Y11 mock exam results

[ChittyChittyBoomBoom]

Dd did mock exams in the middle of November and just got her results today. She’s capable and is predicted all 7s which are mostly realistic for her, maybe a grade below in maths and German.

She has asd and struggles with anxiety. She was massively anxious in the lead up to and during her mocks and she didn’t revise enough.

Her results are mostly quite a way below her predicted grades. 6s in English a and science (very pleased with) but the rest were 4s and a 2 in history 😬. Her history teacher has already spoken to her and it’s parents eve on Thursday so we’ll speak to her teachers then.

Any words of wisdom please?

Mocks are usually the kick up the bum to make teens realise they need to study a bit harder for the real thing. I certainly wouldn't panic.

Our predicted grades ARE based on these mocks (we don't get results for a few more weeks) so we've not had any grades before - just a "working at" but like the PP, it's normally a kick up the bum, however if you're getting 2s, 3s, 4s at this stage it's highly unlikely you'd be able to pull up to a 6 or 7. Maybe the predicted grades were a hit over inflated?

Revision 2 hours a night?

Don't let her pick up on your anxiety about it - if she's anything like my autistic DD it'll make her own anxiety worse. Reassure her that you believe in her abilities.

Moving forward, does she have any strategies for alleviating anxiety like mindfulness, meditation etc?

With autism structure will be particularly important so get her to devise a revision timetable, done at the same time and place every day. Realistic amounts.

The problem is, although she might in theory be capable of better, it may be that her ASD & anxiety are the cause of not revising enough and then doing less well than expected, and thus not something easily rectified. You'll know whether you agree with me on that as you know her best.

It's a bit similar to how my DD is capable of grade 5 answers in English language, but in the context of an exam she hasn't the concentration/stamina so keeps coming out with 3s.

My words of wisdom would be to think strategically at this stage. What does she want to do next, what are the requirements? Is it worth spending effort on History at this time, or would it be better to write it off and focus on the other GCSEs?

Not an expert in this by any stretch but Honestly I would be asking for the mark schemes and to understand why she got the marks she did. Each level will have specific requirements to have been met to pass that grade. For some questions it could be a lack of pure knowledge and for others it could be how sophisticated the answers are. You need to find out is it the same issue across the board or is it different issues in different subjects. Once you know you can help guide to make some changes as to how the questions are answered. Studying ‘harder’ isn’t necessarily useful if you don’t know exactly what you are doing wrong.

Thanks for your replies ☺️.

Yes, you’re exactly right there. The asd and anxiety were the reasons she struggled with revision. Revising highlighted what she didn’t know so it caused great distress so she avoided doing it. She also became very fixated with the idea that no amount of revision would be helpful 🤔.

She did revise for some subjects (no idea why she had some subjects she felt she could revise for 🤷🏽‍♀️) and it showed in her results. She didn’t revise AT ALL for history as she felt confident 🤦🏽‍♀️. Her history teacher spoke very highly of her at parents evening in the summer so I’m hoping she can gain a few grades there.

She’s actually come home really upbeat and I think (hope) she can see what she needs to do.

She’s applied for college and is extremely excited about that so I’m hoping that will help to focus her too.

Thanks again!

A suggestion for History. DS did the GCSE in the summer and passed well because of 2 things. One was the teachers drumming into him HOW to answer the questions. Unlike when I did exams, the History paper in particular is not purely a regurgitation of the facts, but analysis and looking at the broader picture. There is a specific way to answer and this has to be taught. Secondly there is a huge amount to learn, actually learn. Dates, names, places, events. I helped him as much as I could by testing him, but it was up to him to do the work. There is still lots of time to turn this around, if you split the curriculum into small and manageable chunks. But she needs to start soon. Good luck.

I fear we may be in the same boat - DD16 (ASD, ADHD, anxiety and depression) gets her mock results on Thursday, she's had two science papers back and the results are beyond dismal. Science is probably her worst subject though, so I'm praying the rest of the results are as good as her predicted grades.

Unfortunately she wouldn't see bad results as a kick up the bum, just confirmation of how she's rubbish at everything (which is absolutely not true, but thats anxiety for you.)

Does anyone have any practical advice about planning an achievable revision timetable? She's so knackered after masking at school all day that she needs most of the evening and weekend to unwind, then has a complete panic about not getting stuff done which either leads to complete shutdown or staying up until gone midnight trying to cram.

I think it is better to plan a small amount that you stick to, than over plan.
Remember they will be doing revision at school too.

So, could she e.g. manage
30-45 mins after school Mon - Thur
2hrs (4x30 mins) Sat & Sun (maybe either side of lunch?)
2hrs daily half terms and holidays?

Then look at a calendar, and work out how much time that is until first exam.
Then work out where it needs to be focused?

What grades are needed for next year? Better to get the 6s in 6 GCSEs and 3s in the others if they need 6s for next step, than more passes but at 4s and 5s.

My DD (not ASD but various SEN) missed all y11 with anxiety & depression, so any of yours who are coping and staying in school at all are winning in my book.

Might be worth speaking to the teachers by email, as they may not have enough time (we get 5 mins per teacher) at the parents evening, but I'd ask them how far off the next grade she was and if there was any obvious gaps in her answers/knowledge - so for history, could she answer all the questions on medicine for example, but not the cold war or superpowers? There is a lot of content in the History exam, and I know that my DD is still learning some of it! Hope you can get some pointers from the teachers OP - it is a stressful time for our children.