Page 2 | My daughter's a level teacher just threatened

LNSL · 2021-01-27T17:31:11+00:00

not to even enter her for her a level exam. Seems a little harsh no? She's in the lower sixth. Got an E on a recent test, which I thought was decent enough. What do you think to this?

AuntyPasta · 27/01/2021 17:58

‘Got an E on a recent test, which I thought was decent enough.’

Really?

Changechangychange · 27/01/2021 17:59

It sounds like maybe she took a module paper? So no, it wouldn’t include work she hadn’t covered, and she’d be expected to get a similar grade to her final grade. If she is getting Es, she’ll be getting Es in her final exam.

RedskyBynight · 27/01/2021 17:59

I suspect a lot of the people answering on this thread have highly academic children. An E is a pass grade and still worthwhile. We can't possibly know from the information given her whether it's a bad grade for OP's DD or not.

If OP's DD got 10 grade 9s at GCSE, then E is a pretty poor grade.
If she got a lot of 4s and 5s, and particularly if she had a disrupted education last term, I'd consider an E at this stage to be pretty decent as well.

dingit · 27/01/2021 18:00

My dd got an E for chemistry and her teacher had her in tears on parents evening. She got a B in the end and that was after a family bereavement mid exams.

WINKINGatyourage · 27/01/2021 18:01

An E is a pass grade and still worthwhile

And E is a pass?? I thought anything below a C was a fail?

marshmallowfluffy · 27/01/2021 18:01

You mean AS exam this summer?

WhereverIGoddamnLike · 27/01/2021 18:02

You think E is a decent grade? It's pointless if that's what she is going to get.

Ihopeyourcakeisshit · 27/01/2021 18:03

In what world is an E 'decent'?
I think the teacher is right to give your dc a bit of a wake up call tbh.

Minimummymee · 27/01/2021 18:03

OP I got U’s and E’s in my AS level exams and the head of college didnt want me to return for the second year , however, my personal tutor wanted me back as the only reason I done so awful was due to recent family issues that meant I had no access to a study space etc. If You feel covid is the reason your daughter has struggled and you believe she can do so much better in normal situations could you maybe raise this with your daughters teacher? Just to clarify I got a B a C and two E’s in the end purely because at that time your AS grade went towards your overall A level grade

pinkyredrose · 27/01/2021 18:04

An E is shite. The teacher is in the right.

Ihopeyourcakeisshit · 27/01/2021 18:05

If she got a lot of 4s and 5s I would be worried that she was on the right path doing A levels?

BeanieB2020 · 27/01/2021 18:07

Is the E a typo? It's the lowest grade so don't think it can be considered decent. If it's not a typo, listen to the teacher and wait until your DD is doing better to have her take exams. There's no point her taking them when she's unlikely to pass.

Changechangychange · 27/01/2021 18:09

@RedskyBynight nobody is saying her daughter is stupid for getting an E. we are saying that if that is a massive achievement for her, as OP seems to be saying, then wasting two years on A-levels, or this specific A-level, may not be the best use of her time, in terms of future career.

There are other things she can do which she is more likely to succeed in, and which are likely to open more doors for her than one or two Es at A-level.

If OP was saying her daughter had done far worse than expected due to covid, then yes the teacher would be unreasonable to threaten to kick her off the course. But it sounds like an E was far better than expected, which suggests OP’s DD is really struggling. That is likely to get worse, not better in A2.

Topseyt · 27/01/2021 18:10

@WINKINGatyourage

An E is a pass grade and still worthwhile

And E is a pass?? I thought anything below a C was a fail?

In the old O Levels anything below a C was a fail. A Levels have always been a pass right down to an E. I took mine in 1984. Three subjects and I got BBE. I still have three A Levels.

WINKINGatyourage · 27/01/2021 18:12

In the old O Levels anything below a C was a fail. A Levels have always been a pass right down to an E. I took mine in 1984. Three subjects and I got BBE. I still have three A Levels.

Thanks I didn’t know this!

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 27/01/2021 18:13

I agree with previous posters that an E is nowhere near a decent grade, unless there are some serious extenuating circumstances, @LNSL. If your dd has missed a lot of work due to illness, but has the capability and the work ethic to make up the work, then her teacher’s remark is not fair.

But your OP makes no mention of any extenuating circumstances - apart from COVID - and her classmates will have had the same issues there - so an E suggests that she has either not done the work, not done the revision, or is really struggling with the subject.

