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.

@RedRunningRabbit
I’m like a PA to my son. I’ve packed his bag with the correct notes / books for post chemistry eng lit revision tomorrow, organise what he should revise and when. Works well 🤣

Honestly thought it was just mine. He's probably done 3 hours total across Saturday and Sunday despite doing nothing else productive (apart from a run each day which isn't exactly productive but at least it isn't a screen).

Just had a disagreement with DH over it as it feels wrong not to push him but also feels like we can't push due to his recent mental health crisis. It's just so frustrating. I'm also not sure how effective his limited 'revision' sessions are but as DH pointed out if he is pretending to revise there isn't much to be gained by him pretending for more hours.

I don’t think she can pull out at this point. Have you had confirmation? She will be entered for the exam and her coursework mark will be submitted. By not sitting the exams she will be graded on her coursework only (40%) and will probably get a grade 1-2.

Completely agree with this. My DC has worked her socks off for every little bit of progress and will be over the moon with 5s and 6s.

Yes, they have confirmed she can drop PE. The coursework marks hadn't yet been submitted to the exam board when she asked to drop it (she was just told the mark). It's an independent school if it makes any difference.

DS is sitting on his bed surrounded by chemistry papers, but I think his main achievement this weekend has been moving up a level in Battle Royale. I also found another set of papers in the (clean) litter tray this morning, which I salvaged got when DD in 3 years!

@ShesRunningOutTheDoor another PA here. I sanitised DS's room and sorted his collection of practice papers by subject, paper and exam date. I took away any he's sitting after half term and put the rest in exam order marked with post-its. I'm also keeping his white board up to date with which exams are coming up this week and when. He said it was "very good" and then complained he couldn't find his sliders for football yesterday.

@XelaM that's a shame about your DD's PE. A shame that it was not well taught and that she will not achieve the grade she perhaps deserves because of the way the practical is assessed.

If she really enjoys PE and has worked hard enough to get a 7 (a great grade), would there have been such a huge amount of prep that would detract from her other subjects? If she is very sporty and loves sciences, what a shame to drop a favourite subject. Hopefully they will let her continue with A level.

I do think the phrase which I have seen quite a bit on MN "going for all 9s" is not great. Firstly, as noted, a tiny tiny % of YP get all 9s at GCSE. So many of those going for it may well be disappointed, which would be a sad thing if their "disappointing" grades were (say) 999888877. And secondly, what does that involve anyway? How do you go for all 9s? I got all top grades in my O levels but in no way did I "go for" this. I worked very hard, I had a good memory, I was quick to grasp things, I revised well. I just wanted to do my best.

Mine seems a bit nervous any chemistry - it's the science she likes least and she hasn't had a very good teacher in Y11. She's also got a cold and is feeling a little rundown, so have just told her to prioritise rest. She's not planning on continuing it so doesn't need a great grade.

Good luck to everyone this week, a little quieter here so we have dreaded prom dress shopping planning for Friday.

Aaaahhh I mean to add a post about something that made me smile today.

I was officiating at a fairly high-level UK athletics meeting and a sprinter in a race was very excited to be competing at the same event as some of the top UK athletes. He was so thrilled and I realised he was quite young so I checked my list and he was U18 – year 11 or year 12. He said he was year 11 and it was going fine and he had chemistry tomorrow, but he wasn't too worried about it. His 100m race on the track about to be raced on by the UK indoor sprint champ was looming much larger. All the best to all the chemists tomorrow!

Wasted subscription to 'save my exams' site here 🙋‍♀️ She persuaded me it would be the perfect thing to revise all subjects from and there was so much useful stuff behind the paywall... There may well be but DD sure hasn't used any of it. Exam revision books have been used a lot, mainly as her school books are so unorganised she struggled to use them for revision.

Yesterday was a tricky day here but today a lot more relaxed. I'm proud of how hard she has worked this weekend and hope it's been worth it. Chemistry is one of the better ones for her so not too worried about tmw.

5 exams next week with double day on Tuesday and a day off Friday - I'm going to force Thursday and Friday as no revision evenings (she's at school in the day) so she can unwind a bit before picking up again over half term for the exams afterwards. I don't think she will need much persuading to chill. Are you all having some days off too?

Ds is very chilled about it all. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
He's predicted mainly 6 +7s and a couple of 8s. That seems fine to me, Im certainly not putting any pressure on him to do better.
He has a very busy life, the exams grades are just 1 part of who he is, they certainly don't define him. What will be will be. No pressure, no stress.
Pp asking about results day, get the results first thing, enrol in college then a couple of hundred miles drive to take part in his passion, music.

Practicing those phrases in hope @TeenToTwenties . Have you got any good ones for well meaning relatives that translate to - did worse than hoped, can’t do plans, frantically trying to find a new plan for September? After this weekend I think we might need some :(.
Aiming for C’s and a couple of B’s here and he’s trying but there have been several meltdowns and mind going blank
moments over the weekend so not going well so far.
Next week DS1 has chemistry, English language but also physics. Our exam board in Wales seems to be out of step with the English ones but only in some cases - it’s weird. He quite likes Chemistry so hopefully that will go ok - English and Physics he does not like at all though so rough end to the week.
We have dropped revising on so much after half term stuff that work will have to be done but hopefully not having to get up early for school will help at least. Sadly also he is getting a new brace on the Tuesday which will probably wash out a couple of days.
Good luck to everyone for tomorrow.

