Year 11 - 2024/2025 - In the thick of it!

[QueenMabby]

New thread. Sorry. Forgot to start it - I hope everyone finds this!

Thank you! 💐

Oops! It's destiel00 here...

So..
Biology will be starting soon..
😬

Yay! Someone’s found it. I was out this morning and didn’t think to check. Just about to take dd to Biology. Good luck everyone!

Eek! My child’s school were doing a double science session this morning ready for the exam this afternoon.

Their school hasn’t done any study leave and are cramming in revision sessions from 8am, various times throughout the day and after school all focused on whatever exams are in that next 24 hour period which I’m most grateful for.

🍀

I think dd did have a science lesson though morning as timetabled

Checking in!

RE & Biology today for my DS. Lots of sighing last night. No insight into how English lit went - I’ve got more info from
this thread. Maths on Thursday will be the biggie as he wants to do maths/further maths at a-level.
Anyone hear how RE was this morning?

My DS has to be in school all through exams and has been in pretty much every Saturday morning since September and a few days over half terms. School said in yr 10 that we shouldn’t take any holidays until this summer in yr 11 so we’ve had none as my DS took it to heart!

DD thought RS was okay, but Islam harder than Christianity. Still in school
for biology so I haven’t had much feedback.
She’s already on study leave although they are having an extra maths session tomorrow.

@Twillywoowooo DS school didn't tell us that about holidays, but with two lots of mocks we kind of decided not to anyway. I've found that very hard! Can't wait to go away in July 😀

Yes, dd has to be in, too.
I wouldn't mind her at home on the days she doesn't have exams tbh but i think she wants to be with her friends

My DC said that the English Lit exam was much easier than the historical papers used for revision.

My son said the same.
He has English lesson after the exam, no study leave at his school. The English teacher said it was the best paper she had seen for years.
Biology this afternoon. A text after exam saying it was great..... I'll hold judgement until August!

Does this mean they’ll be giving out loads of 9s in English Lit this year, or do they weight it on a curve and take into account that it was an easier paper?

@ThatsCute - I think it’s graded on a bell curve. The easier the paper, the higher the grade boundaries!

I’m not sure it was easy for all texts, but R&J and ACC were straightforward. I doubt the grade boundaries will change. People say this every year but they don’t change much.

They decide grade boundaries after papers are marked. Higher the marls higher the grade boundaries.
I don't want my DS getting into thinking they will all be like this, as they are only ok if you know the answers.
He said one lad in his class didn't answer anything in yesterdays English paper.

yes this is true but they really don't vary that much. Taking AQA Eng lit as an example, and excluding 2022 as it was a year made odd by Covid allowances, the mark for a grade 9 has been 135, 137 and 141 out of 160 over the years since the new spec came in in 2017. So a variance of 6 marks max over two papers.

Yes, my secondary science teacher DH says the grade boundaries hardly vary through the years.

Still haven't heard about the Biology paper from DS. He was very nervous going into school this afternoon, hope he held it together.

My DC is very happy after the biology exam this afternoon. They think it went really well and it covered alot that was fresh in their mind.

There is no exam tomorrow for them so it will be a good opportunity to take a breather and get prepared for maths on Thursday.

Dd said there were one or two who wrote nothing yesterday for English lit :(
I invigilated for a couple of years when the "new" gcses first came in and there were pupils who slept through every exam.
I didn't understand at all - why even turn up?? But then the exams officer explained that the parents/carers have to pay for any exams missed that the pupil was registered for (unless due to illness) 🤷‍♀️
That adds up for 9 exams, some with 3 papers!

Hello all. Just saw dd2 after biology- she’s pretty happy. Had revised the six marker last night really thoroughly so that was lucky! Eng lit and lang tomorrow - but she’s chilled about those- the lit is only a 45 minute paper!

In a way I am not surprised that some students write nothing for Eng lit. Of all the GCSE exams, this is the one that is most inaccessible for a small but important cohort. A number of students are completely daunted by the sight of a chunk of Shakespeare and a request to analyse it. My DS was one of them. I really think there is a place for a F tier for Eng lit where (maybe) there is the chance to look at a smaller passage of the Shakespeare text and suggest what is meant by this or that word; or cloze exercises to fill in, that kind of thing. Anyway. Hoping this is none of your DC.

DS v happy with bio, everyone seems to be, so of course we don’t know boundaries. Bit meh about lit, but ok. Pressure on for maths on Thursday and next week is v tough for him