Follow up from 'Disappointing AS results' last year

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wonderwoman
Posts: 511
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:07 pm

Follow up from 'Disappointing AS results' last year

Post by wonderwoman »

Hi all a bit of an update following your advice and support last year.

DD changed subjects and had a very difficult year repeating Y12. But today she is all smiles - 3 Bs and a C. :D

I could still do with some advice though:
She was given an estimate of E for Biology (despite pleasing school work), today she has got A in 2 papers and a B in another. Looking at the grade boundaries she is on the A boundary in the 2 papers and 2 marks below A in the B graded paper, she is wondering whether it is worth asking to repeat the B paper. French is a similar situation (though I think estimated B). The school generally discourage resits if students achieve or exceed their target. Or should she just really get her head down next year and hope to get high marks in all her papers.

She is hoping to study pharmacy and I think she feels As would give her more choice.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Follow up from 'Disappointing AS results' last year

Post by Guest55 »

Great news - well done to her!

What will the school predict for her? Being so close to a grade boundary makes a resit less attactive as it does diverts energy from the A2s - she can wait until March to decide and see what the January modules bring.

You can put the module grades on the UCAS form to show the grade As.
wonderwoman
Posts: 511
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:07 pm

Re: Follow up from 'Disappointing AS results' last year

Post by wonderwoman »

Guest55 wrote:Great news - well done to her!

What will the school predict for her?
Well I'm hoping they will up her predicted grades, when she applies to university. She was thoroughly demoralised at the end of term, having been given generally low predictions and was beginning to consider options other than completing A levels. She had been really excited by uni open days and then felt it wouldn't even be worth applying with low predictions.

Thank you for suggesting leaving it until March, I hadn't thought of that. Hopefully these grades will give her more confidence and she can do as well or even better next year.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Follow up from 'Disappointing AS results' last year

Post by Guest55 »

Many school don't allow AS resits in January as it does mean missing A2 lessons and energy diverted from the January A2 modules.

Once the results of these are out then you can calculate exactly where you are and decide which modules are worth resits.

She can now enjoy going to Open Days and browsing the UCAS site. :D
Alex
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Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Re: Follow up from 'Disappointing AS results' last year

Post by Alex »

Hi wonderwoman,
Well done to your DD to have picked herself up and coped with Y12 so much better this year. DD has just finished A2s. She had a very difficult start to Y12 and was only really getting into her stride at the end of it. She retook one Maths AS paper in Jan Y13 (which turned out to be unnecessary but went from D to A in that paper). She also retook one paper of her Chemistry AS in the summer and that was definitely worth it. She said that she felt it was much better to do it in the summer because having completed the whole course helped and also she did not want to do 2 resits in Jan. She also got a remark for one of the Jan A2 papers - (actually by default as she had planned just to get a photocopy of her paper to see how she could improve but missed the deadline for that and had to get a remark instead) - she gained a few raw marks which made a few more UMS marks and went up a grade. So for very close to the border it may be worth it...
Predictions are the main thing for uni offers - if school are still happy to predict high grades she should be OK for most unis.

Good luck
Looking for help
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Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:12 am
Location: Berkshire

Re: Follow up from 'Disappointing AS results' last year

Post by Looking for help »

Well done to your daughter for being able to turn it all around.

Another thing to think about is how many A2 module exams there will be in Jan and June 13.

My daughter retook one paper in Jan of this year -(the real reason for the retake was because her teacher told her he would predict a particular grade if she resat the one module) but she was only doing one other exam then, also the course was more fresh in her mind, I guess than had she had taken it again in the June. It's really about logistics. She did also retake a further portion of a module in June, but the exams were very spread out so it wasn't too onerous.
wonderwoman
Posts: 511
Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:07 pm

Re: Follow up from 'Disappointing AS results' last year

Post by wonderwoman »

Thanks for all your replies.
It seems that resits may be unnecessary. I tend not to trust the school anymore, but it does seem that they may detract from next year's work. Perhaps without resits she will be able to put all her energy into A2s. I think she'd just felt it was so frustrating to be so close to As.
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