GSCE Exam pressure/Complete mock failure

[talkingtomyself]

Hi, I need some advice please. My DS15 is having so much trouble with his exam preparation. He recently had his mock GSCEs and I know he revised as I supervised/planned it with him and made sure he took it all seriously etc. He is a bright boy but has got it in his head that he is just no good at exams. He has basically failed all his mocks - he doesn't understand how (especially as he put the work in), and is now really down about it. He has told me that he finds it difficult to understand what the question is after - hence he is not giving the answer required. I have constantly told the school that they need to put more emphasis on teaching kids exam prep and how to do an exam and have told him that exams are (to a degree) all about confidence. He has done the work so he should be confident he will know the answers. I say to him, look at the question, take a deep breath, read again and above all don't rush into it. But although he understands what i am saying, in practice he obviously is not doing this. I am really worried about him and don't know what practical support I can give him and request school give him (again). I haven't got angry about it - no point - but worried for his future. he wants to stay on in 6th form but school have told him he needs to pass his exams to even be considered. I understand this, but I need them to help him too. Do you think it is just a phase and failing will give him a real kick up the bum? I'm rambling sorry.

I had a similar scenario two years ago with my dS1. In his case he also hadn't done much in the way of revision, but also he didn't know HOW to revise in a way which actually prepared him for the exams... what had suited his older sister didn't seem to work for him and he stared at his books without then being able to apply the knowledge.

What we found that DID help more than anything was to go to the exam board websites (they all have them) and download all the past papers to practise on (our exam boards were mostly AQA and Edexcel but they all do it) That way he was actually practising answering the sort of questions he could expect..and if he couldn't do them he would look up the answers in his books and then do it.. It REALLY helped.

he wasn't overly keen on the idea but in the end he did manage 7 GSCEs inc the vital English and Maths , when the teachers had said he might fail them. It also helped nearer the time for him to do the past papers timed, so he actually got the hang on answering the questions in the time frame allowed.
Worth a try maybe?

From what you've said he needs more practice at exam style questions. As it gets nearer to the exams their is normally more emphasis on exam preparation and past papers in school but the focus right now is getting the syllabus finished. There are lots of past papers available from the exam boards with the mark scheme as well so your DS can see how he should have answered each question.

Has he done ok in controlled assessments and modules that he has taken so far?

Hi - thanks for your advice. I did download some past papers to help him with his mocks, which he did work through (but didn't seem to help on the day). He has been told about over-revising - I certainly don't believe it is a case of that but I do think he is a panicker. We have a parent's evening soon so will ask them (again) what ideas they may have to help him as he needs to get out of this mindset v v soon. I am at a loss.

We had similar problems with our ds. He, like your ds, is bright but made silly mistakes under exam pressure that cost him lots of marks. He was home educated/internet schooled so don't have any advice about what support the school might offer, but we got some revision guides from Amazon some here. We found the CGP guides very usable and gave lots of tips about how to answer questions. The other thing we did was get hold of as many past papers as possible for him to have a go at under exam conditions at home,so that he was more relaxed about the exam process. We also drilled into him the things you are doing e.g make sure you answer the question being asked, time management, start with the question you feel most confident about etc. We were so worried that he wasn't going to get the grades he needed for 6th Form that we also sent him on a crammer course which he found very helpful and definitely built his confidence.
Some of it must have worked as he wasn't predicted very good grades really and actually ended up with all A*s and As which we could hardly believe. We also think that he could up his game for the actual exams but didn't for the mocks as they weren't 'real', despite us telling him they were important and he seeming to take them seriously.
It is difficult when you know they have the knowledge but struggle to put it down on paper in the form the examiners are looking for, but you are obviously very supportive of your ds and that counts for a lot. Hopefully he will turn out to be a 'late bloomer' like our ds was.

Hi Webwiz, and thanks for your comments - his controlled assessments have been ok (not great, I must say, but ok). He took his first actual Maths GSCE at the beginning of the month (the 30% part). We (together) worked really hard on the preparation of this and he seemed ok when he came home so I must be positive about it. However, he came out of the mocks full of the joys of spring saying they were good exams!!!! I we now know what happened there.

I think it best I talk it over again with all his teachers at the parents evening. If he is going to need additional support they we/they together need to find the time to make sure he reaches his potential.

I agree with posters. Have been through all this once and am on round 2 at the moment. Past papers are definitely the way forward. I think the exam board websites also give marking schedules so he can see where the marks are awarded. Do the school offer revision sessions after school or in the holidays? My DC's found these particularly helpful.If the school don't could you ask them to. So much of the end result is knowing how to answer the questions and a failure at the mocks will have kicked his confidence.
Good luck.

Thanks winetimeisfinetime. I hope he is a 'late bloomer' too. I want him to prove them all wrong and I would love him to get the grades your DS did -I will reinforce that he is more than capable, its just another performance and if he gets it right, he only has to do it once.
Thanks everyone.

Hi Kandinsky - thanks for the advice and good wishes. I will definitely ask about revision sessions at school - that is a good idea.

I think I would stress to him that if he is having problems with exam technique then it is better to find out now when it can still be fixed rather than in the summer when its too late.

DD2 had this book which was really helpful

www.lettsandlonsdale.com/products/12758/gcse-success-study-skills/

talkingtomyself - think some GCSE exams are very difficult. Dd had a written exam for science which only lasted half an hour. How can you even read the questions properly, never mind think about what to write? My exams were all essay type three hours long - too long - but some of the modern ones seem very short. Think this can cause panicking and not reading the question properly. Doing practice papers seems the best weay forward - think they need even more practice when hardly have any time to think. Good luck.

Not sure if this has already been said but you can also download marker's criteria which may help focus on the type of response expected. It's not cheating as questions vary.

Not all schools give out text books for the pupils to take home. My ds work seemed to be on scraps of paper squashed at the bottom of his bag. As soon as he had chosen his options I went online and ordered the text books that accompany the relevant exam boards in the subjects text books not given out. In ds case the sciences & maths. I also downloaded the past papers & agree with the other posts that they make a huge difference. In fact some of the questions asked are very similar. We do the past papers all year & don't cram for exams. It paid of as ds got 100% for his recent science GCSEs & he isn't even in top set. I got a tutor to help with maths & have found that I have not found raising concerns with his teachers helpful. When I asked about getting a maths tutor his teacher was negative & said he didn't need it. That was in year 8. I could see he was struggling but his teacher said he would be fine. His results were not good. He has a tutor now & he is now predicted A*. What I'm saying is persevere. Some dcs have been practising past papers since 11+. I have got my ds in habit of a bit extra every day (with bribery) & he feels on top of all his work & does not worry so much about exams. I do wish your ds all the best of luck with his exams.

Key words are the thing to look for and what they are asking you to do. If a question asks you to explain, then do so; ensure there is a 'because' somewhere in the answer.

If the question asks you to describe, do so. For instance, describe how a meander forms will be different from explain how a meander forms.

There is always a clue in the question, and he needs to look for it.

If a question is asking for a concrete example of something - give it.

If you are asked to give two reasons for something, do so.

I always advised my students to take 5 minutes to read the exam paper, decide what they were going to answer and underline the key words in each question, like explain and describe, outline, give reasons etc. Also, to note little words that they may miss if reading the question fast - a not makes a huge difference to a question.

When I was marking one year, an A* candidate ballsed up all the 8 mark (explain) questions by not putting 'because' in, and her answers didn't explain, they described. This lost her 30 marks over the paper.

I am a senior examiner now, and I am still giving the same advice to ds in Year 10.