Y11 2025-26 Final exams are here. Now we wait….

[UncomfortableSilence]

New thread for all things Y11, did they cook or are they cooked. We will find out in 10 weeks😉

Where exactly has the time gone? That its 4 weeks away? Dd cant even hear the word 'results' mentioned.

We have had college enrolment paperwork dropping in..

4 weeks today. It’s me who’s impatient, not dd!

Think we have had about 3 emails from the school about results day! Also letter asking us to fill in where our child is going.
Not very helpful also had a letter from the school 6th form stating that she is OK for 3 ALevels but those doiing a 4th ALevels or core maths will be confirmed later.

They did the same to DS was fine to do courses then got an email during holidays to say unsure they could offer core maths. He ended going to his second choice.

Dd school can only collect results between 9-10am so a 1 hour window, so going to be very busy!

Wow thars a short window. DD can go at 8am. They will be emailed at 10am not sure what time staff are there till thinks it was 11 am when DS went.

Less than 4 weeks, eek.

We were talking about choices with her Uncle and I was saying you'll be fine of course you'll get at least a 6 (or whatever) - then my brain was going no don't put pressure on her - so I said if you don't we'll just blame the exam board they probably got rubbish markers this year.

She seems fairly relaxed about the results, and decided no more bridging work for maths which I think means she's at least half decided not to do it.

DS1 only technically gets half an hour! 8-8:30. Must work as last year we went in to get the results of a few papers he did a year early and yr10 go in 8:30 - 9:00 and there were indeed no visible yr11s there but it does seem very quick. I am also confused about what he needs to do as last year sixth form registration was the following day (so just pick up your envelope and run) but this year we got a letter saying that if your results were unexpected come in on the Friday. So he might need to register/confirm his place too? If I can persuade him to open the envelope onsite and not flee to open it in the car that is!

We have 8-10 but dd has told me we’ll be in the car park long beforehand!!

We’ve then got a lovely brunch booked for 11 with the grandparents too.

Anyone had any luck buying girl’s 6th form clothes?

DD needs to have 2 suits in dark colours. We have just spent the entire day trawling around Westfield and couldn’t find anything. She is very petite and just wants a simple black or navy trouser suit.

Any suggestions?

M&S or next

I know sed to get all my petite suits from next.

Thankfuly DDs choices are just normal clothes.

Ah we need to do this still, though the brief is “business wear” and doesn’t have to be suits. Thought we’d get a range of blouses, skirts and trousers. I was hoping the likes of H&M would cut it to be honest.

I bought DS a new suit for prom that will double as a suit for VIth form. He needs another 2 as knowing him, he'll wreck at least one playing football at lunchtime.

Results are available for collection between 9-12. We (or I at least) will be in the carpark at 0845 Zulu. Possibly camping out overnight (definitely not DS, he has banned me from coming). His VIth form needs the results and copies of the certificates emailed to them by 11 on the day, so not much turnaround time.

Yes, we also thought that just some skirts, trousers and blouses would be OK and got some last month from H&M and Urban, there I was feeling all organised! However, on reading the 6th form guide again, 2 suits are stipulated. At this rate, I’ll be delighted if we just manage 1.

We tried M&S and Next but they just swamped her and were very much older lady style. She did look a bit ridiculous.

Maybe when we get back from our holidays there will be more autumn/winter clothing in the “teenage” shops that will hopefully include trousers and blazers.

@Beachforever you’ll be in that scenario where it’s hard to find suits that look right on 16 year olds as there’s probably no real market for them? Why would shops sell something so few need. It’s niche I think

Just sorting study guides. Will it be useful to keep for dd2 who will sit GCSEs in 2030 or will they all be void?

I imagine the syllabus will have changed significantly, or you’ll worry it has at the least, so these won’t be useful then.

I’d just pass them on now.

Luckily DS doesn’t need to wear business wear in 6th form. He will need some new clothes I imagine though.

First batch of new GCSEs to be sat 2031 is the current timeline, although still in consultation phase, so should be fine to keep them

I teach at a small ‘business wear’ sixth form, and most of the girls wear stretchy skirts and blouses/long sleeved tops, and the boys wear smart-ish trousers (not suit trousers) and shirts. Apart from on Wednesdays when they’ve all decided to wear pink (adorable) and Thursdays where all the boys dress in uber sharp suits (also adorable)

Yes I agree with a PP, worth keeping as syllabuses not due to change. MFL has changed this year so I surely will be the same in 2030.

Re the suits – it’s not easy is it? DS2 just graduated (at last!) and is ahem a very gym-boy shape. It was astonishingly hard to find him a suit to fit that he was happy with; in the end we (I) did some elementary tailoring on the one we did find (big enough in the shoulder = huge at the waist). But my point is that there were very few to choose from.

For his graduation tie we really struggled. The selection in such as Next or M&S was very poor. Guess there is no demand now. In the end he borrowed one from his dad :)

We really struggled to get DD a sixth form suit tbh. Ended up with black tailored trousers from Miss Selfridge and a black short jacket from Dotty Ps (does that still exist at all?). She is about 5ft 3 and slim so it was petite all the way. Black plus black seemed to work Ok.

ETA: Meant to say DD's sixth form suit was almost 10 years ago hence ref to DPs

Oh, I didn’t realise they’d be so static!

DDs school also say suits but I understand that separates are OK for girls as long as they are wearing a blazer. DD is very petite, we tried on every jacket in Primark and they were really long on her, couldn't find anything in a few other shops. We've ended up getting a black jacket and black skater skirt from Amazon which she's happy with. Hopefully will find more in the shops later on. Here are the links to what we got:

Allegra K Women's Womens Office... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B096Z93SQL?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Women's Basic Casual Stretchy... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DN13YTC1?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

This jacket also fitted and I liked but DD wasn't keen
Benibos Womens Long Sleeve Open... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C9QJXZFB?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

How ridiculous to force 6th formers to wear suits when no professional office nowadays has people wearing suits on a daily basis.