Y11 2025/26 The Final Stretch

[UncomfortableSilence]

New thread to see our wonderful DC through their exams and onwards.

Come and join for chat, support and solidarity.

Are any of your dcs planning on history alevel? Dd has put it down with English lit (she adores English lit!) psychology and biology but with the amount of gcse content , the alevel seems terrifying!!

DS was. But the school does not have enough students to run it so he has been encouraged to take psychology instead.

Last week he was considering the IB because he's simply not sure about what he prefers. He's doing quite well with STEM, but does not enjoy it at all.

I'm glad he's back and even though shouting at you isn't great it's communication which is always better than no no communication.

@36and3 that does sound like quite a heavy work load. Will she do all 4 till the end? DD starts with 4 but then does an AS level in 1 if she stays at her current school. She has dismissed history but is toying with Politics or RE. I did History and English (a million years ago) and really enjoyed them both but did only do 3.
I wish they did the IB at some of the schools round here @3GoldenLamps as she's really struggling to decide what to do. I think only private schools near us offer it.

Thanks, I will take a look.

The Exam Whisperer on Instagram is great. I’m an English teacher and pick up useful tips from her.

Her school sixth form make them start with 4 and then they can drop one . I guess it’s so they’re been able to experience a range and be sure of their top three. She wants to do a law degree so English lit / history are both the best for that but worried about the content load. Tricky!!

My son considering history a level but the gcse content load is off putting. We still haven’t started one topic. Getting through 3 seems like a win!
geography may be better for a level - we’ll see…

My son has loved GCSE History and while he's not loved the history of Medicine part, the cold war stuff is right up his street and there's more of that at A-level. It sounds far more interesting than the stuff we learned about at school. I dropped it as soon as I can. Far too much on the Tudors for my liking.

Oh @3GoldenLamps Im sorry, it's awful they are so stressed.
@36and3 and how it varies depending on the examining board, but AQA has an element of coursework I think.
@BeasKnee we have used save my exam to practise the new format, which has some multiple choice questions. Maybe start with those, they dont involve writing?
@Lemonthyme i think the same, i love 20th century history. One of the teachers is really putting the kids off, and dd is scared to be stuck with him so no longer wants to do it.
She has spanish speaking tomorrow and i keep reading online that the photo cards are really bad, I'm so scared for her 😞

@Caddycat which board for Spanish? I don’t examine that language but I think I am safe to say that the photo cards done in speaking assessments for German and French I have carried out this year (both AQA, where they talk about both photos and Edexcel where they choose one) have been fine. The compulsory questions have all been ok too and answered well. All the best to her.

@clary AQA. Thanks for this, it's reassuring to hear. She got high marks in both her mocks but she panics so much, i dont know how to make her relax and I'm so worried she will just go blank and cry...

I am sure she won’t but a couple of years ago I had a candidate really struggle on a question (unfortunately one I couldn’t rephrase as some are fixed by the exam board) and they pulled it together really well, we moved on and they did better than they had before (I had done some prep lessons with them) in the rest of the exam. They ended up getting a grade 8. Even if you miss a question (this was in the RP from memory) it’s only 1 or 2 marks. Just remind her to say something about both photos (doesn’t have to be an even amount) and then include past and future tense in her general speaking after the photocard. Deep breathing.

Good luck to the MfL students taking speaking exams today. DS has German listening and writing paper tomorrow. It’s his last week of proper school in school uniform this week, I can’t believe it. Those five years went fast!

Good luck everyone. That's early @FlyingPandas . DD has hers next week and it's her first full paper (excluding art). It's her last week too, last day is 6 May. It does feel like it's gone by in the blink of an eye!

I assume that’s CIE IGCSE @FlyingPandas ? Hope the speaking went ok (I am not a fan of the speaking spec as it’s quite rigid, but for a strong candidate it is fine). All the best with the written papers.

Morning everyone and good luck to all!

DS is better this morning. I told him he had worried me and he said that next time he storms out saying he never wants to speak to me again he'll make sure he texts me photos of where he goes so I know he's okay. .

He was angry with me because he had a meltdown about something and I tried to help. But didn't help in the 'right way'.

Poor poor kids.

Oh- I'm not sure if it will help anyone, but as an invigilator we often have children collapsing in tears in the middle of exams. We always take them out, brush them down, pause the exam for them and make a note of the time and then mother-hen them back to the room. We have 30 or so invigilators where I work and every single one of them responds both professionally, but also with compassion. I hope it's the case everywhere.

Does anyone know the % mark for the Art Sketch books? I think its 60% with the exam being 40% but not sure!

And yes we've got Michael Gove 2015 to thank for the Art (and other) GCSE changes..

I am also an invigilator @3GoldenLamps and would totally agree - people often assume invigilators are only there to stop students cheating but I always point out there is a real wellbeing/pastoral/safeguarding element to the role too. Sorry your DS is finding it so tough. I think the students are at the point now where they just need to get started, this last week or so of waiting to start is almost the worst bit.

Thank you @clary and yes it’s IGCSE. DS found the speaking fine in the end but was anxious beforehand and is glad it’s now out of the way!

waves to my fellow invigilator @FlyingPandas !

I love invigilating.

I find everyone cares so much that the students are okay and we get so excited when we find out how some of them have done. I had a lovely lad last year who was really scared about it all. He saw me in town one day and came bouncing up to tell me had passed English. I scribed for him and it made my day. There is alot of care for the more vulnerable students I find. People think it's just standing in a room for 3 hours but it's not, Loads of safeguarding and pastoral care as you say.

I agree about just getting on with it now. I am worried that by the time the actual exams start DS will be exhausted.

For Edexcel it’s 60% portfolio and 40% external set assignment. The raw mark for each is out of 72. DDs teacher has now given them their scores, moderation is next week.

@UncomfortableSilence that's interesting, so do they have an idea of their mark before results day? I guess it can change depending on where the grade boundaries for this year will sit?

@BeasKneeYes, I had no idea but she said they knew they would get the raw score once her teacher had marked it. They’ve looked at previous years grade boundaries to get an idea but like you said it will depend on this years.

@UncomfortableSilence thats so interesting. Dd got one mark for dance (a performance of about 16 counts of set choreo), only worth 12 marks but not for the duo or choreography, also marked by the teacher. Im not sure why she felt the need to give that one out!

They also get the opportunity to speak to their teacher if they do not think the mark is fair!