Disappointing Y10 mock results

[stripycats]

DS has been working at grades 6-9 throughout the year, with some subjects never falling below 8/9, such as maths, chemistry and history. He got his most of his results back today and was so disappointed and I admit to being a bit disappointed too. It's made worse as he got some back last week and they were the best as it turns out, so today he got a glut of lower than expected grades.

He has 8s in maths and history (but only just. He had really pushed for a 9 in maths especially)
7 in biology (been stuck at a 6 all year and this was just off an 8, so he's pleased with this one but got it last week).
6s in physics, chemistry, German. Really disappointed in these, though German was apparently nearly a 7 but he was top of the class for ages but not anymore.
5 in English - gutted by this one. Not his best subject but he has never been below a 7 in it. I teach it and knew it was bad when he said he'd finished 20 mins before the end 🙄.
One option subject still to come but he's heard no one got higher than a 4...

He was sobbing - not seen him cry like that for years and years and it was horrible. To make it worse, his brother got all 9s and so he feels stupid compared to him.

I don't know how to approach this. He is bright but nowhere near as driven as his brother, which is fine by me, but I do think he can veer towards lazy. Up to now I have been fairly hands off and, while I ask about revision etc, I then trust what he tells me. To be fair, his grades throughout the year hadn't really given cause for concern, though there had been a few slips. I think I have been so busy not wanting to compare him to ds1 and not wanting to push that I have taken my eye off the ball and there might not have been as much revision as I thought, though he was adamant he had revised for everything.

Do I start being stricter with the phone and insisting revision is done downstairs? I'm a bit lost - with ds1 I had to tell him when to stop and not to push himself too much and now I'm afraid I've let ds2 down by not taking a different approach.

I think it depends what kind of kid he is as to whether you need to do anything now really. One of the main reasons behind the y10 mocks is to do exactly this, highlight that if you don’t put the work in, you don’t get the results out. If he is truly upset about these results then that will be motivation enough for him to really get his head down with revision so that next year his actual results will reflect that.

This could well be exam technique. he needs to get his paper back and study them carefully, and pinpoint where he is losing marks, and why, then use that information to prepare better next time - it sounds like he is a conscientious child, so will most likely be prepared to put the work in

Examples of ways I see kids lose thousands of marks - does he describe when asked to explain? Does he read every single part of 6 mark questions and answer all of it? Does he remember the units for all his calculations ? Is he careful and accurate in drawings and graphs? Does he answer in clear English? Does he reread his answers? I had a perfectly intelligent child tell me rabbits can photosynthesis in the mocks last week - and another calculate the size of a house front door to be 3cm high. They knows that is nonsense, but they didn't reread their papers to check for anything clearly wrong

That’s really hard ashe’s so disappointed but now is the time to address it. Take it from the perspective that he wants to do better and it’s not that he’s not bright - he’s getting high grades elsewhere so is capable, but needs different revision strategies.

perhaps let him know you’d like to help in mum mode and not teacher mode (as both teacher and daughter of teacher it’s hard to stay out of TM!) when he’s ready. Start from what he would like to achieve in his subjects, and why he felt he did well in some of them. Get him really ready to talk and think about what works for him.
agree the English sounds like exam technique - never finish early!! - and maybe that’s what’s happening; fine in small doses or short answer questions but full papers might not be. If he can bring home copies of his papers that would help to see if there’s topics or key skills he’s missing

important to make him feel this is supportive not critical; he was disappointed and you want him to not be disappointed on results day if he feels he can do better but you love him regardless

Our oldest's 'one year to go' Y10 exam were disappointing, mostly for them - also was doing well and with high predictions. DC was trying with the revision but they just hadn't got the hang of revising yet, that was all - they focused too much on some things (like English Lit) and neglected others (like maths).

English Language GCSE seems to me to be a very weird and specific exam that doesn't seem to have much to do with how well a child can write and lots of bright kids (including mine) are fighting to get above a 6 in it.

