Year 11 - 2024/2025: Half way, half baked, half term!

[QueenMabby]

Continuation of the year 11 support thread. Go!

As soon as it became clear that he hated business studies we told him that we’d have his back in whatever grade he got as long as he did his best. We told him to just stick it out and to put the extra effort into the subjects that he would take for A level (maths/science) and the subjects he finds tougher that someone might actually ask about one day (English). The school tried to tell us that if he had his eyes on a ‘particular type of university’ then he really did need to pull his business studies grade up because they wouldn’t look twice at him if he didn’t have all 8/9s. No idea if that is true - I suppose we’ll find out in time. DS’s response was ‘well, if a university is that bothered about what I got for GCSE business studies when I’ve done alright in everything else then I’m not sure it’s the place for me’. I couldn’t really argue with that and the teachers just nodded and said ‘well keep an eye on your progress’ 🤪

I’m glad they narrow down subjects at 13/14 and would prefer it was sooner for my ND son. Some schools near us used to get them to choose their GCSE options at the end of year 8 and they’d start on GCSE content from year 9 - that would have been so good for him (currently in yr8). But instead he is subjected to another year of torture in performing arts, DT, art and RS. I have got a flexi schooling agreement in place for him where he only goes in 4 days a week and spends one day at home, when the day is mostly these non-core subjects that he struggles with. I don’t mind the principle of a broad education, but it just doesn’t work for my son and causes him to become dysregulated, which then prevents him accessing learning in subsequent lessons.

His school do allow history and geography which is great because he wants to study both for GCSE - his geography teacher was saying they don’t recommend it because both topics are content heavy, but if you enjoy the subject, as he does, and already have a huge knowledge base, then why not - study what you enjoy I say, you are more likely to do well if it is a subject you love.

Oh, thank you! 🙏What a fabulous happy story to end a rainy day, in which DS will have to start back at it in the morning after his time to decompress after Friday!

Your DS sounds adorable! Oh, the terror he ( and you🫣) must have been in, being absolutely certain it had all gone so terribly wrong 🫣, especially when he’d worked hard with his tutor and had really tried. I guess the nerves got the better of him, on the day, and when he thought it was game over…… it’s hard to see beyond that, isn’t it?
So, how absolutely amazing when you both got the news that he had got a grade 4! And, had got into the position of being able to proceed as he had dreamt of 🤩...

That is truly excellent to hear and I’m so grateful you shared that. Your DS’s story can help so many of us who are in this weird Year 11 limbo! 🙏🙏🙏 Please say well
done to him. I hope he is really enjoying all that he went on to do. 😸. Really well done!

Your DD has got an astonishing result with 💯 in the coursework in her beloved subject, you must both be so proud! Her teachers obviously have fondness and respect for her, in order to talk to her about the non- coursework part of her subject, which is very thoughtful and kind. I’m not sure how the marks split between the coursework and non-CW? How does that work? The essay part may lower it, but could it be by do much to bring the grade down? That would be such a shame.

i wouldn’t worry about thinking of the subjects she chose.. hopefully they will indeed lead to passes, and she can always go ahead to study the other subjects she like in her free time, if she fancies it at some point 😸.

The BTec comparison sounds interesting? So, you did one, interesting when you have experience of both!

When does your DD have to undertake the written part of her beloved subject? I wish her all the best in that 🤞.

I felt so much for you and your son. My DS has been trying to drop Computer Science for the majority of the GCSE course. It dysregulates him too, and he’d much rather be concentrating on his Maths and English, rather than having a meltdown and ending up missing more important lessons be being in the quiet room to calm down. It is such a shame your DS is going to be subjected to another year of this situation. Are you school steadfast in him having to do these classes? The flexi school sounds like it works well, and it is very good news that he is able to study History AND Geography, as he clearly enjoys them both, and it would be such a shame to have to drop one “ because that’s the rule!”. Can his SEN do anything about helping to stop one of the distressing subjects? How are the school handling it? I felt so sorry he ( and you) are getting out through this unnecessarily.

Your DS sounds like a fab mini- you 😸! “ well, then I won’t want go there!” kind of vibe!! 😈😹..

I don’t know and am not sure that is the case re “ those particular universities ” in any event…. and, call me cynical, but I feel it’s far more likely it’s for their stat purposes!

Your DS sounds a clever character, with his head screwed on right, clearly taking after you, so he’s going to do well in the world… even if he “ doesn’t keep an eye on his business studies progress”…..🙀🙀🙀!!

