University visits - class of 2020

[dubletrub]

What does your daughter want to do. If she is in her final year then she will have more exams to give her tutors ideas of her predicted grades. With DDD grades so far I don't presume she is looking to do anything with an October deadline so she and the college have until January to work out predicted grades.
My daughter was predicted ABB based on her gcse results 9, 8s and a 7. Unfortunately she suffered badly with her mental health and was never going to achieve that.
Her tutors put BBC on her application after her final mocks in December which where CDE. Her actual results where BCC.
1st choice wanted BBC and 2nd choice BCC, she was actually offered her 1st choice uni. This was studying radiotherapy with oncology.

[ChoppyGirl]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

My point is, the teachers should only state that the predicted grades are AAA if they think these are the grades the student are likely to get. They shouldn’t put AAA down just because that’s what the course/uni requires. That’s just setting the student up for major disappointment.

These are meant to be predicted grades, not required grades.

As the email from the Student Room said, three-quarters of these predicted grades are over-graded. Probably because that’s what the uni asked for so that’s what the teacher put down - regardless of whether the student was likely to achieve that grade or not.

All that means is that the majority of students end up being disappointed on results day and thus a higher number have to go through clearing because they didn’t achieve the “predicted” results. Perhaps if the teachers had actually said what they thought the student would get - rather than what the uni/course wanted - then the student could prepare earlier and apply for a course/uni that they were likely to get into on their UCAS form.

I wanted to know what the teacher thought my DD was likely to get. That way we could choose the right uni and course for her. She doesn’t want to put down Liverpool Uni if the teachers don’t think she’ll get an A because it would be a waste of an option. But bizarrely the teachers don’t seem to provide predicted grades based on what grade they think she will get. Which is crazy.

So instead we have to guess what we think DD will get. Which is stupid, IMO.

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This is what I was trying to get across without trying to offend xx I know she was looking at vet med which do need high actual grades and predicted grades. If the teacher is trying to be ‘nice’ by giving her AAA predicted grades because she needs it for her uni application then they are not helping anyone if those are the grades she is unlikely to get. Vet med application is a long and complicated road so no point putting someone through all the stress if on results day day she ends up with BBB, especially if she managed to get a place on a course. These are great grades to get into some animal related courses eg bio vet but won’t cut the mustard for vet med.

If the tutors do a proper assessment and think she will get BBB etc much better to state that now and she can manage her expectations and find a course she is more suited to and will enjoy.

Does she know her ALIS grades?

[marypoppins38]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

My point is, the teachers should only state that the predicted grades are AAA if they think these are the grades the student are likely to get. They shouldn’t put AAA down just because that’s what the course/uni requires. That’s just setting the student up for major disappointment.

These are meant to be predicted grades, not required grades.

As the email from the Student Room said, three-quarters of these predicted grades are over-graded. Probably because that’s what the uni asked for so that’s what the teacher put down - regardless of whether the student was likely to achieve that grade or not.

All that means is that the majority of students end up being disappointed on results day and thus a higher number have to go through clearing because they didn’t achieve the “predicted” results. Perhaps if the teachers had actually said what they thought the student would get - rather than what the uni/course wanted - then the student could prepare earlier and apply for a course/uni that they were likely to get into on their UCAS form.

I wanted to know what the teacher thought my DD was likely to get. That way we could choose the right uni and course for her. She doesn’t want to put down Liverpool Uni if the teachers don’t think she’ll get an A because it would be a waste of an option. But bizarrely the teachers don’t seem to provide predicted grades based on what grade they think she will get. Which is crazy.

So instead we have to guess what we think DD will get. Which is stupid, IMO.