DC has just finished GCSEs and is expecting mostly 7s and 8s, with maybe one or 2 6s and 9s

If he ends up with those results he's done a lot better than most kids. I'd leave him to it, just cos his brother got all 9s doesn't mean you should expect him to.

He shouldn't compare himself to his brother, for a start. He sounds very over anxious to be sobbing about it, and that's not a good place to be. None of the grades you mention are bad, though 5 is rather out of range. Mocks should be a bit of a wake up call but not a cause for utter despair. I'd cheer him up in whatever way would work for him, make it clear my approval and love are not dependent on his grades and later help him think about what support he might need and how he's going to improve things next term / year.

My daughter had a similar experience and it was heartbreaking to watch her be so upset. We had also picked up a few friends for the mocks / presentation evening who had done well so she had to listen to how excited they were in the car on the way home as well.

Ultimately, she used it as motivation, adjusted her exam technique and got on with revision.

GCSE results were really good, turned a 3 in geography mock to an 8 in the final. Doing a levels and hasnt looked back. Maybe worth discussing revision techniques!

If you're a teacher then you'll know that earlier grades are finger in the air stuff, and Y10 exams are probably the first experience of 'bigger' assessments with slightly better grading.

What is he most upset about? Not doing as well as he thought he would (fine) or not doing as well as his brother (something that needs nipping in the bud).

If he's upset, then he cares, which means it would be good to reflect on what went well and what went badly in terms of his revision and then come up with a plan. Will he be doing any work over the summer? What will he do differently for mocks?

It's not the real thing and he has a year to go and he can improve if he puts the effort in, is the message he needs to be getting.

Omg - they have done so well at first stage of mocks. My son took no Year 10 mocks, did ok in 1st stage Yr 11 and stage 2 Yr 11. Our one sticking point will be Maths - atrocious level of attainment from Reception to Year 11 in a fee paying private school - we have had to fight for additional help from Year 7 onwards

Thanks everyone. I am absolutely not doing anything now other than reassuring him that it's absolutely not the end of world and he has done well and we can address it. He's on a school trip today for a week so I want him to leave on a high, and I think he will - we had a nice evening after he'd calmed down yesterday and he was singing as he packed.

But there is no denying that he has under-performed (unless previous marks have been inaccurate, but I know for a fact he can do better than a 5 in English). If those are the grades he ends up with it'll be fine with me, but if he doesn't fulfil his potential and can't do what he wanted to I don't want to be left thinking if only I had done this or that he could have done better, if that makes sense.

What is he most upset about? Not doing as well as he thought he would (fine) or not doing as well as his brother (something that needs nipping in the bud).

I know this but how on earth do I do it? I have tried to make sure he knows I don't expect the same as ds1 got, but then once he asked whether I don't think he's as clever as ds. I have always said that ds1 is obsessed with being top and that's great for him but not always a good thing for others, we all have different skills, he's his own person, I love him and am proud of him no matter what he does, but he still leapt to making the ds1 comparison when this happened.

I've not pushed him because I didn't want him to think I was trying to make him ds1, but has that now led to under-achievement? He also thinks teachers compare them and are disappointed he's not more like ds1, though I have tried to say they don't care and have enough to think about. I think he had it all through primary too: 'You're ds1's brother?? Oh...'

It doesn't help that ds1 is more of a pushy parent than I am! Ex is useless and ds1 takes an interest in ds2's school work, again. I'll be telling him the results while ds2 is away and warning him on pain of death not to be critical but if he can support with going through the science and maths papers that would be great - ds2 is missing all that in class due to this trip he's on.

Exam technique is everything.

Learning the meaning of describe, explain.

The best thing to do it print out a million past papers and the relating answers and examiners sheet.

Get him going on the past papers, my son made himself a timetable and 3 or so per week which I marked with the help of the answer and examiner sheet. It worked wonders. Give him the feedback and let him know where he's losing marks.

Most past papers are available on AQA, Edexcel etc website. Find out which exam board the school use so you select the right papers.