I know! I’m astounded! Oh, don’t you yearn for the simpler times of…… dial up modems.., or whatever they were called!😈.. kidding! ….. just back to books, playing outside, no WiFi drama…🙄..

Well, you were right, teens can be tricky.. DS came and talked to me when he was ready… he showed me some of his friends comments on how they did and we laughed at memes going round of the evil paper and just look forward from here!

I hope all is going ok with yours.

The exam is 40% of the overall grade. I'm very proud of her for her course-work scores.

Unfortunately the written paper is going to be an issue. She is really very dyslexic (and ADHD). It's her very last paper so she's got another 3 weeks - but a lot of content heavy papers in the interim for other subjects.

In the big scheme of things, I'm more concerned with getting everything essential over the line and then she can go off and focus on what she really likes for the the rest of her life.

It was DD that has done the BTEC rather than me. She took Creative Media Production - I thought she'd enjoy the course, learn some very useful skill sets and organisation from it, and no proper exams was a big bonus.

I have been so impressed with it. There are 3 examined components - an essay that involves significant research, comparisons and analysis.

Creating an original media product (film, music video, computer games etc) to a brief, a portfolio around the concepts with research, Gant charts, planning logs and project review.

Finally another product to a detailed brief to be planned in exam conditions, researched over a few weeks and then produced and portfolio assembled under invigilation. She produced a four-page magazine spread so lots of articles, photos and full layout for a fictional charity.

She's on track for the top grade and I am pretty sure that what she has learned in those lessons is going to be things she will use almost every day in the future (it's loosely career aligned) and has been a fun and interesting course. I suspect her shaky knowledge of global development in Mumbai is going to be of little use beyond the end of the Geography paper!

For children who struggle with working memory, or who are never going to learn to spell in a million years (and who cares when you can have spell check for the rest of your life) they are a much better system. The standard needed for a high grade is tough.

What is more, pretty much all the universities will now accept BTECs instead of A levels. I'm always rather sad when people are snobby about them, or try and dissuade children from heading that direction. They're just different, not lesser.

100% agree here.

We were lucky that DD's school pick options in Y8 and start GCSEs in Y9. So managed to ditch a big load of things she hated early on.

We've also negotiated a bespoke timetable so she does more of the subjects she really likes. I am exceptionally grateful that her school have really been incredible in understanding and encouraging her.

I think the answer in many ways is to have more flexible routes that cater for different needs. Unfortunately that's only really sanctioned at places like the specialist music colleges.

My siblings were the sort that sobbed over giving up subjects, while I was merrily having bonfires of all the notes I never had to look at ever again! I could have told you what my A level choices were going to be at the age of about 7... and they were quite obscure subjects. My sister still hasn't finished deciding what she should have taken 30 years after the event! 😂

Thank you so much. He really was struggling on Friday, like quite a lot of them were….. He’s very good at not looking back in life, he doesn’t dwell on things, so now he has calmed down and had time to chill and “ decompress”, he’s been happy ( well, will tolerate!) my talking to him about Paper 2. He’s had the weekend “off” so he understands it’s back to it tomorrow and we are prioritising Eng.

It’s good your DD did well- her writings on the photo sounds really good! I can see the “ inital tranquility…… then the…….. where’s everyone…..??” . My DS only showed me the photo in Memes which were hilarious!!, and I have zero idea what he wrote about. I’m hoping he’ll mention at some point ( esp as the book arrived from Amazon today! The look on his face was priceless!! ( and no, I’m not brutal! I bought it for myself as I’ve never read it!)).

I saw you said that Olly cancelled!! GUTTING!!!! Is DD ok? Oooooh, that is SUCH bad timing, Olly! I’m sorry to hear that, and hope she had a great weekend with her other plans, nonetheless. 😸

@Sisublondie

Your DS's ability not to look back is a huge thing. You have obviously done an amazing job to instil that. It's such a handicap if you are constantly worrying about what is done and in the past.

Exams can be retaken, there are often work arounds and rule bending that can happen. Best to be positive.

Thanks! I’m sorry your son is hating Computer Science. I wish schools were more amenable to pupils dropping subjects they don’t need and which are preventing them from doing better in subjects that they do.

I think my son’s school will allow him to continue his flexischooling next year, so hopefully we can avoid as many of the subjects he hates as possible. His Head of Year suggested going down to half a day a week but I am going to push for the full day still. He will be full time from year 10 and her rationale was to ‘ease him back into full time’ but my rationale is to help him maintain his motivation and mental well-being so that he is in the best position going into year 10.

