Son struggling with A-Levels

pollypenny

Becles wrote: »

Yes I've looked through them. He's read the answers and knows he's missed loads out and knows what he could have put in, but he just didn't!

He said it's like a mental block and he walks in the room and forgets everything, he writes slow to make it neat and worries about running out of time. The mock he did worst in didn't have a clock in the room so he was panicking about the time.

I've mentioned things in the thread to him and he's going to have a chat with his tutors tomorrow and I'll try and call them later in the week to see how he is getting on and see if they can suggest anything else.

The extra English lessons sounds like a good idea just so he's more confident about his writing. I'll look into that if he thinks that would help.

Then it's clearly down to exam strategy and planning in the exam.

He should write down times for each essay, ie 9.00 - 9.45: 9.45 - 10.30 etc.

And forget about neatness. As long as it's legible it'll be fine. Have a collection of comfortable pens, too and change when one starts to dig in.

borkid

Becles wrote: »

That's been poor right through school as well. That's something we worked really hard on going right back to infant school copying out each letter multiple times so his GCSE's would be readable for the exam marker.

When my son was 14 he hated his handwriting so he wouldn't write. He was so fussy about how things looked. If he drew a diagram for science the lines all had to be exactly the right length if one was a mm out he wouuld rub it all out and start again.

We managed to get the english teacher to allow him to wordprocess his work for a term just to show the teacher he could actually write and was very creative and secondly to build my son's confidence. It worked he did go back to writing longhand and hated it but we had proved to him he was good at writing and he just had to use the system as it was as we couldn't change it.

20 years on he is still a perfectionist but that's what his employer wants. His attention to detail is well above anyone else in the family he completes deadlines at work. I just wish his english teacher was still at the school so I could go back and say ' look that kid you at one time thought was uncreative has had his poetry published'

Exam wise my son under achieved but once he went to uni and then onto work he just soared. The school system and exams weren't right for him. Even the headteacher at school said he would surprise us all once he was out of the system.

swampduck

You say your son was tested for dyslexia - as a result of this has he been given concessions for his coursework, timed assessments and actual exams?
Working in SENco administration I know that concessions like this can mean a massive difference to the students concerned. Every student is different and where one student may freak out during exams because of anxiety issues another may struggle because of trying to put thoughts and ideas on paper.
They can both be helped - the first student should visit be encouraged to visit their GP for help with their anxiety. If needs be a medical letter can see the student having rest breaks during their exams in which they can relax, gather their thoughts and calm down before returning to continue their exam session.
In the case of students struggling to express themselves - there are a variety of techniques they can try until they find what works for them. This may be learning how to answer exam papers and employ exam techniques, learning to write properly (daft I know!!) because students do so much with keyboards now their writing is put on the back burner throughout school life and we all know that practice makes perfect! Some students' writing is so diabolical that a laptop is the only answer for them - and enables them to answer their exam questions properly. Students with dyslexia need extra time to process their thoughts and extra time can be allocated for this BUT and it's a big BUT it has to be proven and evidenced to JCQ (who monitor concessions and so on for exams) that this IS the students normal way of working.
So if anything is to be done to help your son then you and he need to get on board with this as soon as possible. Speak to your sons' SENco officer, voice your concerns and ask how they are going to help your son achieve his best potential. Teachers can do their bit too once you and your son know what he can access. Concessions can range from readers, to scribes, to laptops, to extra time in exams which will also applied to timed assessments so if he is given for example 25% extra time as a concession. An hour for his classmates becomes an hour and 15 minutes for him which can be a few marks or even a whole grade uplift difference not to mention the boost to his confidence once he feels he is achieving something.
Nothing to be lost and everything to be gained and improved on if it helps your son to achieve what he wants in life.

Swampy

Savvy_Sue

Becles wrote: »

I thought his GCSE's were good but he was disappointed and thought he could have done better. School said he had no problems so he did the exams as normal.

He's in college now and they do recognise the problem and give him extra time for exams because of the dyslexia.

But the extra time may not be enough if he's struggling to write, so I would try to work out, with him and the college, what specific help HE needs.

However, it may be worth helping him think outside the box as well. Law is immensely competitive, but are there law related things he's interested in? Not that he's not bright enough to do law, but does he want to be in this grind for the next however many years when there may be something in a parallel field he could go for which would not be such a strain.

Jagraf

Op - could you give us an idea of he gap between his GCSEs and his mocks for A level - for example, did he get As and Bs in his GCSEs and then, say, Ds and Es in his mocks?

At my daughters school everyone who started A level maths had to do tests during the first two months to see if they could cope with the curriculum, regardless of their gcse grade.

A levels are really really hard.

securityguy

"Law, sociology and psychology. All essay based subjects"

That's a very strange combination: why has he chosen them? They have in common that they are (a) not only not required but not even recommended for the matching degree, and (b) held in very low regard for other degrees. It's also, as you say, three essay based subjects, which is a huge load, independent of their applicability. I would also be surprised if he had done GCSEs in any of them, certainly not all of them, so it's three new subjects. It seems a perfect storm: unfamiliar subjects of limited applicability which are also a high workload.

missbiggles1

Jagraf wrote: »

Op - could you give us an idea of he gap between his GCSEs and his mocks for A level - for example, did he get As and Bs in his GCSEs and then, say, Ds and Es in his mocks?

At my daughters school everyone who started A level maths had to do tests during the first two months to see if they could cope with the curriculum, regardless of their gcse grade.

A levels are really really hard.

I asked about GCSE grades a while ago as the OP said her son was disappointed with them. It may be just that he's taken on more than he can chew academically and the problems with essay writing are a bit of a smokescreen.

skattykatty

It sounds like he's an bright, articulate young man whose writing doesn't do justice to his thinking and abilities.

There seems to be 2 main areas to think about:
-what are his needs re. dyslexia?
-how can he be supported to manage exam stress, which may be, in part, due to his dyslexia?

Perhaps its time to get a proper assessment of his dyslexia. He may need a scribe OR have some kind of laptop to write. There is no reason why he cannot go on to study law IF his needs are properly assessed then he can continue getting the support he needs at university.

Many people with dyslexia are very visual learners and can make connections between disparate concepts quickly. Someone mentioned mind maps. If he was taught how to map out an essay, then write it, it may help him. This skill would take time to develop (may exacerbate his stress because of his slow longhand) but would be worth it one term. Also, it does sound like he gets quite stressed, so learning some 'calming' strategies may help him.

missbiggles1

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

But the extra time may not be enough if he's struggling to write, so I would try to work out, with him and the college, what specific help HE needs.

However, it may be worth helping him think outside the box as well. Law is immensely competitive, but are there law related things he's interested in? Not that he's not bright enough to do law, but does he want to be in this grind for the next however many years when there may be something in a parallel field he could go for which would not be such a strain.

Just to point out, the vast majority of Law graduates don't go on to work in the legal area anyway.

mumps

securityguy wrote: »

"Law, sociology and psychology. All essay based subjects"

That's a very strange combination: why has he chosen them? They have in common that they are (a) not only not required but not even recommended for the matching degree, and (b) held in very low regard for other degrees. It's also, as you say, three essay based subjects, which is a huge load, independent of their applicability. I would also be surprised if he had done GCSEs in any of them, certainly not all of them, so it's three new subjects. It seems a perfect storm: unfamiliar subjects of limited applicability which are also a high workload.

I know someone with very similar A levels, in fact I'd say replace the most respected of those A levels with one less respected and you'd have it. They have a law degree and then the legal practice course.

I do agree that they are very heavily essay based and not the best choice for someone who isn't good at essays.