christmas in January. I'm unsure if will be the same in the summer but guessing so.

There is a lot of content in the GCSE science courses and I know a number of DD's peers who were expected to get 8/9 across the board in triple science have found that chemistry understanding in particular seems to have suffered during lockdown. These include students who'd been hoping to do A-level chemistry but that's no longer looking likely.

Have you used Seneca Learning? It's an online resource that is mostly free although there are additional components that can be paid for. If you were to sign up as a teacher, you would be able to set assignments for your DD, complete with deadlines. The assignments reflect the content of specific exam boards and take the form of watching very short video clips, reading information and then being tested on it in a variety of ways. It can feel repetitive but that's the point really as it's the rehearsal of the information that transfers it from short term memory into long term. Another advantage of using Seneca is that you will be able to see how long your DD has spent on each section, where her understanding needs work etc. Coupled with making revision cards/posters/working through lesson notes and turning then into spider diagrams, Seneca is a useful resource.

They have missed quite a bit of work with the lockdowns etc. Some of the comments i find a little harsh considering.

Our school is just asking to revise around the first half to two thirds of content for each subject- I guess to prepare for the new format to exams in the summer.

We have so far only been given this for science - not any other subjects.
Mocks are mid January here.