GCSEs 2018
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Re: GCSEs 2018
The 'fashion' of long study leave stopped a few years ago when research showed it did not help results! The exams are spread over May and June whereas O levels were in June. I hated early study leave because it meant they didn't touch their maths for weeks as exams weren't until June.
Re: GCSEs 2018
Some schools have two lots of mocks - the school under discussion does - please stop criticising as it really isn't helping.mystery wrote:Yes, I am sure it is fine -- but some children will feel it is close and feel more pressured with a result that they are not personally satisfied with than with a January mock which feels a huge distance away. It depends on the personality. If you were surprised with several low results in March and you had a family holiday at Easter you could feel stressed whereas January would not have that effect.
Some schools do mocks in the November of year 11. How does that work? They surely will not have covered much of the syllabus.
Sure there's mark schemes --- but marking still has an element of leeway in it - much less so in maths of course. That's why remarks sometimes result in a different mark. And a school-marked paper doesn't go through the same quality control procedures as an externally marked one. Sometimes kids are stressing over quite a small number of marks different between them and their friends which could easily be accounted for by "marking style".
Many schools double mark mocks ... or one teacher marks all of some questions etc.
Re: GCSEs 2018
I know several schools that have mocks in or around November of year 11 and no later mock. How does that work? They must set exams which do not include topics that have not yet been covered maybe.
G55, sorry you read my posts this morning the way you do. It's just a general comment as to how some children would feel depending on what their results were and how far from the real thing they are. It's not criticism of you, a particular school or anything.
The student in question seems to be having some one to one help from the school which is lovely after having felt a bit dashed by a couple of results which were lower than hoped and a feeling that it is quite close to the real thing. I don't know who anyone is or what the schools are, it's an online forum about generalities. And things vary from school to school and teacher to teacher within the same school.
Yes, I am sure some schools double-mark mocks. Some will, some won't. But there is always some leeway in exam marking - it's an art not a science unless it's multiple choice. Those kinds of things can be helpful for kids to know who stress over a small number of marks different.
G55, sorry you read my posts this morning the way you do. It's just a general comment as to how some children would feel depending on what their results were and how far from the real thing they are. It's not criticism of you, a particular school or anything.
The student in question seems to be having some one to one help from the school which is lovely after having felt a bit dashed by a couple of results which were lower than hoped and a feeling that it is quite close to the real thing. I don't know who anyone is or what the schools are, it's an online forum about generalities. And things vary from school to school and teacher to teacher within the same school.
Yes, I am sure some schools double-mark mocks. Some will, some won't. But there is always some leeway in exam marking - it's an art not a science unless it's multiple choice. Those kinds of things can be helpful for kids to know who stress over a small number of marks different.
Last edited by mystery on Wed Mar 14, 2018 12:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: GCSEs 2018
Guest55, you'll know the school 
Mocks in November and Feb/March. There will be revision workshops in the Easter break which she fully intends to go to. I know one of the teachers will give her some specimen papers and a mark scheme but there are still some pupils that need to sit the mocks (presumably they were sick at the time of them) and then she can have them.
Can't fault dd's school. They are always there to help whenever I've asked for it. The points system for 6th form is the highest in the local area and it's the one 6th form where dd can take Dance A Level. She's predicted grade 8/9 for Dance GCSE. She has an interview at our other local GS next Monday but this is Plan B! She wouldn't be able to take Dance A Level there. I guess in her mind there's extra pressure to achieve the required points to stay on at her school because of that.
Mocks in November and Feb/March. There will be revision workshops in the Easter break which she fully intends to go to. I know one of the teachers will give her some specimen papers and a mark scheme but there are still some pupils that need to sit the mocks (presumably they were sick at the time of them) and then she can have them.
Can't fault dd's school. They are always there to help whenever I've asked for it. The points system for 6th form is the highest in the local area and it's the one 6th form where dd can take Dance A Level. She's predicted grade 8/9 for Dance GCSE. She has an interview at our other local GS next Monday but this is Plan B! She wouldn't be able to take Dance A Level there. I guess in her mind there's extra pressure to achieve the required points to stay on at her school because of that.
Re: GCSEs 2018
I think people come on this thread for mutual support - let's keep it like that.
Why don't you ask your daughter's school why they have mocks in November? One school I know did it so the students had a break at Christmas.
