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A-level mocks a complete failure

chucklepie

Hello,

My son has HFA. For this he receives additional time in exams to read the papers.

On finishing GCSE's he got mostly A and B grades. However, he's finding the mock-exams at A-level grade difficult in that on his latest he got a U. 

The problem is he fully understands the subject (and his other subjects) and probably knows more about it than the others but he simply cannot infer from the questions what they want him to say (he doesn't take things literally like answering 'yes' to questions requiring a full answer, just fails to pick out what is being inferred).

It seems the move to A-level is exaggerating this greatly.

It's really quite sad that someone who clearly fully understanding the entire topic to a high level will fail completely due to this.

Is there anything that can be done, e.g. (I doubt it but) is there a way exam questions can be altered to be more specific, or are there any books available where I/he can read to attempt to improve his ability to interpret questions, etc. ?

Thanks.

Parents

  • I did well in my GCSEs. I then initially struggled in my A Levels. In my mocks I got Ds. But managed to turn them to As. I had some really caring teachers who did mock essays with FB every week and due to excessive rote practice I became a master at structuring an essay. I undoubtedly struggled as ama result of my learning difficulties...

    That continual theme of practice (i.e learning for a topic every week) with continual feedback helped me to narrow the objective of my focus to something pratical. Once I'd spent 10 minutes on a quick mind map and digesting what I thought they wanted it became easier.... As I was writing the essay I'd continually check back to the question to ensure I'd not tangentially wandered off .... Instill this as a habit in him by rote practice and it won't be an issue.

    The question I'd then ask is do I have time to do this prior to the September exams. It's likely too late

    If I could tell my past  self one thing it would be to take 3 years for A levels. I'm a slow learner as I need to absorbe more low level detail to make the big picture stack up. There's then a strength because the level of inquiry is more detailed. 

    Maybe then take the exams in September as practice but also re do his final year with an emphasis on practices how to answer questions. It's not the end he's just at the start. This will take the pressure off your son and he can be safe in the knowledge the new tactics should help. 

    Use this as a turning point. He can and should go to uni given his GCSEs but don't rush it. I struggled in my first degree as this was all undiganosed and it became a real struggle but that is another story. 

    All the best and trust me it isn't a disaster as it may seem. I used to think I had dyscalclia due to my visual stress... turns out I just got a distinction in a statistics masters i took in middle age. All the equations and algebra were initially a nightmare but I managed to break through the barrier. The key to your son's learning is to encourage his effort and help him to thinking he can still do it... It can become disparaging if you seem slower than everyone else but that's half the battle determination which aspies often have in spades

    Ted 

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  • I did well in my GCSEs. I then initially struggled in my A Levels. In my mocks I got Ds. But managed to turn them to As. I had some really caring teachers who did mock essays with FB every week and due to excessive rote practice I became a master at structuring an essay. I undoubtedly struggled as ama result of my learning difficulties...

    That continual theme of practice (i.e learning for a topic every week) with continual feedback helped me to narrow the objective of my focus to something pratical. Once I'd spent 10 minutes on a quick mind map and digesting what I thought they wanted it became easier.... As I was writing the essay I'd continually check back to the question to ensure I'd not tangentially wandered off .... Instill this as a habit in him by rote practice and it won't be an issue.

    The question I'd then ask is do I have time to do this prior to the September exams. It's likely too late

    If I could tell my past  self one thing it would be to take 3 years for A levels. I'm a slow learner as I need to absorbe more low level detail to make the big picture stack up. There's then a strength because the level of inquiry is more detailed. 

    Maybe then take the exams in September as practice but also re do his final year with an emphasis on practices how to answer questions. It's not the end he's just at the start. This will take the pressure off your son and he can be safe in the knowledge the new tactics should help. 

    Use this as a turning point. He can and should go to uni given his GCSEs but don't rush it. I struggled in my first degree as this was all undiganosed and it became a real struggle but that is another story. 

    All the best and trust me it isn't a disaster as it may seem. I used to think I had dyscalclia due to my visual stress... turns out I just got a distinction in a statistics masters i took in middle age. All the equations and algebra were initially a nightmare but I managed to break through the barrier. The key to your son's learning is to encourage his effort and help him to thinking he can still do it... It can become disparaging if you seem slower than everyone else but that's half the battle determination which aspies often have in spades

    Ted 

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