Very bad exam results

[Weezypopsy]

My daughter is in year ten. Doesn’t like school but typically gets good reports. top sets for most things, predicted grades mostly 7 and 8s. Most teachers who have her speak really highly of her. She has a tendency to be outspoken at perceived injustices but she’s often right. The school is a very large comprehensive with a prison-like mentality to discipline.

she’s just sat her end of year exams and gor mostly 3s and 4s, plus a UU for science!

I’m now feeling equally worried for her, astonished at the discrepancy, baffled the school haven’t raised any problems, frustrated at everyone involved and guilty that we should have done more.

We have talked about doing more at home with us to help her get into better working routines, fill any gaps etc but with the summer holidays about to land it feels like the worst timing. I think I’ll let her have this weekend then have a chat about stepping things up a bit, but really she is quite distant about it all.

any tips from others who have been in this situation?

The first question is, did she bother to revise? Presumably not?

So for summer holidays get her to make revision notes (cards, mind maps, whatever) for everything she has done in y10. She should have done this for anything that was going to be in the exams already ...

If she hasn't got the revision guides for science, history, etc then get them. They are very good.

Uu for science is probably because she dropped below 33 or 43 whatever the minimum is now.

If she did revise then either it wasn't effective, or she doesn't know how to answer questions. Getting the papers back and seeing Why she list marks is important.

She will leave herself a mountain if she doesn't catch up something this summer.

What does she want to do post y11? What grades does she need for that?

If she is clever enough for 7s, and you don't think hidden SEN, then thus is very much redeemable imo.

Was going to say the same as TeentoTwenties on the UU. I doubt it was much lower than her 3s / 4s. As she’s top set she probably did their version of higher paper, a 43 is available if you just miss (like a couple of marks) a 44 but it isn’t a full 43 band. So basically getting a 3 like she has in other subjects would get her a UU.

It’s still low, but worth noting as you’ve called that out especially.

The first thing to understand is whether they did full papers including material they simply haven’t learned yet. Some schools do - they want to shock them a bit, and also to be clear this is what you would REALLY get right now - knuckle down! My Y10’s does that in maths.

Why is it the worst timing? Better now than Y11 mocks.

All my Y10’s friends are top 2 sets, and they’ve had lots of really low mock grades (2 with UUs in Science!) amongst them. I’d say it’s 80% they did f all revision, and 20% they’ve not developed effective revision skills yet as they’ve not really done many exams before.

When you say mostly 3/4 - sounds like she did better in some? Which were those?

I'm blasé about this. I have qualifications coming out my ears. But my parents had none. And they have more money than me 😂. It's whether a person has drive to make something of themselves that matters. And sometimes having nothing to lose means a willingness to take more risk and seek bigger rewards than being an office based wage slave waiting for a pat on the back and a promotion.

Is there a mentoring scheme for year 11?

She is obviously capable but perhaps has become slightly disillusioned at this point?

See if there's a teacher she connects more with or if not then her head of year and get a meeting booked for the start of September.

Hi OP, my kids are still young, but looking back at my siblings and my experience in school, there's really not a clear correlation between exam results and earning capacity - even less between exam results and a happy life...

E.g. my older sister - bright but unmotivated and at a very mediocre comprehensive where she was considered 'too clever to need any staff attention' - got A-level results which were something like grade C, F, U - having been predicted solid Bs all round. She missed out on all her Uni offers but got a place through clearing to do a 3 year degree in Fine Art and Primary Teaching, went straight into teaching on graduation which she loved, and has been abroad for the past decade earning mega-bucks as head of year in a private primary school in a tropical paradise...

I on the other hand - at the hothouse grammar school - got all As and A* at every exam, went to Cambridge, got a first, tried to be creative in London for 15 years earning a pittance, moved out to the countryside to afford a house big enough for kids, and have just career switched into tech in a slightly pitiful bid to salvage the family finances... I still earn very little compared to my sister (though at least the promotion path is there...)

