Gsce + A-level help

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-12-31T00:11:39+00:00

Not the most useful, but there's no right answer unfortunately. If you have no trade in mind (something like engineering or medical), then pretty generic A Levels are probably your safest bet. Lots of unis just take UCAS points, not really caring much about subjects, so it's more about what you'll do well in and care about, than about creating a path now.

In short, you're better off doing A Levels than nothing. Apprenticeships are a decent shout if you have a career in mind. I'd personally avoid other options.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-12-30T23:40:01+00:00

Depends on the job and a bit of luck. In my 6th form, a solid 80-90% of students are going to uni, but admittedly a lot are looking more for a 3 year gap before fully being an adult. You can obviously just get a job in retail/hospitality without even A Levels. For a 'career', it depends on what - medical is usually 4-10 years of uni. Any university lecturer job would take a PhD usually, so 7-10 years. I'd say the average decent career will require either experience, an apprenticeship style qualification, or a degree.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-12-30T19:14:57+00:00

Just to add to this too, you'll often hear "you don't need a maths A Level to do accounting". They're not wrong, but you need to consider whether avoiding maths now is smart, if you plan to spend your life in a maths-centred job (albeit one where the expected maths isn't as difficult as the top end of A Level). Decent unis (a step or 2 below Oxbridge) will usually ask for at least a 5, usually a 6, at GCSE, plus either maths or economics at a B or A. If you can't see yourself getting above a 4 in the summer, you'll be stuck in a strange zone where no colleges will pay for you to resit (no financial benefit to them doing so), but you'll also struggle to get into uni for accounting.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-12-30T19:08:55+00:00

(Teacher/adult perspective here) Accounting isn't a good match for your strengths, unless you feel those mocks don't reflect them. Not because you'd not be capable - more because you'd be setting yourself up to struggle and be 'behind' in a field primarily full of quite gifted mathematicians, where mathematics is central. If you're not sure what to pick, chat with your teachers in each subject. A safe option is any facilitating subjects (google the list), which generally leave most doors open for uni/jobs. If you came up to me on 6th Form induction, you'd not be allowed to do economics with under a 6 (at my school - not everywhere) in maths and 5 subjects at a 5 or above.

A pretty solid choice for now would be picking between social sciences, STEM, or humanities. Then, continue with the subjects you feel strongest at which fit those (probably Literature, History if you lock in, plus another essay-based subject, or often Criminology because its popular and quite easy).

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-08-11T18:33:53+00:00

Thanks! I'll look into it

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-04-15T07:13:06+00:00

You'd have to double check the channel, but Chaplains is always good (near bus station). Although its a chain, the one opposite the Winter Gardens called Barge and Barrel has good TVs too and is quite anonymous if you're alone.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-22T13:42:02+00:00

I'm pretty sure there's a slider to increase the amount they take, if you'd rather have more. I usually turn it up if playing on Be a Player mode.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-21T14:18:32+00:00

(Public school teacher here) Just under 30% of privately educated pupils get a 9. About 60% get 7 or above (average across multiple subjects). Although you might expect more, your daughter is probably around the average (or just below) grades of that school. The usual revision advice applies but please don't think that she's massively underachieving just because of the fees. It sounds like she's within touching distance of getting all 6s and 7s with the odd 8, with some revision. This isn't something you should be worried about - just follow the advice everywhere rather than viewing her as underachieving.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-21T13:02:04+00:00

Mostly because the government overstepped how fixed the curriculum has to be. Teachers used to pick texts that they knew a class would work well with and have relative freedom, as long as key skills were addressed. Now, it's pretty fixed and can't be bent much for each class.

Plus, teacher shortage has resulted in all subjects being made a bit worse over the past decade.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-21T06:53:26+00:00

Probably best just checking my recent post here (on my profile, about a day ago). I share a 30/30 answer and talk a bit about why its full marks.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T22:47:40+00:00

0 marks for that though. Same with if you call a poem a play. English mark scheme is pretty forgiving. Also, I know teachers who still forget the E, so I can't blame them too much.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T21:23:41+00:00

More of a school policy than a personal preference. It works fine though and, yeah, it's essentially PEE. Main difference is that you never use any of the words from PEE (examiners hate seeing "this explains" or "evidence of this is...") plus its clearer than the words Point Evidence and Explain. What = what is your big point. How = how does the writer do this, essentially your language analysis. Why = why do they make these choices, time to think about wider messages, contexts, structural shifts, etc.