Why don't you ask your daughter's school why they have mocks in November? One school I know did it so the students had a break at Christmas.
Re: GCSEs 2018
Sounds lovely and very organised. Hopefully that will give her the confidence that this was a blip or they'll help her get to the level she wants to be before the real thing. Hope you get the online access to the Collins GCSE science materials sorted out - we find it frustrating that there are no answers supplied and if I find out the answer to this I'll let you know on here. I am trying to find out at the moment.
Re: GCSEs 2018
Guest55 wrote:I think people come on this thread for mutual support - let's keep it like that.
Why don't you ask your daughter's school why they have mocks in November? One school I know did it so the students had a break at Christmas.
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Re: GCSEs 2018
No idea when DD starts study leave - I believe they don't set the date till all the syllabuses have been covered. I am just glad that the 10 hour art exam has moved to after Easter as it was all getting a bit frantic finishing music and art coursework. DD is doing work experience, a national concert band festival and a 3 day uni taster over Easter so I am glad we didn't get hit with a second set of Mocks - hers were in January straight after Christmas break.Hera wrote:At this stage they have to make the best of what they have got. I am leaving my DS to it. For one subject they have not even had a first mock yet.
Just out of interest will anybodies kids have study leave in advance of the GCSEs beginning? I was surprised that Ds's study leave starts on Friday 11th May and his GCSEs start on Monday 14th! I wonder if this is because they are find it challenging to finish the courses. I am sure that when I did O-Levels many eons ago that we had a good time off before they started.
Re: GCSEs 2018
Hi Buzzybee,
Sorry to her your DC has had a knockback. Can I suggest a couple of revision ideas for physics and biology?
Physics - unlike the previous spec, candidates will only get about 7 equations on the help sheet. The other 13 or so they need to learn off by heart and be able to either rearrange them (like in maths) or understand how to plug in the figures. You can find the equations on the exam board website. The questions on the exam paper can be made up of a number of parts starting with the equation (they say things like define the relationship between... they mean what is the equation). If they Don't know the equation they can't answer the rest of the question.
If they can't work out the answer to the first part of a question that results in a number that they need to use in the next part of the question, tell them to write 2 and use that in the next bit. They will then get error carried forward marks.
Biology, Chemistry and Physics - make sure you know all the required practicals, how to set them up, what the independent and dependent variables are, what the controls are etc. 6 mark questions can literally be describe a method to investigate one of the practicals they have done. Easy marks.
I'm sure teachers will have loads more ideas but these are some basics that will add marks that are easily lost.
The new science GCSE's are more about applying knowledge than rote learning. I'll give you an example. Remind your DC's that if they are given an element that they are told is a metal but which they have never come across before and asked how they would test it to prove it is a metal, the principles are just the same as if they were testing what they have done in class with more common metals.
Hope this helps.
Sorry to her your DC has had a knockback. Can I suggest a couple of revision ideas for physics and biology?
Physics - unlike the previous spec, candidates will only get about 7 equations on the help sheet. The other 13 or so they need to learn off by heart and be able to either rearrange them (like in maths) or understand how to plug in the figures. You can find the equations on the exam board website. The questions on the exam paper can be made up of a number of parts starting with the equation (they say things like define the relationship between... they mean what is the equation). If they Don't know the equation they can't answer the rest of the question.
If they can't work out the answer to the first part of a question that results in a number that they need to use in the next part of the question, tell them to write 2 and use that in the next bit. They will then get error carried forward marks.
Biology, Chemistry and Physics - make sure you know all the required practicals, how to set them up, what the independent and dependent variables are, what the controls are etc. 6 mark questions can literally be describe a method to investigate one of the practicals they have done. Easy marks.
I'm sure teachers will have loads more ideas but these are some basics that will add marks that are easily lost.
The new science GCSE's are more about applying knowledge than rote learning. I'll give you an example. Remind your DC's that if they are given an element that they are told is a metal but which they have never come across before and asked how they would test it to prove it is a metal, the principles are just the same as if they were testing what they have done in class with more common metals.
Hope this helps.
Re: GCSEs 2018
The provisional exam timetable arrived in my inbox this morning. 22 exams, first in the 14th May. A few days where she has two (it is always something and geography).