Year 11 - 2024/2025: The Results Day Thread

[QueenMabby]

New thread for results day. Deep breaths. We can do this!

Hoping to hear some good news on Tuesday. Fingers crossed for others waiting. DS’s history grade was strangely far from his predicted grade (6 instead of 8) so now he can’t take it for A level which he is furious about. He won’t entertain switching to chemistry as he doest’t really like it. He got 8 in it, which he was pleased about but says he’s done with it. We have geography under consideration but he’s quite despondent about having to change

Why have they presented the data as cumulative? How is that helpful??? @QueenMabby

What are the other subjects he's chosen? I'm assuming (unless very competitive state school with high admission, or grammar etc) that he only needs a 6 or a 7. I would say not to do the subject if he didn't get that (I think you can access an A-level at 6 (except for the sciences and maths, as the content is a build on of the GCSEs and so it would take a lot of revisiting of GCSE content first to make sure its properly grasped) but for the humanities it's more about skills and nuance, analysis, reading, interpreting etc - the topics aren't necessarily linked at all. Most schools do very different A-level topics than GCSEs (teachers wants variety as do students) so that's not a problem.

I'd be concerned with a 4/5 though because them the basic skills of GCSE aren't being met, and it's harder to just jump into C/B+ A-level skills otherwise. However, if its very unexpected, without extenuating circumstances, and in mocks etc they've got higher grades then it could be excused (in the situation a review doesn't change the grade). What are the history topics for his specification and school?

That TikTok chart for the Maths has just sent me on a spiral - fortunately DS isn’t here … DS basically got at least 1 grade down from all his predictions . I don’t think he realises yet that that is going to close some doors . Oxbridge ( which I thought was unrealistic anyway ) or commuting into a London University or being near relatives in Warwick or the West Country . I know that there are many here having a much harder time - but I have no idea how I am going to address this - certainly not yet

@waitingquietly I hear you. DD at a non-selective comprehensive got six grade 9s and four grade 8s. But two of the subjects she has chosen for A Level subjects this September were those she achieved a grade 8.

People say it's all about the A Levels but of course she'll be competing with those who bagged 9s at GCSEs. And, of course, very well done to them.

@TheLivelyViper Thanks for your detailed reply. So kind of you. He’s chosen maths, further maths and economics. He’s good with numbers (9 in maths) but less proficient in essay writing. His school follow the Edexcel syllabus - modules include China between 1949 and 1976, Russia from 1917 to 1991 and British Empire 1763 and 1914.

That's a pretty good and broad range of topics, plus Edexcel have 3 which means it's less stressful per question. This is compared to AQA in which both 2 papers are 40%, there's 1 30 marker (paper 1 - historical interpretations and paper 2 - sources) which if you fuck up basically ruins your whole paper and then has a much bigger impact on your overall grade. However with 3 (one 40% and I'm pretty sure the other 25% and one 15%) you have more room to mess up and also less weighting on each speicifc question.

I think the China topics is likely the 15% one and then Britian is his 40% breath study. I'd say at least start it and then I'm the first few weeks if it's not going well, not clicking etc he can switch to an EPQ or a different subject.

The difference between an 8 or 9 is often negligible and definitely doesn’t mean that someone with an 9 will get a higher grade at A level than someone with an 8. DC has just done better at A level than some of their friends who did better at GCSE. The teachers said to forget what you got and start afresh…

@TheyNotLikeUs …DS is unfortunately Grammar - over 40% of the kids got all 9-7 - again a statistic he doesn’t know , I wasn’t expecting anything less than a 6 even in the dreaded Spanish which is a 4 . I’m sure though your DC still stands a very good chance with those grade … and there is always the chance of applying with grades in hand after A level results … DS though is Maths centric

Again, I thank you. DS is 3 marks from the boundary so we’ll see if the review goes in his favour. His school will not let him take it unless he gets a 7. Sigh!

Well done to your DC 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

@aliveandkickingjust thank you, I need to find the stats with the correlation between GCSE and A Level results unless anyone had it to hand?

Also have Edexcel published the % grades achieved this year as I can't see it.

Found it

https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/Images/674348-progression-from-gcse-to-a-level-2018-2020.pdf

Not that I am aware of. My dd was one point away from 4/3 and I was wondering if that meant she had passed one of the sciences but apparently they combine to form a 4- from what I've since read. Happy to stand corrected.

Hi again, yes we’ve chatted about it….. not heard anything yet. I guess the Bsnk Holiday is screwing things up for a lot of us! Assuming you’ve not heard? 🤷‍♀️🤞

Hi Sisu, I haven't done anything about it yet that's what you meant. Will go through everything Monday and contact the school on Tuesday. She's got on to her L3 BTEC anyway but I still want to make sure she has the best marks possible.

Excellent, good luck with that. We are in exactly the same position, one point off and DS, too, on his BTec Level 3 for now, .. and, yes I absolutely agree would love to get him that extra point and an extra GCSE 🤞🙏🤞…

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/5345830-new-data-2021-2023-progression-from-gcse-to-a-level
Newer progression link. 2020 and 2021 were TAG/CAGs so higher GCSE grading.

They can definitively get better grades at A level compared to gcse. They are concentrating on just a few subjects. Ds2 was given a 7 for gcse history in 2020 he didn’t actually sit the GCSEs. He got an A at A level as is now doing a history degree hoping for a 1st. For business he got 8 at GCSE’s and A* for A level. That sort of shows they can improve but as he didn’t actually take the GCSEs it’s not a fair comparison. Ds1 was A in gcse biology. A in A level biology then he went onto university to study Biological sciences. So he stayed the same. Their other A levels were new subjects not taken at gcse.

This is actually quite encouraging - mostly likely outcome with an 8 is A* or A in DS subjects if I’ve read it correctly … so perhaps time for me to chill and let DS do his thing …. I’ve always said that he would do better once the subjects that he’s rubbish at don’t take up his time 🤞.,,

Sigh. Covid affects the progression results. So 2018 to 2020 will suggest pupils will do better than normal (because 2020 A levels are TAG) whereas 2021 to 2023 will do worse than normal (because 2021 GCSEs were TAG). The reality for the current cohort will be somewhere inbetween and there will always be individuals who buck the trend.

@JaninaDuszejko actually your right …probably need 2023-2025 figures and by the time they come out our kids will be at uni 😂

@TheyNotLikeUs thanks for sharing this. I’ve never seen it before and very interesting. It helps understand what the grade ‘curve’ must be like for each subject too and how they must vary quite a bit.

I think it's fairly common sense that kids who did very well at GCSE will have a higher chance of doing well at A level but that's been true forever. I think there's such variation in how kids respond at secondary vs sixth form that while interesting from a cohort perspective it's impossible to make predictions for individual. Just make sure they know every hour in the classroom has to be matched by at least an hour out of the classroom.

@JaninaDuszejko thats useful advice thank you

if those charts are a bit off due to Covid it just gives me an idea - I need to help him find engineering / economics/ who knows he has no real idea degrees with maybe BBB requirements… which is odd as that’s what I got and he is way cleverer than me .

Also BBB secured me a red brick law degree and a career to follow - I feel a bit sad for them - I’m not sure I’d be able to follow the same path today - and my friends who
are dentist and surgeons say the same about their own grades and resulting careers