I am in a very similar situation OP. DD has some poor Y10 mock results. I think some of them are down to exam technique, e.g. time management meant on her first exam (RE) she missed a large section of the paper. She got a 6 but her teacher said she scored an 8 on the questions she actually answered. In her Math paper she didn't realise they had given them a sheet with formulas on so she did without this and got a 5, with it she may have got a 6 at least. Also not surprisingly she did better in the subjects she revised more in. I hope this is part of the reason for the mocks so she can learn for next time.

I also struggle with you in how much to push her as she is very conscientious (usually) and has anxiety so I spend a lot of time trying to calm her down and reducing the pressure. However I wonder if I have gone too far and need to offer more support. I've offered to buy revision guides and print off exam papers but she just says no. She wants to do this on her own.

French is shocking, she hates it and I think got a 3 in the mock but won't actually tell me (I get the results from school next week anyway).

I'm also not helped by her younger sister in Y8 who has a very good memory and chips in with "I got an 8 in my test". I too try not to compare.

Reading all of this with interest, rather than with any useful advice to give. I'd echo those who have said that those are pretty good grades for the end of Y10 though.

As for the not-comparing-to-his-brother, it sounds like you are doing the right things. We have a similar, if even more difficult, situation in our family.
DD1 is in Y13 and got straight 9s at GSCE and is predicted 4 A*s at A Level.
Year 10 DS is also a fairly lazy boy - doesn't like reading much and tends to put the minimum effort in to his homework. But he did actually make a revision timetable and stick to it for his Y10 mocks, which makes it worse that the results were a mixed-bag and a bit underwhelming. He has a twin sister, DD2, who did very little revision, and has come top of the year in most things (generally she works hard though). She will also be aiming for all 9s.
It's really difficult. He knows he's not going to get the stellar grades that his sisters' do, and we have to keep reiterating that it's not about other people, it's about doing the best you can/what you need to do for yourself. But it's hard.
School is in a continual state of flux and has real problems with teacher retention and isn't a lot of help. I think because he'll pass everything, he'll go under their radar. I don't really know how to help either, and I don't want to dent his confidence. A long-winded way of saying you have my sympathies.

How old is DS1 OP? Do you need to tell him DS2's results? I know you are hoping he will help his little brother to revise and improve his exam technique, but does he necessarily need to know what grades he achieved? I am wondering if that might take some of the pressure off DS2

Same here except my DD’s marks are lower. And she doesn’t care.

I think your son’s grades are not that bad and at least he cares. I’d use the summer to work on exam technique.

A lot of it will be down to the fact that mock exams test a whole range of things at once and are just more demanding than individual assessment pieces.

If, for example, he did only a reading section of one of the English exams earlier in the year and got enough marks for a grade 7, that doesn't mean he'll get it overall.

When maybe asked to do this plus turn over and complete his own writing (which he might be equally good at individually, or much poorer but this wasn't used for a data drop or reported home) in a time pressured situation, the average might easily drop.

I think those grades are fantastic. Both he and his brother should be very proud. There is absolutely nothing to be upset about. He's passed everything with flying colours (there's just the one to come that you don't know yet). Honestly, he has another year to work on stuff - he will be fine - more than fine - he's doing brilliantly!!! In comparison to the general population, he really truly is doing very well indeed.

You talk about not wanting to put him under pressure but to me you come across as very intense. It sounds like he works pretty hard by the standards of most yr 10s (just not extremely hard like his brother) and he's therefore getting pretty good results (just not stellar ones like his brother). Well maybe that is the best he can do? Not all of us are cut out to be super ambitious and you can't train his brother's work ethic and drive into him. So when you take approach that every drop in grade is a "slip", that he's not meeting his potential and you consider a punitive approach to these actually really good grades, he's going to pick up on that even if you haven't explicitly voiced it.

What if he is working as hard as he feels he can? He obviously cares about how well he does. But everyone around him is still saying he's not meeting his potential and he's a bit lazy? It would be hard not to feel you weren't good enough and were letting everyone down.

Anyway I could be wrong, maybe this is the kick up the backside he needs and he'll go on to better grades next year, but I also think you need to back off and focus on the positives here, you risk damaging his mental health if you push harder here.