A Level trial question / help

[Basilandparsleyandmint]

My DS did not get the grades he needed for his A- level choices. However as his school expected him to get the grades and based on his pre exam performance have offered to trial him for a month. He desperately wants to take these subjects due to a particular career path he wants.
As he only has 4 weeks to prove himself capable has anyone got any advice / suggestions for how he can prove himself.
i have said to show attentiveness in class/ participate and ask questions.
What do you think staff want to see?
Thank you 😊

Yes just go in and show attentiveness, making sure he does set homework etc.

I would ask though are they letting him start 4 subjects in case he does need to drop this one because it would be difficult to have to switch to another and catch up?

No there is just his 3 choices at the moment and then if not successful he will have to move to BTEc science.
that is a good point though which I will talk to school about.

Which subjects?

When we put students on a trial we want to see attendance to classes, completing work set, engagement in the course. And if they can cope with the level of work required for A level subjects.

His a levels are maths / bio and chemistry. Maths isn’t the issue it’s the biology and chemistry @noblegiraffe

Did the school set any bridging work for the summer?

No nothing @noblegiraffe he is going to go over grade 7-9 level GCSE bio/ chem just to get his mind back into learning.

@Basilandparsleyandmint what grades did he get for each subject?

Where my son goes they want a 6 to continue a science and maths. The usual rule of thumb is a one grade drop so a 6 would be a B in old letter grades meaning they are likely to come out with a C, but maths is different in that a 2 grade drop is normal. When they come in on lower grades their foundational knowledge of the subject is not as comprehensive meaning it is harder for them to catch it up and get good A level grades.

However, I will say that with some determination and effort they can do well but it does come down to attitude.

I should also add that not every child from that sixth form wants to go onto uni, their entry requirements are 5 grade 4s. So lower A level grades are not an issue for some.

There are "headstart to A-level" CGP books for Biology and Chemistry on Amazon which might be useful to work through before September to show willingness?

Be organised! Whether he’s using physical folders or working online on OneDrive, he should have separate files for each course, subdivided by unit / teacher. He should put everything the teacher gives him in there, in chronological order.

What did he get?

I teach A level bio:

• pre-read the relevant textbook pages before each lesson. If he has any questions, note them down to ask in lessons
• take notes in lesson using the Cornell method (he can google it)
• after the lesson he should review his notes, summarise them in a few sentences, complete any questions from the textbook pages he read before the lesson
• as much as possible, use physicsandmathstutor.com to practice exam questions as often as possible
• if his school use Uplearn, do a minimum of 3 hours per week. If not, complete the relevant sections on senecalearning.com each week
• ask questions if he struggles understanding anything.
• The Biozone workbooks are amazing, he should complete the relevant pages after each lesson.

These are things I wish all my students would do! They'd all excel!

Thank you @noblegiraffe
@chillyjilly He got 7 for maths but 5 for Chemistry and biology. Really close to grade boundary for 6. Hence why school are willing to try.

It is not medicine that he ultimately wants to do thankfully as he would have no chance .

@OctogenarianDecathlete that is all really fantastic advice !! Thank you so much.

He got 7 for maths

Ah, in which case I would strongly recommend that he gets on with some bridging work for maths too. Videos and questions to work through here: https://alevelmathsrevision.com/bridging-the-gap/

I'm a maths teacher. Anyone with a high 6 or low 7 will be starting the course on a 4 week trial basis at my school (independent). I will expect those students to complete every single question from every single exercise as we go through the textbook - this will probably take 8-10 hours outside of lesson time (normally I tell pupils to be a bit selective with the questions they answer, and to spend more like 5 hours a week outside of lessons.)

If he knows what textbooks they will be using (probably just the book that goes with their exam board) then it makes a huge difference if he can try and keep himself a week AHEAD of the class. That way he's ready with questions, and he can engage more actively in the lesson, and he can focus on the harder problems whilst he's in the room with the teacher (rather than pootling through the easy Qs in class and then being left to struggle with the tricky ones by himself at home).

But crucially, they will have to do well in early tests. It's not kind to let a student plug away for two whole years if they're unlikely to pass.

The trial is also for him to see if he can cope with that level of work.

He might find it too difficult

If not then he'll be fine

He needs to start now with getting some work completed for maths and his sciences. Those first few weeks at sixth form will be quite a slog for him to prove himself but as I said above this comes down to attitude and determination. Sometimes exams just don't go your way and don't let it define him. It isn't a no from college which it could have been. Prove that he can handle the work.

I have said this before but they have free periods in school so use them, no chatting, get the work done they have just been set and they usually have a period at the end of the day when the teachers are available, or they are in my son's college meaning any questions about the work they have just tried to do they can get help for. Mine did 4 A levels and still had 4-5 hours of frees every week. Plus they have lots of hours after college every day plus weekends and they can choose to spend some of it working, including how they spend between now and college starting up. Best of luck to him.