His SENCO is a bit rubbish and I deal more with his Head of Year who is really good. She moved his maths class at the start of year 8 so that he could have Mondays off and not miss any lessons, she really tried hard to accommodate the day off without missing core lessons, I was really impressed. She has tried to insist on him attending dance lessons though which trigger loads of sensory issues for him (loud music, bare feet etc). I managed to get him into the inclusion centre for most of them, but I couldn’t understand why it was such a struggle. He is doing so well in core subjects and the ones he hopes to do for GCSE (German and Computer Science as well as geography and history). We had parents evening last week and his history teacher began with ‘your son is blooming fantastic!’ - and this is the teacher who put him in isolation during the first term of year 7! To be fair to her, she didn’t know about his AuDHD diagnosis (she wasn’t his teacher then) and has not let that issue in year 7 stop her seeing his good qualities.

I truly believe that restricting the classes he has to go to and allowing him to only come in 4 days a week is what has enabled him to thrive in these other subjects - I just wish school were more convinced and that other schools would be as accommodating to their SEN pupils too.

Wow, your daughter’s school sounds fantastic! I thought my son’s school was pretty good, despite the issues and struggles we have had, on the whole I think they have been much more supportive and accommodating than many would be. We’ve got a new Head come September so just hoping things don’t change too much. The school is one that doesn’t have the greatest reputations locally, much lower exam results than the other secondarys nearby, but I think that allows them to be more focussed on pupil wellbeing.

Bonfire of old notes is very cathartic! My year 11 daughter would be doing this but my younger daughter is planning on doing the same options so all the notes are being filed away ready for her!

I was the last year yo do O Levels too. It made sense for 1 to be the top grade at CSE but the fact that 9 is for GCSE makes me think that in a few years they'll be adding grades 10 and 11, and the current 9 will feel devalued.

Re: history and geography - my older dd did both. Got 8s at gcse and As at A level but they are both incredibly content heavy at gcse and there is lots of essay writing at A level.
She regrets doing geography A level - it's very different to gcse, with more maths, and had an nea, which she found annoying.
I think dd will enjoy her post 16 choices...Just got to get her there! 😊

@OhCrumbsWhereNow
Dd got a 9 in drama for her performance and coursework
But the paper will bring it down - it's a really tough paper and you need to use lots of terminology and theory and she's not sure she used enough of either.
It's a shame.
She has also got a raw grade of 9 for art - but this could be externally moderated down.
She got an 8 for her media coursework but, again, the papers will bring that down.
Physics and chemistry are not a priority at casa whooo 😊
Dd ended up taking geography because it allowed her to do the other options she wanted.

My understanding is that if moderators make an adjustment, it is for all candidates, not just the sample moderated, as that would be unfair.

Is it therefore unlikely that moderators make adjustments? Can someone in the know give their experience?

My mum worked as a moderator.

It's not possible for one person to do all the marking for all the candidates taking one gcse. When marking there is some discretion and judgement involved so the overall grades awarding by one examiner may be slightly harsher than another. The moderators look at the marking done by each person doing the original marking and work out who is being harshest and who is being most lenient, and then slight adjustments are added to marginally boost the marks awarded to those candidates who were marked most harshly, and mildly suppress the marks of those who were marked most leniently.

Adjustments are only made across the whole cohort if the overall grade profile demonstrates that the exam was significantly harder or easier than previous years, but that's a different process.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow your DD has done superbly to get 100% on coursework.

DD2 managed it on performance for both drama and music, but lost marks on composing and her devising log.

Composing very much not her bag, but she did work hard. Found she got a lot of competing advice from two different teachers which I'm not sure really helped.

I checked the 'notional' grade boundaries for her subjects for her board - for music performance ONLY full marks was a nine, which seems crazy (70% for the written paper). History (IGCSE ) also had very high expected marks for the coursework, far higher than for other papers.

I think she's hoping to pull it up on the written for music, but it is a really hard paper for music with lots of set texts and she hasn't even looked at it yet - it's her last one. Drama she finds relatively ok, because the written paper is basically just english literature which is very much her thing.

Hope everyone is managing some kind of half term break. We've gone away - but only to my mother-in-laws. Its revision boot camp here, and I'm working.

@Sisublondie, DS is also having a relaxed half term, seeing friends here and there but otherwise just at home with some revision/tutoring.