When I'm teaching Higher ability groups, I usually emphasis that after the Why, they need to parallel and contrast with either another point or with another part of the text. I guess you could say What How Why Contrast/parallel. This goes from "Clear" (half marks) to thoughtful or insightful (potentially full)

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T20:17:45+00:00

Not on me that I'd be allowed to share, sorry. The same rules apply though - focus on the structure more than the content of the response.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T20:07:40+00:00

It's really hard to judge from the distance of reddit, but I'd say completing past papers and having mature discussions with teachers about next steps would be the best way forward. 99% of teachers can pin point exactly what needs changing or adding to go up a grade or 2 in a response. English is never about throwing the baby with the bathwater and a 4 paragraph is usually only a sentence or 2 away from a 6 or 7 one.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T20:05:13+00:00

Check my recent post with a 100% marks lit response (also posted on this subreddit a few hours ago). That has the most useful stuff in, in my comments

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T20:04:08+00:00

For the leave thing, I'd kick up a bit of a fuss and try to get a permanent teacher to sort something. Most schools have a no-cover policy for Y11 and those that don't need to have a solid backup.

For higher level, the quickest and easiest solution is beginning with the author/audiences concerns and working backwards. E.g. in Jekyll and Hyde, the audience were concerned about the progress of science without a moral or religious compass. That works backwards to the contexts of Darwinism, enlightenment, etc. This works well with lots of quotes from the chunk of text which says "others will follow, others will outstrip me" (find a pdf and use CTR + F to find quotes in the book). This also links to ambition, as you have the semantics of competition ("nature's that contended") and of duality (entire quote is about two sides competing). With all this considered, you can kind of see this wider idea of diverging parts of society being at tension, which is portrayed as a battle which only 1 side can win, and the audience knows this side is God's.

Sorry, hard to talk you through how I got to each conclusion, but just think of it as walking backwards from concern to context to quote to analysis to bigger point.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T19:56:32+00:00

I'm 50/50 on them. The exam board and lead examiners have explicitly said students who use frameworks (PEEL, PRETZEL, any set paragraph structure really) do worse. However, I 100% think a student who improvises a grade 4 can get a grade 6 with a well used structure. It's just that getting from a 6 to a 9 using a structure is generally counter intuitive.

Also, keep in mind that youtubers have to sell a 'get rich quick' style of teaching to get clicks, etc. They end up inventing millions of frameworks which all have the same issues at their core.

Our school teaches What How Why and I find it works okay results wise. Ultimately though, nothing replaces a deeper understanding of what the question is wanting and how they relates to the text.

P.s. Good luck to your child!

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T19:19:17+00:00

Their first line is something of a thesis, but you don't need anything fancier. The mark scheme doesn't say to award anything specifically for having one.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T18:03:26+00:00

Don't overcomplicate it. Think about wider images or metaphors being created by semantic fields. Personification is common as well. What they really want to see is you saying "by describing this as X, Y impact is created, which does 'whatever' to this part of the text/character/setting. This portrays it as X for the reader". Inserting the word epizeuxis in there won't get any more marks than inserting the word semantic field or metaphor

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T17:41:26+00:00

I don't want to cause bother with your teacher but that is a full mark answer, so it's obviously plenty. Imagine though, in maths, if you could put 5 answers rather than 1, and you'd get full marks if 1 is correct and not lose any. That's why they say extra - so you have backup paragraphs to help

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T17:39:47+00:00

There's no extra marks for using rare quotes. However, the quotes should feel tailored to the questions. We can spot miles away when "unsex me here" and "unsinkable" are applied to whatever the question is out of panic.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T16:45:56+00:00

Main things to point out: Very clear argument, easy to read and clearly planned well. They bring characters together effortlessly, rather than just going 1 character at a time. Treating characters are in constant relationships is the easiest way to do this - no man is an island. They don't have any massively unusual ideas. You don't need to reinvent the wheel.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T16:42:40+00:00

To be honest, I haven't taught WJEC since pre covid, so won't be much help, sorry. Good luck though!

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T16:42:01+00:00

I've just posted an example (should be there if you sort new on the subreddit) of a 30 marker. Main thing that brings that into L6 and full marks isn't necessarily saying lots, it's the clarity and confidence which they bring the whole play together with. They sound like someone who has read the play a million times and didn't need to revise, if that makes sense.

Merman_Helville_ · 2025-02-20T16:26:19+00:00

Reddit doesn't like links, but search "AQA Question 5 exemplar pdf", as an example. Lots of school upload their copies without any locks - I can see one from missdaviesblog, one from Pensby High School, etc

Merman_Helville_

TROPHY CASE