It will be good for your DD to use these results as a chance to learn to revise, learn some exam skills and potentially improve her grades next year (private tutors might help with all of this if you can afford it) - but supporting her to find a vocation or career path that she enjoys and that offers her a good quality of life is much more important than exam results in the long-term, IMHO.

Wish you and your DD all the best.

I wholeheartedly agree with this, even though I totally understand your concerns as a parent. My eldest was top set throughout but has ended up taking a totally different path to his degree and is blissfully happy in work, middle child took a totally creative but precarious path and did just what was required all through school,and is doing just fine. My youngest failed every single GCSE, took a college place with a second chance to get maths/English at least. Did that, dropped out, worked in low paid hospitality jobs and now earns more than the rest of us. They find their own path, hang in there.

I'd say the difficulty comes later, when the kids that do well at school have to reconcile to the financial success of adult siblings who fared poorly in that environment - but become builders, or salon owners etc. I'm not saying the exams don't matter. I'm cautioning message to your DD that her self worth and potential be measured by performance in them. They are ways forward but not the only ones.

She sounds like my son! He's really bright, but in a way that doesn't always translate to exams and written work. he was predicted a mix of 7,6,5s and ended up with mainly 3,4,5 and one random 7.

he didn't revise enough and also didn't really know how to revise but he did what he did and now he has to get on and improve.

She needs to catch up over summer. do the revision that should have been done before the end of years. Probably 90 mins or so a day would do it. But make sure she understands HOW to revise and what methods work best for her and the subject. People talk about flashcards a LOT but they don't work for everyone.

try to create motivation to persevere, what does she want to do in life? are GCSEs required for it (probably yes!) so she does at least have to try and pas them all.

If she didn’t revise then the grades are understandable. I would start by asking her about this angle tbh. Hopefully she will admit not putting in the effort but aiming to do much better for her Y11 Christmas mocks.

One thing to ask her is how others did.

It's something I tend to check with mine because that gives an idea whether they performed badly, or it was an exam that tested them all and they've all got low grades.
Because if it's the latter it may well be that the teachers are quite happy that she's still on for 7s, but the exam was set to scare them all.

When ds comes home and says he got 25%. Then I ask how others have done, and he'll say something like: "Well A got 68% but no one else got above 30% and X only got 13% and sir said he was quite pleased with the results".

OP are you me?!

I literally could have written this post about my DD, even down to the U in science!

She did no revision at all so I'm not surprised but I was still shocked and we had a pretty stern chat about it all.

I'm looking for revision tips for her too.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the responses.

Her revision was minimal, for sure. We did get her some of the cards a while back but I think we will need to go over them with her.

That's interesting about the UU - yes, she was higher paper, so I guess that's encouraging, that maybe she doesn't need to get much more to get a reasonable grade.

She got a 5 for English, 4 for Maths and everything else was 2s or 3s, apart from science. For everything she is predicted 7s and 8s.

In terms of why I said it's the worst timing, it was more about it feeling like they've dropped this bomb with days to go and no opportunity to talk to the school about it. I've sent a note so hopefully we can pick up next year. It's just quite out of the blue - all reports so far have been fine, last one at the start of the year was mainly 5s, which felt right for the beginning of year 10. All parents' evenings are great, one of the brightest in the class, engaged, pleasure to teach etc. Then this.

The school haven't returned the papers - it feels like that would have been the obvious first step but she hasn't been given them in most of the classes.

Post year 11 she wants to go to sixth form college. Absolutely doesn't want to stay at her school. Thinking of a-levels and so far top choices are sociology, English, media. She's supposedly doing well in them but got poor results for 2 of the three subjects so who knows.

Thanks for the revision tips, I will share them - she's very touchy about it so it's tough subject to broach! And I know there are always other options, chances to resit etc. etc but it is part of a bigger picture of her, frankly, being failed by her school. Of course she is responsible for her own success too, as are we but it's an environment that shows very little respect for its pupils and it just makes me so sad to see this happening.

Whoops, name change error!