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.

Excellent! Loving the stanza and plot puns.... they are both up DS's alley.

How did they find Chemistry AQA paper 1 triple? Daughter said it was ok but not brilliant

DS said chemistry AQA triple was okay, probably better than expected but there was one question (a higher marking one) on a topic that’s not his favourite. I didn’t dig down any more as we’re very much ‘tick it off and move on’.

Mine said Chemistry Triple (AQA) was ‘good’ but that seems to be her stock response.

She’s pretty set on wanting to do Pharmacy at uni and plans to take Biology, Maths, Chemistry. Would like to do an EPQ. She’d take Spanish as a 4th A level if her school offered it I think but they don’t.

DS did Maths, Physics and Politics and is doing Aero Engineering at uni now. Not having further Maths didn’t seem to impact on his offers

AQA Chemistry triple here was reported by DS as "very easy". That doesn't necessarily mean he got his answers right but does get the week off to a promising start.

I'm another one with a massive spreadsheet of uni entry requirements. DH thinks DS should be doing it, which is true, but DS is likely to apply to the top 5 courses without doing any research whatsoever and my motherly heart won't let him.

Am impressed how many people are seriously planning which Uni already. Definitely not here - DS1 probably won’t even go though his dad won’t admit this (mostly to himself) yet. I may be joining the spreadsheet crew in a couple of years for DS2 though!

Chemistry here was “ok” - which to me sounds less good than his usual “fine” but he has not been forthcoming with details. But WJEC double science so different to most other people. Bit of a shame as that’s one of his strengths but nothing we can do about it now. Nothing until English language on Thursday now so hopefully he can get some good revision for it plus physics on Friday in.

DD had AQA triple science chemistry and said that it was Sod’s Law - because her weaker topics all came up. So not great at all. Then we move onto WJEC Media studies - the 2 longer questions were super random and apparently they didn’t even cover the topic (websites) properly in class. It was a homework topic at some point but that’s all. Basically none of her media revision had any bearing on the exam. That’s the tough bit, having revised so much and nothing that you’d spent time on, coming up. Pretty demoralised here. English literature paper 2 tomorrow and she has zero appetite for looking through the poetry / text right now.

Someone asked asked upthread about reviews of NEA marking. You'll have to get your child (because it's their work not yours) to ask for a copy of the policy and then follow it.

It's not about "this should have got more marks." It's about whether they have applied the mark scheme correctly.

Sorry @GreySweater hope tomorrow goes better.

Enjoying the puns!

@Caddycat I think it depends where you apply but quite a lot of places ask for a portfolio for architecture - obviously the easiest way to get this is to do art but an EPQ might suffice. Dd's school doesn't do EPQs as they do AS levels instead, but annoyingly art is one of the few that you can't take at AS. Cambridge I think requires physics but DD definitely doesn't want to do that. Then again, an architect friend was putting her off this weekend saying there are far too many architects around now and he's struggling to find work.

I've found it really helpful to look at a couple of possible degree courses with DD to see what the requirements are - this would help the kids who don't think you need e.g physics for engineering.

In our case my daughter asked for a review of the NEA marking and it was successful as a clerical error was made because the school marked the wrong draft apparently. So definitely worth asking for a review.

For the second time (first son now 19) I find myself seemingly in the minority on a Mumsnet GCSE thread by having a DS not planning on A levels. First DS did an apprenticeship, current DS planning on a T level (mental health affected GCSE results permitting) then possibly a year of industry related work before Uni or if he finds a good job with training prospects maybe just stay there.

We’ve booked onto some uni open days for the autumn term: Nottingham, Imperial and Southampton. Hopefully Bristol too. Then we’ll do another batch this time next year.

Chemistry - dd hates this more than anything but she was pleasantly surprised I think.

Lit paper 2 - by contrast her absolute favourite so is even more anxious as she has her heart set on that 9.

Apprenticeships are amazing and so difficult to get! My nephew is doing one for an electrician and it's a much smarter move than being saddled with uni debt and no job at the end.

