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.

Ha I did English language degree and a whole module was on parsing. Death by parsing.

I was tied between that and the fervent wishes

We’ve had rollercoaster tonight! In five minutes I had DD screaming at me to “get out!!!!” And then in my bedroom crying she was going to fail everything.

not sure we can survive another 3 weeks of this! Roll on half term

I really hope you parse has really tickled me

So ready for half term here.

DD has now completed four of her subjects. English language tomorrow morning then that’s it until 2 June, thank goodness.

But he hasn’t written it. You have. I feel sorry for all the other kids (including my DS) who play by the rules and don’t have parents willing to cheat for them. I’m really quite shocked (and sad) to see that it’s so prevalent. If your DS is a STEM kid, let him get high grades for that and lower grades for subjects he’s not good at. Just like my DS who is not a STEM kid will get lower grades for sciences and hopefully higher grades for humanities. Without cheating.

I’m in the do what you need to pass camp. DD used AI to get inspiration and then wrote a practice story based on that, allowed her to use some vocabulary she’d not have thought of independently and then she could adapt the basic story in the exam, she didn’t get a great grade but she passed. For English Language particularly we have this ridiculous rule where the 35ish% of kids that don’t get a 4 are forced to retake, even though only a tiny number of them will pass in year 12, it’s so high stakes. No one is going to get the best grades if they have to have parental help/ai support. It’s the system that’s wrong, not parents/teachers/tutors coaching kids to pass.

Same here. DD is a literary talent and loves creative writing. This is her moment to shine. She's written something like 30 short stories in her spare time as well as a couple of plays.

However, I totally understand that English is a tricky subject for those with more logical brains and I would encourage anyone to do what they need to do to get over the line.

I have read upthread those bestowing the virtues of learning English but I can honestly say, as someone who loves culture, reading, theatre etc now, that school did nothing to inspire me and being forced to learn Macbeth from an English teacher who wore black every day because she was mourning the loss of her husband, actually scarred me.

Good luck to all those doing Eng Lang tomorrow and then taking a well-deserved break. Like others have mentioned, DD is beginning to lose focus now and the break will be very welcome.

I really disagree with you. If had the money I’d send my kid to private school which would give them a massive advantage.
I do have intelligence so I can use that to help and support my child. If I didn’t, I would feel like I wasn’t doing my best for them.
I’ve helped my child from the moment he was born to get a head start in life. From feeding them healthy food to reading to them several times a day when they were toddlers. I couldn’t have parented any other way.

Amen.

Should I be concerned that dd hasn't pre learnt anything for today for the creative writing? Her feacher has said not to.

@Bluebelle8261
if she’s creative she’ll be fine.

You should not be concerned, no.

@Bluebelle8261 of course not, most kids write something creatively from the prompt. Rather wishing I hadn’t mentioned the whole thing now… lesson learnt to keep these things to myself! 😆🤦‍♀️ the creative writing is a small part of the whole English language final mark and a very tiny part of their gcse profile so unlikely to affect very much anyway

@Bluebelle8261 Hope your daughter is ok

Well today is not the day for DS to shine. He is autistic and can't even describe emotions he is feeling when he is feeling them let alone describe imaginary emotions imaginary people are feeling. I have no idea if he has been advised to memorize a story or not as he won't discuss school or homework or exams so I will just have to hope his school have prepared him as well as possible but unfortunately I don't have much faith that will have happened.

English teacher here. Don’t worry - her teacher will have prepared her/her class in a way that works for them. My Dd is not going into the exam with a prepared story. Nor are my students - some have a pre prepared character they have created and will adapt to the prompt, or have learned an opening (setting) paragraph they have written themselves. They’re
not ‘top set’ kids but I have taught them various strategies, and have not told any of them to learn a story by heart. But different things work for different people.

Our son hasn’t either. I do hope he’ll be ok. He wants to do well

@Littletreefrog. Totally empathise. My DD will be ok but when DS does his he’ll struggle. His brain just isn’t wired to make up stories. He’s a logic fact & figures guy.

Good Luck to him!!

My ds got a 3 in his year 11 mocks and came out with a 7 in the end!! Anything is possible, good luck to everyone X

Good luck to everyone today, extra luck for those that will find today tricky. A little worried that DDs wrist will hold up and she doesn’t have to move to the laptop part way through as it’s disruptive but she just writes so much for these English papers!

She said just now her class have been doing English Language Paper 1s since Y7 so if she isn’t prepared now then she won’t be!

Yes good luck to everyone for English lang today. And anyone else doing Latin!

Edit: I’m on my way to the office so won’t see him until later

Good luck everyone. My daughter loves the creative part so no need to try the Ai method, but get it's a personal matter. Her teacher told them to use the prompt rather than the picture if you can as it'll make you stand out more. Also remember the Pretzel acronym for the analysis.

She's quite relaxed this morning but basically did very little yesterday.

DD seems more nervous this morning and tired. I hope she pulls together for the exam as she's on border of passing. Needs a 5 to go on to do what she wants but obviously also a 4 to avoid retake.

She has prepared a great opening to a story (written by herself despite being much better at stem!) but knows she might not get to use it if the picture doesn't fit. Generally she's ok at the creative part though and it's the analysis but she struggles to get many marks in. Timings are the issue as always. Her teacher thought she should get extra time but whoever decides on who to put applications in for that at the school refused (very frustrating as that could have made all the difference).

She's worked hard though so fingers crossed for her and any others on the edge of a pass today.