If she hasn’t done the work or the revision, then maybe her teacher’s comment will get her to pull her finger out and improve her performance. If she really can’t do the subject, then she may be better off dropping it, and focusing her efforts on her other subjects.

RedskyBynight · 27/01/2021 18:14

[quote Changechangychange]@RedskyBynight nobody is saying her daughter is stupid for getting an E. we are saying that if that is a massive achievement for her, as OP seems to be saying, then wasting two years on A-levels, or this specific A-level, may not be the best use of her time, in terms of future career.

There are other things she can do which she is more likely to succeed in, and which are likely to open more doors for her than one or two Es at A-level.

If OP was saying her daughter had done far worse than expected due to covid, then yes the teacher would be unreasonable to threaten to kick her off the course. But it sounds like an E was far better than expected, which suggests OP’s DD is really struggling. That is likely to get worse, not better in A2.[/quote]
An E at this stage will surely translate to a D (or higher) in actual A Levels?
And this year have had to come into Y12 after 6 months of no study. They'll have spent a lot of last term just getting back into the swing of things.
As I said upthread, not everyone aspires to get an A* at A Level. What happened to enjoying learning for learning's sake? Maybe OP's DD enjoys the subject and has no aspirations beyond a D/E grade? I feel there's been a huge pile on in this thread of "E is a shite grade, she should do something else" without knowing the first thing about OP's DD and her circumstances or interests.

Topseyt · 27/01/2021 18:16

I agree with @RedskyBynight.

Coffeeandaride · 27/01/2021 18:18

I think it's awful that schools don't enter pupils unless they are expected to get top grades.
Never mind what is best for child, or importance of learning.
It's harsh and hopefully means she thinks she can do better and is trying to motivate her this way!?

WINKINGatyourage · 27/01/2021 18:19

What happened to enjoying learning for learning's sake? Maybe OP's DD enjoys the subject and has no aspirations beyond a D/E grade?

Maybe so, but her teacher doesn’t have waste her valuable time teaching someone who doesn’t want to do well in the exams.

RosesforMama · 27/01/2021 18:19

Jesus Christ, this thread.

Your daughter has done ONE TERM of A level study. An E now is a pass and might translate into a C or even a B by the end of the course. Naturally every fucker on Mumsnet has teens getting 6 A* at A level and having Oxbridge begging them to come in, but the real world isn't like that. Only you, she and her teacher can say, based on her prior results, whether she has a technique problem, a revision problem, has been very disrupted with covid etc, or whether she is doing ok.

My son has got 2 Us so far in one of his subjects. He hasn't quite got his head round the way he needs to present information in order to score, it's a new technique. I am not extrapolating from that that he will get a U in his final A level exam, although I accept it's also unlikely he'll get an A. He has learned that he has to put more work in to revision (of course he didn't take his GCSE exams, which hasn't helped) and will get the technique eventually.

My older son had a nervous breakdown during his sixth form, had to drop one A level completely and got CE for the other two. You know what, he still had two A levels and the fact that he had those two A levels is a far greater testament to his resilience and determination than if he had sauntered through 4 A* with ease.

Sometimes the people on here seem to live on a different, problem free planet, I swear.

Rowenasemolina · 27/01/2021 18:20

Why would you expect her to be allowed to continue with grades like that? Most schools wouldn’t let her enter that subject

RosesforMama · 27/01/2021 18:21

@WINKINGatyourage

What happened to enjoying learning for learning's sake? Maybe OP's DD enjoys the subject and has no aspirations beyond a D/E grade?

Maybe so, but her teacher doesn’t have waste her valuable time teaching someone who doesn’t want to do well in the exams.

Oh fuck off.

No teacher worth their salt would ever think that teaching someone who is finding it harder than they first thought they might is a waste of their valuable time. If ANY teacher has got that bloody cynical they need to get the hell out of the job.

WINKINGatyourage · 27/01/2021 18:22

We don’t even know why the teacher has threatened not to enter her. It could be the E, it could be because she flips everyone the bird on all their zoom classes and told the teacher to fall off a cliff, or it could be because she just isn’t doing enough. OP needs to clarify.

RedskyBynight · 27/01/2021 18:22

@WINKINGatyourage

What happened to enjoying learning for learning's sake? Maybe OP's DD enjoys the subject and has no aspirations beyond a D/E grade?

Maybe so, but her teacher doesn’t have waste her valuable time teaching someone who doesn’t want to do well in the exams.

I would actually think a teacher would be keener to teach someone who genuinely enjoyed the subject, rather than someone who just wanted to do well in an exam.