I have just reminded DS to appreciate the clean sheets as he got into bed. He humoured me at least. One day they will appreciate these things. I was recommended a tutoring platform which I think must be quite well known but very oddly named ‘PMT Education’ . I am a bit of a last minute person and DS seems to be fine and self sufficient (we are not talking 8s or 9s here) but in my wisdom I have booked 2 v last minute tutoring sessions a couple of days before each exam for the core subjects just in case anything he was unsure about at the last minute could be clarified and tip into a 5. Who knows? I know many parents are a lot more organised.

My DS told me today he’s not felt any stress about anything, ever. He’s lied to me told me he’s done some chemistry revision. He fell out with his chemistry teacher who got upset at his lack of organisational skills which she interpreted as lack of care. It’s a shame, but we are where we are, maybe the other papers will make up for it.

Leavers lunch at his school on Friday, which is also my birthday, so looking forward to all going out for a chilled meal on Friday night. DH father has been in hospital this weekend, my eldest is panicking about her A exams and all in it’s been quite stressful, there’s been swearing and door banging, but they seem to have made up now.

Chemistry stress in this house. DD very on edge. She wants to do it at A level so needs that 6 hence her stress levels & mine

Unless I’m missing something here, this sounds crazy. What grade does your daughter think she could get in GCSE PE if she continues? I’m assuming likely more than a 3, so a pass?
A 9 is the equivalent to what would have been an A star star in old money. So high it didn’t exist. Dropping a subject because you’re not going to get a 9 is saying only perfection will do. That not a great outlook on life moving forward.
Will her school even let her drop it? At ours I think maybe they do if it’s obvious a child is going to fail. But why would they let someone drop a subject simply because they won’t get a 9? That’s just silly.

It's more that she would be spreading herself thin trying to do 2 extra exams for a 10th GCSE that's technically unnecessary and it's going to take time away from her other core exams and at the end the benefit of doing the extra subject is unlikely to be worth it if realistically she isn't looking at a top mark.

That level of perfectionism is quite concerning op. I hope your daughter is ok. A 7 is an incredible grade. As she wants to do it for alevel, if she’s still worried about the quantity of subjects, can she drop another subject that she’s not continuing with instead?

First of all in that situation I would try to identify plans B and C between the end of exams (ideally talk to colleges before the end of their term which may be early July) and results day. With aiming for mainly Cs I'll take a punt and say plan A shouldn't be A levels anyway, but let's suppose it is.
Plan A - A levels
Plan B - Level 3 vocational course
Plan C - Level 2 vocational course
Plan D - Level 1 vocational course
So to relatives I'd say 'he had a rethink over the summer and decided to go down the vocational route, so he is probably going to do XXXX or YYYY at college which we all think will suit him really well'. Leaving out any mention of 'not good enough for A levels' or the level of the vocational course?

I hope this doesn’t appear rude, but I have children in year 12 and 13, and really wouldn’t recommend doing any of the science A levels with anything less than a 7 - ideally an 8/9. They are incredibly difficult and from what we’ve seen, the outcome is quite poor for anything less than an 8.

Son has chemistry (single), English lit (Jekyll & Hyde, Inspector Calls, and Unseen Poetry), English lang and Latin this week. He’ll be finished with GCSE English lit then. He currently wants to do it for a level but I’m not sure it’s right for him (obviously his choice in the end) and he does seem to be rethinking.

Fingers crossed based on mocks he’s on track for good grades (7 plus) but he actually has to get them. We mostly leave him to his own devices - he’s organised and wants to do well.

His younger brother will likely be in a very different position and on current trajectory I will be delighted if he gets 4s so he doesn’t have to do resits. High grades don’t make you a better person. I also think he’ll need more support with organising himself. They’re all different.

Good luck to all this week.

Good luck all today and for the week ahead. Regardless of grade predictions we are here to support our DC and each other through this really very stressful time for everyone.

DD just came down and said she’s over it all already so that bodes well!!

So you’re supporting your daughter to drop a subject that she wants to do at A level because she won’t get a grade that is so high it didn’t even exist a few years ago?
And I think you’ve also said you’re going to see if she can still do it at A level without doing the GCSE?
I agree with the previous poster that this level of perfectionism is concerning. And you as a parent shoukd not be encouraging it.

On to week two we go! Good luck all for this coming week, we are so ready for half term - my DS is exhausted. There’s a horrible cold in our household too so just praying that he doesn’t get it until the end of the week!

Good luck for week 2! I feel so much calmer than last week. DS still horizontal. He forgot his pencil case this morning but luckily DS2 was just behind him so I’m praying it got to him.

Good week for him though with subjects he’s ok on so I think it’s going to be a generally relaxed one. After half term is going to be a different story but at least there’s a weeks revision time!