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I understand totally what you are trying to say. What I meant was that if the tutors didn't think AAA was likely, they should be advising her to look at different route into what she wants to do (i.e. BioVet). What I ws trying to say was that if the tutors didnt put predicted AAA on a vetmed application then the application would just be rejected without consideration as it didnt meet the entry requirements. Dd is a vet student and the majority on her course have entered via a bio vet degree. She is one of very few that went in directly from A levels. If your dd doesn't think she will get AA then this route is definitely worth looking at. The top 5 students on biovet at the end of year 1 are given the chance to transfer onto the vetmed course at entry level.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by dubletrub

What does your daughter want to do. If she is in her final year then she will have more exams to give her tutors ideas of her predicted grades. With DDD grades so far I don't presume she is looking to do anything with an October deadline so she and the college have until January to work out predicted grades.

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She wants to do BioVeterinary Science. Although this doesn’t have a October deadline with UCAS, DD’s school gets their students to apply mid-October. The Med and VetMed students have already put in their applications a couple of weeks ago.

Although she got DDD in her mocks, all her other grades in other tests have been higher. She was averaging Bs. It’s a bit like her mocks for GCSE - the results of those were much lower than what she actually got in her GCSEs.

TBH, all the way through the school, I never really had much of an idea what GCSE grades DD was expected to get. They gave out “Target Grades” but each teacher seemed to treat these differently and some even said they were a bit meaningless.

Originally Posted by ChoppyGirl

I know she was looking at vet med which do need high actual grades and predicted grades.

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Originally she was looking at VetMed but she now knows she is unlikely to get the grades and hasn’t enough experience. Also, her GCSE grades aren’t high enough. Therefore she’s now interested in BioVet Science and similar courses now (after spending a week’s work experience at a zoo, she quite liked the idea of doing Zoology).

Originally Posted by ChoppyGirl

If the teacher is trying to be ‘nice’ by giving her AAA predicted grades because she needs it for her uni application then they are not helping anyone if those are the grades she is unlikely to get.

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It’s not just that they are being “kind” (athough there is that). It’s that they aren’t treating predicted grades as predicted grades (ie. grades that they predict she will get). Instead, they seem to treat them as “grades that the course requires and might be achievable if the student is lucky”.

Perhaps it is just DD’s school?

But, yeah, when I asked one teacher what he predicted DD would actually get he said, “teachers shouldn’t destroy students dreams”. Which, putting it that way, is true. But, equally, they need to be realistic and tell kids (and parents) what the child is likely to achieve so that they can plan accordingly.

Originally Posted by ChoppyGirl

Does she know her ALIS grades?

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I have no idea what ALIS is/are, let alone what her grades are in it?

[DisneyDaffodil]

Originally Posted by dubletrub

What does your daughter want to do. If she is in her final year then she will have more exams to give her tutors ideas of her predicted grades. With DDD grades so far I don't presume she is looking to do anything with an October deadline so she and the college have until January to work out predicted grades.
My daughter was predicted ABB based on her gcse results 9, 8s and a 7. Unfortunately she suffered badly with her mental health and was never going to achieve that.
Her tutors put BBC on her application after her final mocks in December which where CDE. Her actual results where BCC.
1st choice wanted BBC and 2nd choice BCC, she was actually offered her 1st choice uni. This was studying radiotherapy with oncology.

See more...

In our experience, predicted grades start high but teachers often lower them and actual results tend to be slightly lower in many cases. My DD was predicted A*A*A. However, the amount of work and high expectations at A level make this sort of grade very difficult to achieve. My daughter worked really hard and gained A*A B, her first choice Russell Group University asked for AAB so she still exceeded this so was fine for her course although she was slightly disappointed with her B.

I think it’s wrong to predict overly high grades, apart from the fact that if they don’t achieve this they may not get on the course, I think it puts too much pressure on the child. Mental health is far more important than an A*.

[marypoppins38]

Just another thought Nimbus, did your dd sit last summers OCR Biology and Chemistry papers for her mocks? If so tell her absolutely not to worry about DDD as the papers were notoriously awful. I am pretty sure that if my dd had been sitting them for her mocks at the start of year 13 she would have got similar grades. There is a real acceleration on learning goes in in these next few months as tutors finish teaching the last units and start to do revision with the students. This in top of her own revision will see her grades jump up. Lots of luck to her.

