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 think there are different contexts here. Pupils in non selective state schools especially if the school isn’t great / have had a series supply teachers / loads class disruptions / hard to study at home environments & everything else may find it harder to secure 7-9 than those in a smaller selective private school with small class sizes etc etc So they can then excel when at 6th form with only pupils that want to be there & work hard.
no one I know is focusing on a crop of 8s and 9s - it’s not a thing
so yes some do go Oxbridge etc often with some on contextual offers.

Thanks @MayasJamas. I've sent to DS as last-minute revision tips.

DS would quite like to do an apprenticeship instead of going to uni, but is also really keen to move out ASAP (I'm not offended at all ). We'll see which route wins out.

at least one of the colleges also has a programme to identify high potential students as opposed to just gcse grades. The number going to Oxbridge etc definately exceeds the number that would have got just 8/9s so it’s not a hard correlation

DDs going for Emigree or Storm on the Island. This is based on a dream she had in Y10 😂

I agree @Funkylights that it is not essential to gain all 8s and 9s to go to Oxford or Cambridge. Bc as noted, they would struggle to fill their places if so.

But both they and VetMed courses (and medicine) do look at GCSE grades. Yes I know someone who went to Cambs with a grade 6 in Eng lang – BUT not to study English. To study maths. Where they got 9 and A star in A level M and FM.

Genuinely I am somewhat doubtful that a whole host of YP, even those who go to non-selective state schools (which, let's face it, is the majority of YP in England) gain 6s in maths and science, study those subjects at A level and get accepted to these very competitive courses.

It’s great that students are really able to show their potential in sixth form when there is a better atmosphere – which is also true IME of many state schools – and I am always glad to hear of that. But still the fact remains that a 6 in maths is not a great prep for A level.

My DC got 8s and 9s in their chosen A level subjects, even at their fairly ordinary comprehensive school. So did lots of their peers, even with disruption and a lack of teachers in some subjects. Not boasting; it’s not that unusual.

Anyway. Any other poems suggestions?

My class are variously hoping for Tissue, the emigree or the prelude.

When do you find out? Not until they come out? I bet it's a race to see who gets to you first!!

We're not allowed to see the paper for 24 hours. But I'm free when they'll be coming out so pretty quickly.

Which will be better than last week when I had no less than three separate deputations turn up after the a level exam to tell me about it. Year 9 thought it was hilarious.

My class are obsessed with Checking Out Me History. They’d also like My Last Duchess or The Emigree, but they are allergic to Tissue 😆
I reckon it’ll be SOTI, Ozymandias or Poppies.
So basically, neither they nor I have any idea!

For AIC I have a feeling it’ll be Eva Smith and the theme of duty. For my dd, doing LOTF, I’m thinking violence and ‘the boys are to blame for their own downfall, how far do you agree?’ type thing.

Autistic DD has had a complete meltdown tonight about English Lit tomorrow- says she doesn't know some of the poems. She's missed loads of school so probably true. Not much that can be done at this stage though.

Tell her that if she doesn't know the named poem, then treat it as an unseen poem and just compare it to one she does know. She'll be fine.

For Love & Relationships, I think strong emotions / difficult relationships and possibly Farmers Bride.

DS was offered AIC on prime on Saturday but declined.
He has however been listening to the poems on audible (with commentary), so that's something. Only started a week ago, not sure he's done them all.

DS announced chemistry triple higher as “meh” and admitted that some revision might have been a good idea. Feel quite pleased about that for the other exams where he needs to revise!

quizzed him on poems tonight and he seems to be quite solid. Fingers crossed! His teacher apparently said a prayer that it won’t be Tissue

I am going for the war Photographer ! No idea if been used before.
@Bluebelle8261 was that poem not in 2024 ?
Good luck to everyone doing English lit.

Yes, it was! I have changed my mind but have no idea now 😅

I think Ozy. Come on Ozy

I think was in it 3 years back when ds1 did it.

2018 - Ozy
2019 - War Photog
(2020 no exam)
2021 - London
2022 - Bayonet Charge
2023 - MLD
2024 - Kamikaze
2025 - Exposure

Ooh I really am thinking SOTI or Poppies now - tho my students could be right with COMH. Or it could be Ozy , it’s been 8 years! Who the fuck knows, basically 😆

dd1 seriously considered 2 a levels and a level 3 BTEC and hasn’t totally ruled it out. She wants to do sports science at uni then possibly sports psychology msc. I dont think she’ll manage Bath/lougborough (she won’t want Bath anyway) but possibly next tier down (Exeter/Birmingham etc). We have emailed a few to ask re BTEC vs a levels and BTEC would be ok as long as she has 2 other sciences whereas A level PE counts as a science. She also prefers the A level content as it’s more biology based. But she has college places for either as long as she gets her grades so let’s see.

poem wise, we decided Tissues is bollocks. Dd1 wants checking out me history and dd2 wants war photographer. I want ozymandias or kamikaze but apparently I’m not sitting it…..

I’m well impressed that you have got them
on board with Tissue 👏👏

@MayasJamas you missed 2017 (DD’s year) which was also Bayonet Charge so they do cycle through.

DS very much hoping for anything ‘war based’ - Bayonet Charge in particular. I guess we’ll know before too long and then they can hit the delete button on poetry. I find it fascinating that at the moment they hold all of this ‘important’ knowledge in their head but by midday tomorrow they will never need to use it again (unless they choose to but highly unlikely here).

Good luck to everyone for English tomorrow.

On maths A-level my eldest has found it her hardest, she is in year 13, she got 8 at gcse but isn’t someone who found that easy. She’s enjoyed stats and mechanics but not pure, which is 60% of the course. She wants to do economics at university, but as she’s found maths difficult has decided on a BA course. She is predicted B in maths and would be delighted with that but a C wouldn’t be a disaster. The A-level teacher basically said in week 2 of the course that it was only going to get harder and advised switching if they were struggling. Dd had a bit of a wobble at that but she’s glad she stayed. She should be well equipped for the maths at university, it will make the first year less stressful. She’s also made better friends in maths than her other subjects, I think struggling together is bonding! There’s hundreds of kids taking maths at her 6th form, I think 600? So there is lots of support and the Oxbridge applicants run workshops helping the less gifted students out.
We did find that if you don’t want to do essay subjects or sciences (which was dd) it’s quite tricky to know what to do.

DS is predicted 4-6 in his GCSE, I’m super grateful we are near colleges with low entry requirements for A-level, he’s going to do arts subjects. I got Bs, Cs and a couple of Ds at GCSE, I did well at A-level and have done quite a bit of university study. I’m summer born and so is DS, and we both have ADHD, I do think that makes GCSEs a less reliable indicator of future academic achievement.

@MrsHamlet this is what DD and her mates are doing. No time to learn all the poems so only doing some and working out how to do what you suggest