Y11 2025/26… come and join

[wonderstuff]

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We have accepted 2 offers, we are between 2 colleges and it means ds can do taster sessions at both. DD now in Y13 only applied for one because she was confident that was were she wanted to be.

Got DSs Feb mocks back. All 7s and 6s with odd 5 and a 4 for English Language which is also what he got in November mocks and also what we discussed with the school he needs help with despite them only inviting him to extra science sessions which are what all his 7s are in!

Already have a meeting booked to discuss on Wednesday but I feel we are reaching too little too late territory. He needs the 5 in English Language for his T evel course.

It’s definitely not too late @Littletreefrog. Can you work on his high mark answers with him and he can go into the real exam with pre learned high scoring phrases for his story etc. mr salles most excellent for English language tips

@Littletreefrog I’m a secondary English teacher. It’s definitely not too late! Make sure your DS understands he can and must revise for Lang - lots of kids think since there’s no knowledge to learn, they can’t revise. They can - but it means practising questions from past papers and (this bit is crucial) taking their work to their teachers for feedback. I’d be asking his teacher for specific info too: which questions are his weakness and how specifically should he improve his answers? Which order should he do the questions in? How far off a 5 was he in mock and where could he make up those marks? The Exam Whisperer on Insta is great, and I believe does paid-for online sessions.

Jumping on to second Mr Salles - my older son turned a 5 into a 7 in language with the add of YouTube .. the literature was only 2 marks off 6 -

DS2 is using save my exams to help with his IGCSE literature

Thank you all for the encouraging words. DS says he doesn't need help and it will be fine but I've sent him some links to Mr Salles videos which seem helpful and we will discuss at our meeting on Wednesday what needs to be done. Literally just this one subject causing us concern but of course it's one of the non negotiables.

@Littletreefrog same for DD but with maths. A pass not guaranteed but obviously needed. Stressful, isn’t it? 💐

English Language also a concern here. All College applications DS1 has applied for need an C (even the back up to the back up level 2 course). Really not sure what the plan is if he doesn’t manage it :(. Does retaking 1 GCSE count as still in education?

Absolutely no chance he would memorise phrases to fit in answers - currently attempting to get him to re read his work for sense/punctuation and edit before moving on (so far unsuccessfully).

So so stressed about it atm (not at all helped by a leak in a shower making water come through the ceiling yesterday). DS1 both stressed and not wanting to do any work (as he claims he’s too stressed to). Argh.

I'm surprised a Level 2 course requires a C for Eng Lang and not just a D/3.
You can't 'just' for 1 GCSE resit, it won't count as full time.
So you'd do a Level 1 course = resit, or a different Level 2 course that does allow a resit.

All the level 2 courses I looked at 3 years ago for my other son wanted 4s. But they did allow you to resit English and Maths alongside starting the course.

Dd is on a revision course this week. It’s hardcore - 6 hours of lessons a day. She’s done two days of maths and tomorrow starts two days of chemistry. Expensive but she’s come out saying it’s been really useful so far.

Allowing resit alongside means they don't "require" the pass to get onto the course.

Tears here tonight. It’s been coming a while and of course I am the bad one. Mocks back and all passes but maths remains a 4 as per the last mocks. Do Unis require a 5 in gcse maths?

Not sure about universities but there is still time to swap to the foundation paper if they haven’t already x

Sorry things are stressful @Ursulla42

The short answer to your question is no - it very much depends on the course DC wants to study. So whilst a 4 in GCSE maths won’t be enough for some (especially STEM courses) it will be absolutely fine for many many others.

Have linked the UCAS ‘course search’ page - every course will have an ‘entry requirements’ section that you can check. My eldest did a criminology degree for example and for that you only need a 4 in GCSE maths at many unis.

www.ucas.com/explore/search/courses-beta?query=

It may be slightly different in Wales? They only want a D in maths for it, so you could retake that alongside but not apparently English :(. Crossing my fingers he can pull off a C somehow otherwise we may have to make speedy decisions in August.

Sorry it’s also really stressful your end @Ursulla42 - only recommendation from DS1 is little and often with maths is far better than less frequently. Also find the topics they are ok at (not always the “easiest” ones near the start of the paper) and do those first (before they have got themselves panicked/stressed by the rest of the paper…).

DS is on a revision course this week too. Geography in the morning and maths in the afternoon. He's scathing of the whole thing and wants to know who Justin Craig is so he can call him a scam artist! He's mostly furious that I'm making him revise rather than doss his way through the holidays and has mellowed somewhat from calling me "controlling" when I booked it on Friday. Oh well, he'll thanks me later. He did a maths calculator paper in his head yesterday because he'd forgotten to take a calculator - I marked it and he got a 9. He can do it, he's just being a PITA.

I have one dossing about - it’s so frustrating . He was ill last week and has just lost the momentum and self confidence think . Done about 2 hours all week . I’ve suggested he do 2 subjects today same as would have been expected of him on a school day . Hoping I can break the cycle .

Last day of revision course today then dd will crack on independently from tomorrow. Over the years she’s tried various structures: an hour of multiple subjects a day, half a day of a subject but has settled on a whole day per subject on rotation. She’s timetabled herself alongside her normal school day in terms of breaks etc.

DS has also made himself a timetable based on the school day - it’s sticking to it that is the problem! So much of the time he just drifts and faffs and it drives me nuts. I’m lucky in that I’m around in the holidays as I work in a school so I can chivvy him along but it’s painful.

I try to confiscate his phone but he likes to listen to music whilst revising so that’s a battle too.

He’s focusing on past papers which is great but he’s getting nowhere near as much done as planned.

At this point I think I’d quite like to swap him for a diligent, hyper organised DD who needs reminders to stop revising rather than the constant need for reminders to actually get started 😂

12.08 and nothing has been done yet…

@FlyingPandas my son the same. He is working fairly consistently but takes AGES to do anything. Eg an 8 mark, 12 min geography answer will take 45 minutes. He refuses to do stuff under ‘exam conditions’ as says he knows he could be faster if he wanted to be. So day disappears quickly with not much achieved

Spanish speaking exam is in 18 DAYS!! Trying not to reflect my panic on to her…

Hear you on the music @FlyingPandas - here we we still listen to CDs in the car (I know, we are out of touch dinosaurs), so I’m getting DS1 a portable CD player for his birthday next week - music without a phone/tablet! Though I do worry slightly about him then struggling to do the actual exams in silence.

We are also struggling with timing and getting revision actually done here. According to the theoretical revision timetable DS1 is currently halfway though Monday….On the plus side, new shoes and a prom outfit have been acquired so I’m taking that as a win.

Last day of the revision course today. DS has got the long weekend off but I'm considering taking him to work with me next week so I can ensure he's revising rather than playing FIFA.

I can’t believe how early it is. Hoping my DD does enough to scrape a 4. Perfectly capable of doing far better but refuses to revise properly as she’s not enjoyed it