[Nimbus]

I’m not sure what papers she had for her mocks (and I can’t currently ask her). From what she said, a lot of people got poor grades for the mocks not just her.

The weird thing was her teachers don’t seem to concerned. I’m all “she got a 7 in her GCSE and in just one year she’s dropped to a D?!?”. And yet they don’t seem bothered.

Anyway, sorry for ranting and taking over this thread for the last couple of days.

[marypoppins38]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

I’m not sure what papers she had for her mocks (and I can’t currently ask her). From what she said, a lot of people got poor grades for the mocks not just her.

The weird thing was her teachers don’t seem to concerned. I’m all “she got a 7 in her GCSE and in just one year she’s dropped to a D?!?”. And yet they don’t seem bothered.

Anyway, sorry for ranting and taking over this thread for the last couple of days.

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Rant away, A Level year is incredibly stressful so its good to have an outlet where other peoples kids are going trough the same. I think at parents we are programmed to worry as we want them to fulfil their potential, yet the kids just seem to take it all in their stride.

[sammykitten]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

I’m not sure what papers she had for her mocks (and I can’t currently ask her). From what she said, a lot of people got poor grades for the mocks not just her.

The weird thing was her teachers don’t seem to concerned. I’m all “she got a 7 in her GCSE and in just one year she’s dropped to a D?!?”. And yet they don’t seem bothered.

Anyway, sorry for ranting and taking over this thread for the last couple of days.

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to put some perspective on that "drop to a D". My DD got an 8 in one subject at GCSE which she then went on to take at A-level. She got a D in her mocks at the end of year 12. She was told at her parents evenings and tutor meetings that if she wanted higher than a C at A-level results she'd have to do extra work, extra reading, the course content itself would get her a pass, but not necessarily more than a C pass. This was the same for all 3 of her A-level courses (all essay-based). Her tutors also needed to see evidence that she was working and doing that extra work, before they would "up" their predicted grades for her.
She pretty much coasted through her GCSE's, and by her own admission she didn't do a lot of extra reading etc for her A-levels. She got 3 C's at A-level.

I know you did A-levels yourself Nimbus, I didn't (I was in the Scottish education system) - but going by my DD's experience of GCSE to A-level, the jump is a big one, far more intense work required by the student to get and keep good grades.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by sammykitten

to put some perspective on that "drop to a D". My DD got an 8 in one subject at GCSE which she then went on to take at A-level. She got a D in her mocks at the end of year 12. She was told at her parents evenings and tutor meetings that if she wanted higher than a C at A-level results she'd have to do extra work, extra reading, the course content itself would get her a pass, but not necessarily more than a C pass. This was the same for all 3 of her A-level courses (all essay-based). Her tutors also needed to see evidence that she was working and doing that extra work, before they would "up" their predicted grades for her.
She pretty much coasted through her GCSE's, and by her own admission she didn't do a lot of extra reading etc for her A-levels. She got 3 C's at A-level.

I know you did A-levels yourself Nimbus, I didn't (I was in the Scottish education system) - but going by my DD's experience of GCSE to A-level, the jump is a big one, far more intense work required by the student to get and keep good grades.

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Interestingly, I just read a bit of research that says the most common A-level grade achieved is usually one grade below the relevant GCSE grade (eg. If a student achieved a A grade at GCSE then they would most likely achieve a B grade at A-level).

assets.publishing.service.go.../DFE-RR195.pdf

A-levels are a lot more hard work and clearly are more difficult than GCSEs (hence why they are called “advanced levels”). However, students only have to concentrate on 3 (or 4) subjects rather than 9 subjects, and usually those 3 subjects are ones that they like. That helps to some degree.

I know things are very different now to how they were back in my day, but I enjoyed A-levels more than O-levels (yep, I’m that old).