GCSE mock results

thriftykatie

If your son is agreeable to a tutor then I suggest it would be a big help. I am lucky as my daughter worked hard for her mocks and the real thing but had a problem with Science (although as she got a B in her mock I really didn't think she had a problem!). She had a few sessions with a tutor (in fact her Chemistry teacher who also did private tutoring) and she got A* in her GCSE. One of the main advantages of tutoring (and I say this from the tutor's point of view as well as I tutor 7-11 year olds) is the one to one attention - great for the confidence of the child and also the chance to really work on any areas that are problematic.

You will probably find that he will do better in his GCSEs as there is more motivation to work towards the real exams. It may help to sit down with him and work out a (realistic) revision timetable starting after Easter. Also chat with his teachers to see if there are any particular areas he needs help with.

If you are looking for a tutor start by asking his teachers if they recommend anyone. It is also worth mentioning that it is important that your son likes/respects his tutor as otherwise he is not so likely to put the effort in.

If you have a good relationship with him, start by sitting down and chatting with him about how he feels about his results and where he wants to go from here.

Good luck.

sare_2

I did well at school but my weak subject was Maths.
Maths was the only one I was predicted to get less than a C in , so my parents and my friends parents split the cost and we shared a maths tutor for an hour a week.
I'm certain without this extra help I would not have got the 'C' I did.
It was definitely worth it in my case.
Your son's results are still respectable, and don't forget they were only mocks.Most people do better than their mock grades, as it can serve as a wake up call to some, or a challenge to do better for others.

cupid_s

I always struggled with english. Both language and literature. Everything else I did really well at but I hated the fact that I'd get special recognition if I managed to get above a C in a piece of work, whereas my friends we're all told they should be doing better, not good enough etc when they got the same grades as me.

I got a tutor for an hour a week for a few months and ended up with an A* in language and B in literature so it was definately worth it.

My actual grades were mostly better than my mocks and this is true of most people I think, maybe the shock compels them to work harder

mae

Thanks for all your replies it has made me feel a lot better. He is a home bird and doesn't go out often so this is not the reason he didn't revise he is just bad at managing his time and would rather be on a soccer forum or reading his Four Four Two mag than knuckling down although other than that he does have a great attitude to his future and wants to do well in his exams and I am hoping that his mock results will make him realise than just wanting it bad enough will not be enough and that he needs to apply himself. I have a very good relationship with him and I have told him that if he got all Ds but he had put in his best effort that would be fine with me but at the mo I know he isn't doing his best. I have mentioned the tutor idea to him and he is happy to get one. He did have one when he was younger but says he doesn't want the same one as he stopped learning anything from her. So I need to ask around for another one.
School have sent us a letter asking us to go in and see them about his results so I will ask if they are having extra revision sessions and also see if they can recommend a tutor.
Thanks for all your help its been really interesting and very helpful to us both, I have shown my son your replies and I think its helped him too.

cupid_s

Just one thing. I'm a postgrad and I often get University e-mails asking if anyone would be willing to tutor x's son or daughter in a certain subject. I'm not sure if you're in a Uni area but sometimes slightly younger people can relate better and will have done the work more recently and might be cheaper (with this being MSE an all).

Just worth a consideration maybe. Other than this I know some places do week or 2 week long revision courses in certain subjects - I think they're over easter. I went on one for A-level chemistry and there were lots of students doing GCSEs there.

mae

Cupid stunt
thanks but there isn't a uni in my town or that would have been something I would have looked into.
What was the other thing you suggested about a 1 or 2 week long revision courses? /they sound good. How would I find out about that do you know?

black-saturn

It was O levels in my day but I got really bad grades in mine. All C's and D's but I went on to get 7 A levels at grade A and a degree. Mocks always come out worse than the real thing anyway.

crompton

i have maths tutoring for gcse's on a thursday night. I must say that since i have started it my maths has improved 100% and i had a B in my mock (highest i can get because i am doing intermediate, even though i had level 7 in SATS stupid school)

amandathepanda

I am sure that all their GCSE grades would greatly improve if they came off MSN. I keep trying to tell my daughter that she can't possibly give her school work 100% if she is trying to talk to her friends at the same time. I think as the exams approach my wireless router is going to start acting up

scorpio_princess

3plus1 wrote:

I'm very lucky and got excellent marks, but I didn't think this was all that important at the time. Now that I'm a final year uni student, applying for jobs, those GSCEs are becoming all the more important, as every single one of my previous academic results are being scrutinized by the big employers. If I'd known that when I was at school, I would have worked even harder!;)

Do employers really look into your exam result acheived when you were barely 16?? That seems a bit insane really - I always thought that further educational acheivements almost superceded earlier results. After all, if you have a first class degree from a good uni, I think that says a lot about a person's intelligence and aptitude for learning - why should it matter if you didn't get straight A*s at GCSE? To be honest, I've long held the opinion that the whole GCSE structure needs overhauling - kids are being coached to pass exams, rather than actually absorb anything that might be useful to them one day.

My own GCSE results were a real reflection of the subjects I loved and the ones I didn't - I got brilliant grades in all the arts subjects, not so brilliant at the science ones. I've always thought that you're either an arts-type person or a science one - i'm definitely the former! I don't know why kids are expected to be good at everything - talk about pressure! It was bad enough when I was at school 10 years ago, goodness knows what it's like now...

For the OP - I remember scoring terribly inmy GCSE mocks (I got an E in English language - my real score was an A*) so I wouldn't read too much into it. Maybe your son hasn't put too much effort into the mocks because he wants to save his energies fo the real thing - the ones that count! I know I felt this way - didn't take them seriously because it seemed like a waste of time, when i'd rather have been revising for actual exams.

This is all MHO of course - only you know your son inside out so go with what you and him both agree is best for him.