Yes - that was a fault with the process. A review of NEA marking isn't about the marks per se.

You do know about the BTEC threads on Further Education don't you?
My eldest did a L3 BTEC. My youngest did City&Guilds.

imo There is a significant minority of A level students who would have been better served by doing BTECs but pull factors towards A levels (prestige, parents, not wanting to change schools) overwhelms the choice.

Thank you yes I have seen those threads it's just interesting to me how GCSE threads always seem to be mainly populated by those whose child's next step is A level. None of the schools near me have sixth forms so I wonder if that's why we have a much larger mixture of next steps.

My DS is going to do a BTEC as it’s the right choice for him. He’s got a couple of friends who’s parents won’t entertain anything other than A levels even though their DCs aren’t particularly academic as they are so worried it’ll close doors to next steps of they do something else. These kids aren’t top uni candidates, so it’s very likely a BTEC or equivalent would be no barrier to whatever they do decide to do next. Instead they’ll likely have two tough years and come out with mediocre A level results.

Level 3 extended diplomas and T levels and even Access courses. at a later date, can get you into Uni. Many of my friends who didn't do particularly well at GCSE and left school to work at 16 have since been to Uni via Access to Higher Education courses.

I would be happy for my DD to do a btec but it’s so tricky when you don’t have an interest in anything particular and there are limited courses. I’m not convinced A levels are necessarily the right thing for her but the options are limited!

But our hands may be forced on results day.

I hope that in MN we can embrace those already looking at Unis and those just not quite sure what the next step is but we’re just trying to get through GCSEs 😆

Oh certainly it wasn't a criticism just an observation. I think they are all wonderful however they do in their GCSEs and whatever they do next. I found concentrating on revision ridiculously hard at 16 and the only tech in my room was a TV with 4 channels!

Same here. Not good not bad response

@Littletreefrog A levels aren’t an option for my dc we’re looking at level 2 or 3 depending on GCSE results.

@bluebluevalentine you made me laugh with the proton too. Keep up the good work.

Best of luck for Lit tomorrow! Some final tips if useful:

• ALWAYS link to writer’s purpose - why have they presented a character in a certain way? What is their wider message about society (particularly for An Inspector Calls - always link to Priestley’s Socialist message).
• If you forget a quote, don’t panic! You can still analyse the moment (how does it drive the plot), the character (what do they represent) etc. Exam boards specifically state you are being marked on how you analyse the choices the writer makes. This does not mean how many quotes you remember perfectly! Tho obvs you do need some. If you can only remember 1-2 of the powerful words in a quote, that’s fine, just embed those into your sentence.
• For the Anthology poetry, don’t forget to compare between the poems. Similarly/Likewise/In contrast/Like/Unlike/More/Less are your friends, as long as you are actually making a relevant point after it of course.
• For Unseen, consider the universal human experience the poet wants us to think about: love, growing up, loss, family etc.
• For every section, ANSWER THE QUESTION, stay tightly focused on the question at all times and keep coming back to it. I encourage my students to spend 30 secs before planning jotting down vocab related to the question. Eg if the Q is ‘responsibility’ for AIC they might jot down ‘duty’, ‘blame’ ‘accepting guilt’ ‘looking after’. My students find this to be a great tactic.

Regarding the BTEC, my SEN boy has done so well with this as he’s v hard working but can never do as well in exams due to memory demands. He has brilliant BTEC predicted grades and off to uni in Sept. This would have been impossible with A levels.

My verdict is that they are not easy but they do reward consistent hard work whereas with exams you just never know what happens on that day.

Hi @Littletreefrog just wanted to share that we looked at other options for DS2 as well as A level which isn’t really apparent from my posting here .

He would have loved to have gone into work but we are rural and no apprenticeships any where near us that didn’t feel that it was taking advantage of the young . College options also limited . I’ve encouraged a levels mostly to let him mature and to learn to drive which I think will improve his options . I would not be surprised if he takes a more vocational skills based route at 18 rather than Uni .