Y 11 2023-2024 thread 3

[Techno56]

For when the other thread fills up tomorrow as we all discuss English lit 2 😁

I've just had an explanation for the Battle of little big horn. There's a song about it that's in my head now, and I can't get it out or remember the name. It goes ' running beearrr loves little [something] girl...'

DS is also aiming for a 9 and doing history of medicine. The other module is USA. He's doing an unusual (for SE England anyway) exam board - WJEC.

He is absolutely convinced he knows everything that may come up He does have an amazing capacity to learn dates and historical facts. Whenever I ask if he's prepared enough he tells me that he got 93% in his February mock and for me not to worry about it. But I do worry. I worry that arrogance and complacency will be his downfall. Oh well. We shall see. If he doesn't get a 9 his world will implode but perhaps it will do him some good in the long run. History is his first choice A Level subject and he needs a 7.

He's just going through his notes and then I will drive him to school. No study leave yet, although they have timetabled double history this morning, so he'll have more time to revise before the exam.

Good luck to all our young historians this afternoon!

@GlomOfNit and @Waspie we also have Medicine then the Normans. DS teacher actually warned us about him getting complacent. His first morning of study leave this morning and he's barely awake. I'm in the office today so hoping that he makes it to school on time!

DD is still asleep- taking advantage of an afternoon exam as she's not had many!

She's doing Elizabethan and Superpower Relations (cold war) today then USA next week. History is her favourite subject and an A level choice (although she did say yesterday she was rethinking that due to the volume of content to revise!) so also hoping today goes well for her. She needs a 7 to continue at her school. Her mocks have consistently been a 7 so hoping there's no wobble today

So many high grade predictions on this thread. The cumulative grade distribution for Edexcel History last year at 9-5 was:

9: 5.4%
8: 14.2%
7: 25.1%
6: 38.2%
5: 51.1%

I sometimes wonder whether the grading system moving to numbers has put more pressure on young people.

I was saying this to a friend. Much greater pressure with number grades! DDs targets were all 8s! She got 7 for 2 subjects in mocks the rest she did get 8s but in her report she got “requires improvement” for the 7s. Had to tell her (and school!) to remember that a 7 is equivalent of an A and would be an amazing grade anyway!!
Luckily we have DS who tells her that anything above a 7 is a waste of effort for a bit of balance!

I think it does. A 9 is an A** . It does seem sometimes like everyone's kids on MN is predicted a 9 though, so maybe people who's kids are aiming for 6/7 ( which is still B's and A's ) feel they are are underachieving even though they are grades people would be ecstatic about in the old days. DS loves history and its an a level choice l. He's predicted a 7, which probably, with English and Spanish will be his highest grade as he's predicted 5s and 6's in everything else. Well be thrilled if he gets these as he couldn't have worked much harder.

Another worried history parent checking in. DD didn't sleep well which didn't help. She has Health & Medicine and USSR today. Is anybody else doing Eduqas for history?

That’s super interesting, it does feel like that 5.4% makes up 90% of this thread!

I'm a bit of a statistics geek so I love reading the examiner reports and grade boundary stats DD doesn't want to know.

Are those figures right? Adds up to more than 100? Or maybe I’m reading them wrongly. Edited- does it mean 25% 7+?

Ds has geography tomorrow and sounds similar to some of the history dc. It’s always been his best subject and he is doing it for a level but I do think he’s been too relaxed with his revision. It’s his biggest chance of getting a 9.

I also love looking at the statistics and needed the reminder that Mumsnet does have a lot of high achievers. The school ones are also interesting - they got about 20 9s last year for example in maths and we try to work out in this year who those 20 would be!

Imo 9s are pointless except for boasting rights. A lot of unnecessary pressure.

@newmum1976 they are cumulative.

So 5% got a grade 9, 14% a grade 8 or 9 etc..

I think the A/A* was a much better way to classify. My DD was super academic and getting an 8 in Latin felt like the end of the world to her because all her friends got 9 - she missed a 9 by 1% - she was only 13 at the time too as the school made them sit languages in Year 9! She is now at Oxford and will tell you lots of kids get interviews on mostly 7s. You do not need a string of only 9s to get to the best unis/courses in the UK. They do understand kids get into their own at A level and BTW most courses at Oxford 'only' want 3 As at A level.

DS on a different path but can be quite complacent nonetheless. He got a 5 last year (early GCSEs again) which he didn't see coming. Hoping for 7s and a couple of 8s but he is inconsistent and we could get surprises both ways on 22 August. He found edexcel higher maths hard yesterday (harder than paper 1) and so did his grade-9-all-year friends... He needs a 7 as wants to take it at A level...Fingers crossed!

Good luck to all the kids doing History and other exams today!

Our history topics today are China (20th century) and the Vietnam war.

I'd agree with this. I was the first GCSE year when a* were introduced. You were delighted to get an a or a B, anything c and over was a pass. The pointless addition of the 9 means an A is seen as a bad mark almost. I say this as a parent to a child that got 9s in her GCSEs. It piled a huge amount of pressure on her and I had to remind her that a 7, her lowest mark was an amazing result. Her sister is clever but struggles with exams, so we are looking at 5's and 6's, all good solid passes but they don't seem like.much when you put them in numbers. The 9 was a ridiculous and pointless addition.

And don't get me started on the fact that it is mainly all exam now. Coursework has gone from the majority of the GCSEs and I think that's unfair. It's not a true test of someone's knowledge.

DC is putting a lot of pressure on themselves for a 9 in History (not from us at all). I think maybe because they are worried about bloody English Language threatening to derail their preferred 6th form option because they need a high EL mark for an essay subject (which is ridiculous given that the exam really does not examine how well kids write naturally, in fact it kind of penalises kids who have a natural 'voice'), so if they get a 9 they are hoping it can override their EL mark.

Totally agree. The big fanfare with GCSE (I’m so old I was the second cohort) was that there was more emphasis on coursework than O Level. Well that aged well.

On another note, anyone got any great revision sources for Rio case studies for AQA geography? Any good you tube videos for example?

I'm so old I was O levels 😂

I agree with this too. It was supposed to even out the the O Level/CSE imbalance and a large proportion was to be course work/tutor assessed. I was deliriously happy with the three B grades I got!

My son is stupidly competitive with his school friends and the competition is for top grades - with his friends these are in maths and for DS it's History.

Yippee finally into single digits after Spanish today.
DS has early starts all this week as got morning exams every day except Friday which will be full on due to two revision sessions and an exam.

Me too! (O-levels)

Any feedback on Spanish? I won't hear as DS has history at 1.