English mock result

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DS did his mocks end of Nov and had his results back a couple of days ago. His English lit was a 4, language 5. But all his assessments so far from beginning of year 10 has been a 7 or 8 for English lit and a level lower for language. English lit in particular has been easy for him so far and to get a 4 has been a shock. He doesn't understand this result as he thought he did well as he could have. He's usually pretty good at knowing when he's not done well in an exam and the other subject results tally with his perception of how he did.

I've emailed his English teacher but had no reply but it was last day of term. Obviously we'll follow it up in Jan and hopefully get feedback. But has anybody else had this happen to their DC?

My son got 3's in both English lit and lang in November mocks, but ended up with 6 in both in the real thing. I did get him a tutor which helped with the creative writing element in particular, but ds says also at the end of the course the class did a lot of specific technique practice which really helped.

What feedback did he get from his teacher?

I imagine given these are mocks there will be accompanying written reports and parental consultation opportunities? Emailing on the last day of term seems unnecessary.

What format did the assessments take? Were they GCSE type questions, or were they, for example, more short tests to check understanding?

I think it's possible to know the subject matter well, but not understand how to answer GCSE questions in a way that gets you marks. The good news is that this can be worked on as it's just a question of exam technique.

It might also be a case that assessments tend to focus on one topic at a time and he's struggled to retain the breadth of what he needed to?

The mock exam for English lit was focused on two set texts. Both of which have been assessed in the form of essay questions. They did more essay questions, extract evaluation in preparation which were graded 1 or 2 marks off an 8. He's always been good at evaluation and exam questions, as he genuinely likes and enjoys the set texts. So to get a 4 is really weird!
Can't speak to the teacher till next term as results were only given day before end of term!