It was a private diagnosis — his ADHD is the inattentive type and he had learned to mask a lot so ADHD/ASD symptoms weren’t very obvious. Looking back of course it was all there: emotional dysregulation, sensory issues, etc.

It’s great your DS was diagnosed early and had the support through school. As the focus since the start of 2025 has been revision, DS didn’t receive specific support from his school (small private school, ~15 per form, two forms for Y11) and has anyway been on study leave since early May.

He did get 25% extra time on top of his existing GCSE access arrangements (use of a word processor, rest breaks and a prompter though he doesn’t use the latter as he doesn’t like having someone prompting him). Privately he has a weekly English tutor, talking therapy, and ADHD medication from January. They’re sort of helping, and he’s had use of a word processor from Y10, but the essay writing block seems to go quite deep.

AQA Drama is 60% practicals and 40% written exam, so his teacher reckons he’ll pass whatever happens with the written exam.

DS failed his AQA English Lang mocks twice in Y11 (in Nov 2024 and Feb 2025), so they weren’t the actual GCSE papers. Thank you, fingers crossed for the FS exams.

His Plan A is A-levels (Chemistry, Biology, Maths; Physics a possible fourth) at a high entry sixth form and Plan B is a lower entry sixth form. Thanks @TeenToTwenties for highlighting the various plans, and @Popfan that is such a reassuring story, so happy for your DS. A 4 is all we hope for in English Lang!

Thank you! Composition very much DD’s thing (what she’s doing next), and performance was easy for her as she was G8 at 12 in her main study. But even 100% across all 4 sections only gives them a 4 in the bag going into the written exam.

Her dyslexia affects notation as well as words so the written paper is really hard for her on two fronts. Combined with incredibly weak working memory, none of us are sure how that paper will go.

Also the case that GCSE is very prescriptive. She did a 12 marker before exams started and while everything she wrote was relevant and correct, none of it ticked the expected boxes so she scored 2. Teachers are helping as much as possible but you need such a high score in the written to get the top grades.

Well done to your DD on her music and drama scores. And that is very annoying on the conflicting advice. DD has been studying comp outside school for a few years but says the GCSE spec is awful - she won’t even let me see/hear her pieces as says she had to ruin them in order to shoehorn in all the things the exam board want to see and get the marks!

Good luck to your DD with both her written papers! Can’t decide if music last is good or bad. Has been sat on the back burner due to all the others for the last month.

I think music is a strange one. I get the impression that students only really take it if they’re already somewhat proficient in music, so you don’t get the same spread of scores that you might for the core subjects & the grade boundaries end up high as a result. DS got 59/60 for performance but did not enjoy composition. He’s done alright, but not great. I think a 9 is probably off the table as a result, unless he pulls a blinder in the exam. He’s pretty much ignored it because it’s last, which I don’t think will help either.

dd has three days off this half term to do lovely music things. Performance only for her - she doesn’t take music GCSE as she hates any kind of analysis of music - spoils all the pleasure of it for her she says!

She also seemed to take a lot of the weekend off too - her older brother is home from Uni for a few days so she spent some time with him.

I found momentum hard to keep up when ds took GCSEs back in 2022 and the same is happening now too. Less of a worry for dd than it was for ds but I’m hoping she gets back into the revision properly on Thursday.

Yes momentum has been lost a bit here too. But it’s so gruelling for them. DS had an hour of maths tuition yesterday where they did a past paper so at least he’s done that. He’s only just got up and has plans this afternoon so I can only hope we get back on track tomorrow.

I guess they do need a little break/rest and reset.

hi sorry if not in line with the purpose of this thread (just say and i will do a separate post) - just having read bits on plans post GCSE i think DS needs more sixth form college options - especially lower entry requirement ones. so trying to do some research.

DS wants to do DT (and Physics and History) - Plan A to stay at his current selective grammar which has higher entry requirements.

Plan B - selective grammar with slightly lower entry requirements - had only 2 students sit DT exam last year / year before and transports the students doing DT to its sister school for lessons where more popular - not ideal but he has had a conditional offer confirmed. and is a good Plan B.

but we have no Plan C - lower entry / non selective choice.

I can't for the life of me find where I can search geographically and subject based? Gov Uk? Ofsted? Where do you search for sixth form colleges on basis of subject? or do i just find a list of all sixth forms and work my way through?

thanks in advance and apologies if should be a separate post but the most knowledgeable audience is right here 🙂