Y11 2025-26 Exams have started - chat, support & drink of choice if needed here.

[UncomfortableSilence]

New thread for all of us with lovely Y11s to support them and us through the coming weeks.

I’d definitely get her to sit the exam. Even a 4 (unlikely) is still a qualification.

But what benefit will it realistically bring if it takes away revision time from other subjects and she's already doing 9 GCSEs anyway? It just adds an extra 2 exams. Will any Sixth Form/uni really care about the extra PE grade?

I can see the logic in not devoting revision time to a subject you are probably going to fail anyway (my older DS was predicted a 2 in Spanish so he did no revision concentrating instead on English and Maths and still got a 2 in Spanish). But there is no point not sitting the exams as the time saving is minimal and in all likelihood she will pass albeit with a lower grade than she hoped.

I wouldn’t ask her to sit the exam if it were my child because it takes time, and that is the one commodity these kids don’t have. It may still be a qualification but whether it matters depends on what she wants to do.

It's tricky. I was told (but not sure whether it's correct, as this was a parent whose child didnt get offered FM) that it was better not to do it than doing it and getting a 5 or 6 in an otherwise good set of grades. Dd got a 5 in her mock, but an 8 in actual maths. She was so stressed i felt dropping it was the right decision. It wasnt so much that she couldn't do it, she was way too slow and couldnt finish the paper. It was the right decision for her, but i can see how it might be worth giving it a go for others.

I don’t have a particular opinion on whether or not it was right for the pp’s daughter to drop PE. But I would say that 5s and 6s can absolutely be part of a good set of grades. A 6 in particular IS a good grade! I’ll certainly be celebrating my DCs 5s and 6s, and those achieved by my students. And no college (at least that isn’t massively selective) will turn away a student for having a 6 in amongst higher grades. I’m really baffled by the focus on 7+. It’s so much pressure on kids if they think an A is the minimum.

Yes my reading of it was even if she didn’t revise now, if she’d been aiming for a 9, maybe a 6 was still likely. And A level still an option

My DD is only likely to get a 4 in her language option. But I said that’s better than nothing. If she was only predicted a 2/3 I’d probably pull her off it. On a good day she could get a 5

A 6 is a good grade. This mum was referring to a 6 amongst a set of 8/9. I don't know whether it was true or not, and my DD is certainly not aiming for straight 9s. I do think though that less gcses and higher grades are better than 12 gcses at lower grades because theyve spread themselves too thin.

How is everyone doing today. I feel like it has been a long….day. DS done a chemistry paper and is now on his 4th hour on English Lit. Split so only 30 mins so far is LOTF and the rest poetry. I am trying to get him to take breaks but there is sooo much content to just remember. It’s not testing skills as much as what can you remember about what!

I think we need to be careful as a group identifying 4-6 as not good grades.

This is not the case and for many of us if our kids get these grades it reflects an amazing achievement.

I totally understand all our children are under considerable pressure but if your child is looking at 7-9s you are in an incredibly fortunate position.

That is not to diminish people’s stress as they support their kids - not matter what level they are at they feel the stress. And that is so hard to respond to as parents. So thouse supporting kids who are putting themselves under massive pressure to get high grades loads of empathy and support!

I absolutely agree that any pass is good and the pressure to get 7+ very often comes from the kids themselves and their peers, not from the parents. However, it's also very frustrating for a kid who really wants to try to get that 8/9 for teachers to continuously tell them that a 5/6 is good enough. It's very discouraging. Some kids really do want to try achieve those high marks and I think teachers shouldn't try to put them off.

My daughter has a friend who is going for all 9s. Her strength is Maths and she's consistently the top achieving pupil across the board, particularly in Maths, Further Maths and all the other STEM subjects with a string of 9s in mocks. Yet, the head of Maths keeps telling her how unattainable a 9 in Maths/Further Maths is and that basically unless you're a genius you will never achieve it and to aim for a 7. It's very frustrating and discouraging for someone who wants to actually accomplish it.

Chemistry is dire. I so so hope she passes. Hindsight is a great thing but I wish she chose combined not triple, and I wish she was doing foundation not higher chemistry

True - it was your specific phrasing of a 5-6 among ‘an otherwise good set of grades’ which suggests 5-6 is not ‘good’, and which doesn’t match my outlook. That’s ok - we all have different perspectives, but I think at this very fraught time, we can all feel sensitive and a little protective of our dc who are working hard and may be super proud of whatever type of pass they get.

Now might be a good time to mention the phrases:

'they got what they need for next steps'
and
'they met their targets'
and
'they exceeded their targets'

Other useful phrases:
'they were a bit below what we hoped but they are good enough for progression to the next course'.

I would have liked DS1 to drop Spanish - he worked so hard yet still ended up with a 4 . It would have been better to spread that time amongst the 6/5 subjects .

I do value language learning but some unis do consider GCSEs as part of their decisions ( Bath and Bristol that I know of having helped ds1 with his research ) so I do wish he didn’t have that 4 . His school now allow kids to drop a gcse in these situations .

Having kids is a learning experience though and when it was DS2s turn to be terrible at Spanish - he swapped it out . When another subject was looking like a 2 it was dropped and the time spent on the core .

a tough decision to drop PE for the poster but at some point DC do have to make these calls themselves

sorry I was trying to reply to @XelaM .. my phone on mumsnet is driving me round the twist today !

DTs have chemistry (combined science) English literature, French listening and English language this week.One DT also has RE. So another double day.

no exam on Friday and I have agreed they can stay home. They’ll get some revision done. Seems most children are not going in on the days they don’t have exams even though the school wants them in as no study leave approved. Out of the combined 51 exams we are down to 38 left to do after last week. Yep I’m counting.

This week English literature and RE will be complete (btec sport completed for other DT a few weeks back)

looking forward to half term already. The week after half term is full on with 2 double days (6exams that week) so hoping they can get some rest in half term and build up energy.

in other news the prom shoes I ordered didn’t fit so have been returned. At this rate they’ll be going barefoot.

for results day, I need to drive them in as rural but will be waiting in the car until I hear where they are heading off to or need taxing to celebrate. plus hopefully they’ll tell me how they’ve done.

Think they’re planning to go in similar time as friends. They’re a mixed ability group of friends and DTs + one other are in the higher gcse grade end (6,7,8) of their friend group but unlike some other situations on this thread they’ll be rooting for their friends whatever grades they get and they know hard it has been for some of their friends and how a 4 in one subject will mean as much as them getting an 8 in another.

another thing I love about their friendship group is the wide range of subjects they take. They are a simply lovely group of girls I’m so glad they found their tribe.

Zero chemistry revision has been done this weekend - he said he is feeling confident so I’m just letting him get on with it

Minimal here too. She did 2 past papers yesterday morning with no Chem revision since Easter holidays and got 9 in both papers so decided to take the rest of the weekend off. She is absolutely on her knees so she needed it.

Tomorrow marks the half way point for her and by the end of the week all subjects other than maths and sciences will be done. That will make her feel much better.

My DD hasn’t done near enough chem and she needs a 6. But yelling at her won’t help. I’m really annoyed we bought all the revision books and she’s not opened them

I’ve realised this week that many year 11s don’t have the maturity to plan and prepare for GCSEs. They’re still children and don’t have the stamina or patience. My own DC is obviously included in this!

What does she need the 6 for? Is she wanting to do it for alevel?

Also total waste of money on unused workbooks/ flash cards etc. I can’t be arsed to argue with her now.

@makemineadecaf Yep really wants to do it at A level. Enjoys it but never does that well in exam. All colleges round us need 667 in subjects for A