Mock GCSEs please explain it to me

[oreo2024]

My DS is doing his November mocks and just woken up to the fact that he will apply for 6th from in his school based on predicted grades. His focus is on Maths based A levels, and he's been quite good at maths, but now telling he did really badly in his mocks. Obviously predicted grades only come out in December, but how does it affect his application for the 6th form? Can he still apply if his predicted grades are below the math requirements but he is optimistic he can improve before the real GCSEs?

He can still apply.

Whether he gets into the college/school he wants to is a different question.

Yh a school as a rule and IME offer a conditional place - conditional on a student attaining the required grades.

Some sixth forms are very competitive and can be quite picky but mostly they will assess next August.

What grades does he need? What are his actual GCSE predictions? Sometimes doing less well in mocks is the impetus a student needs to do better.

My son improved so much from Nov mocks to the real exams. Conditional offers are made

Thanks! So if the gets say Maths 5 in his November mocks and applies say for Maths A levels which requires 7, would he get a conditional offer subject to him getting 7+ in the actual GCSEs?

It’s his predicted grades that count. If he’s been working at 7 all year but messed up his Mocks, he’ll probably still be predicted a 7 by his teacher. This is what they use. If he’s predicted a 5, I doubt he’ll be given a conditional offer.

School shouldn't let him do maths A level without a 7 or at least a surprising 6 (as in, unexpectedly low due to xyz reason).

But yes, I doubt he'll be rejected for sixth on the basis of his mocks.

Is it maths he's looking at? What is his PG?

Although 7 is the minimum unless he gets an 8 or 9 I'd think very carefully.

Someone posted on here a while ago a chart showing how maths gcse grades translate to likely A Level grades.

That would be usual if it's his own school and his teachers think he is genuinely capable of a 7.

If he's applying externally to a college or another school, it's very likely they'd look at a predicted grade 5, and try to steer him towards other subjects that he may show more aptitude for. A college wouldn't have to make him an offer if they felt he wasn't suited to those A-levels.

If the school is acting in his best interests, then they will be encouraging him to look at options other than maths A-level. Although two grades of improvement is not impossible, 7 is still a relatively low starting point for A-level maths. If that's his strength, that also suggests his other GCSEs are not that strong. He might pull things together and be okay for A-levels, but he should have a plan B in place in case not. He doesn't have to stay at his school - there may be more options at other schools or colleges.

I'd be quite shocked if anyone capable of doing Maths A levels only got a 5 in mocks unless they were ill or turned over two pages at once or similar.

I suspect he has done better than he realises.

Generally applications for sixth form which require you to put down the subjects applied for are for timetabling purposes so that the school has a rough idea whether they can, e.g. timetable Dance against Physics. If a load of people express an interest in Dance and Physics, they'd avoid blocking them together.

Lots of students change their minds about which subjects they are taking between now and even after they start the courses in September, they're not going to be held to what they put on their application form.

Entry to the sixth form would be based on meeting the general entry requirements (e.g. 5 GCSEs at grade 4+). Does he look like he'll be meeting those?

Does this not depend on each school/college?

I've been to both school and college A level evenings for my children and haven't even come away with the impression there was a standard approach. Is it different for different subjects? My impression (maybe wrongly) was that you apply and then you see what your actual results are, not all schools even do mocks in November

@oreo2024 is he at a state school? If so, they have to take him into the sixth form unless he doesn't meet their minimum grades with his actual results in August. They can't use grade predictions to refuse an offer because grade predictions are subjective.

(I know there are some state schools that do use grade predictions in their sixth form admissions policies but, if so, they are not compliant with the Admissions Code and are therefore very open to sucessful appeals).

To answer all the questions, DS is at a state school, acceptance to the sixth form is average score of 5 across the best 8 GCSEs. He is on track to achieve this. His predicted Maths was 6 at the end of Y10. Out of the three maths mock tests, he thinks he will get around 6 for the first one and 1 for the second one. The third maths test is next week. He wants to apply for economics A levels, for which 6 of Maths is required. He's just woken up to 'I should have done more revision' .

If he doesn't get a conditional offer, let me know, and I'll point you what you need to appeal it.

@semmowleena thank you so much.