Good Luck tomorrow!

[Bougalou]

Herman,
Well he sounded pleased when I spoke to him at 10 - but have not seen him since, - is apparently "in town."!
Bouga

PS Wonderwoman - the results are fine and much better I suspect than the majority of those in the country. She should remember that she is probably comparing herself with the real high flyers and that is not representative of the whole country. - As long as your daughter has got what she needs to move on, that is all that counts. I spent too many years dwelling on lack of work at GCSE level rather than moving on, - life is too short, and as you say, - she won't make the same mistake again. The fact that she realises she could have worked harder means that she has learned a valuable lesson, and that she is capable of more. All the best to both of you.
Bougalou

[tiredmum]

i am very happy for my dd - she has taken all her exams a year early and got -
5 A's - all in the important subjects - english , math and the sciences
3 B's
1 C

Wondrwoman - i think your dd has done well - she seems to have done loads of exams though ?

[wonderwoman]

Oh thank you everyone - big congrats to all your DC. I think there is a lot of pressure on our DC these days.

I'm hoping DD will have learned a lesson and she does have all she needs to do her chosen A levels. We've had big hugs and although it's a hard lesson, I'm hoping she won't make the same mistake twice.

They do far too many GCSEs, in one go IMO, at DD's school and I have negotiated that DS does 1 less to make it more manageable.

Can some of you help with a question about BTECs? Some of my friends' children have brilliant results for these. How do they compare with GCSEs, do they provide a good entry to A levels and will universities look favourably on them? Only DS2 can do these and he has to make his choices next year. Advice greatfully received.

[hermanmunster]

Hi wonderwoman - BTEC? only just got my head around GCSEs (whatever happened to O levels???). More choice .... agreed I think they do too many GCSEs - really don't need that many!

[overpeck]

Forgive me for sounding thick but those results seem acceptable to me!! Not everyone can get a* and a. My daughter got similar results and I am proud that she passed all her exams. She has achieved better grades than my husband and I put together and we have done ok in life!!

[KS10]

Can some of you help with a question about BTECs? Some of my friends' children have brilliant results for these. How do they compare with GCSEs, do they provide a good entry to A levels and will universities look favourably on them?

My understanding is that they can equate to 4 GCSEs but are not as academic. In my neck of the woods they are used to boost the results of schools, hence the 2 sets of results for each school, one for 5+ A*-C (not including Maths and English) and the other (much lower) including Maths and English.

[sherry_d]

It was covered in the telegraph today how vocational courses are used to boost results.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... cores.html

But the think-tank Civitas claimed that certain courses were “practically irrelevant” and failed to properly prepare students for further education or the world of work....
The Coalition has already pledged to ban schools from using vocational qualifications as “equivalents” in GCSE tables

[wonderwoman]

I didn't mean to imply the results are unacceptable, far from it. I'm not worried about the results - my job is to support my DD and help her through a difficult day.

My DD is upset and very angry with herself. She had been estimated for all A*s and As. She is particularly upset to get Bs in all 3 sciences. She got A or A* in 3 papers for each and then got a C or D for one paper bringing the mark down.

She knew she hadn't done enough work and as we were driving to get the results she said as long as she got A*s for the 3 sciences she wouldn't be too upset. She had wanted to study medicine and hoped she would do well enough. She knows she's thrown the chance away, before she even got started.

[Alex]

There is an article in today's Telegraph about research having shown that organisations and individuals who experience a big failure go on to achieve the highest successes ultimately. I feel very sorry for your DD, wonderwoman - I think there is so much media concentration on how highly people need to achieve every step of the way that it can feel like a massive setback not to get it, in a way that we never experienced years ago. All is not lost. She has the grades to do the A levels she wants and there are other routes into medicine such as graduate entry. With your support hopefully she will pick herself up and learn the lessons and go forward wiser but without her confidence in herself too dented.

[wonderwoman]

Thank you everyone and as I said huge congratulations to all those who have gained the results they hoped for. I hope the celebrations haven't taken too much of a toll I'm talking to you parents .

I feel I've hijacked this thread unwittingly.

Bougalou - you're right, she is comparing to peers where far more than half the exams taken were graded A* / A. So not representative of the general population, just her friends.

Overpeck - I am proud of my DD, she is a truly wonderful young lady with many, many qualities and as an adult I know all is not lost. The results are not bad and she will be able to move forward. But it is horrible to see a child so disappointed with themselves. As her parent I want to protect her from any sort of pain, but we can't and we just have to be there to help and support.

Alex and Sherry-d - I'm going to search the Telegraph website for info on both subjects, thanks for your help. As I said, I did shockingly badly at school, failed to get into university and had to resit. I'm doing a job I love and I'm very good at (if I'm allowed to boast), but it was never my first choice.