# My child wants to drop from Higher to Ordinary level in Physics LC exam on Monday



## Subtitle (19 Jun 2010)

I hope I'm posting this on the correct forum.
He is not confident about this exam and is now panicking. 
He doesn't need Physics for any of his college choices and I am confident he wont need the points as it is his poorest subject. College points are calculated from his six best subjects and Physics isn't one of them. 
I am worried that, as he has not prepared for Ordinary level that he will be doing himself a disservice and end up failing in this subject if he changes. I think he would probably scrape a D, maybe a C, if he was lucky, with the paper in Higher level. Ultimatley I would like him to be comfortable and at ease with any choice he makes and hopefully to not reget it later.
My questions are:
What are the differences between the Higher level and Ordinary level papers? 
Is Ordinary level the same course just less in depth than Higher level or is it a totally different course?

Thanks in advance for any info you can supply us with.


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## MrEBear (19 Jun 2010)

Hi Subtitle, I actually did this myself when I did my LC (about 6 years ago) and the only real difference I noticed was that you needed less explination in your answers and some of the formulas were given on the paper. The paper when I did it was majorily maths so if your son is good at maths he should be ok. As for the material it's the same as higher.

Hope the helps and best of luck to him on Monday


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## niceoneted (19 Jun 2010)

What an awful place to be for him. 
I would try to encourage him to do the Higher level. There is still time to revise. He should concentrate on going over all the past papers in depth. Even if it means sitting down with him at times to assist. Have him concentrate on questions that he can maximise the marks. 
Reassure him that he knows a lot of the information and he just needs to relax to let the information flow out. 
I remember being in that position before and I stuck with the higher paper. 
Good luck to him.


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## tenchi-fan (19 Jun 2010)

He shouldn't drop at the last minute. The syllabus can be a bit different, but mainly he won't be prepared for the format of the paper or how its marked.

A D in higher level is worth around 50 points. An A2 in ord level is worth 50 points. The only difference he has scope for higher points by doing higher level and if he wanted to do a course in future the higher level grade in physics could stand to him.


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## Brendan Burgess (19 Jun 2010)

Can you contact the Physics teacher and get their advice?


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## MaryBe (19 Jun 2010)

I have been where you are when my son did his Leaving Cert some years back. He got himself worked up into a state. I sat him down and told him not to worry of such a trivial thing in the bigger world. 
I asked him to promise me one thing and that was that he would not think about the choice of higher or lower until he sat down at his desk in the exam hall. I asked him to wait until the examiner offered him his paper and to then make an on the spot decision. Internally, I was praying for him and hoping he would take the higher level but I did not advocate either paper to him.
When he came home from the exam, I asked him what he chose and he said he waited until the examiner came round and instinctively asked for the higher. He said the paper was very hard but did his best. He got a C1 and was thrilled. Sometimes its best to take a step back and see the bigger picture. There is far too much pressure on our youth. No matter what they want to do with their lives there are always other routes to take them to their goal. It may take longer but the pressure will be more bearable. I hope he is ok for Monday - take care.


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## Subtitle (19 Jun 2010)

Thanks for your replies and good wishes 

Brendan his teacher is uncontactable this weekend. I have tried to reach her a few times.

In the meantime he is revising away and going over old exam papers. 
I don't suppose he will make the final decision until the day, I'd just like him to be aware of any pitfalls.


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## Thirsty (19 Jun 2010)

I'd second the advice to take the Higher paper; better to get a D in Honours than an A in pass.


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## Moral Ethos (19 Jun 2010)

A D3 in higher level is worth 45 points, same as a B1 in pass.

An E in higher is worth nothing and will haunt him for the rest of his life.


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## tenchi-fan (19 Jun 2010)

You'd have to be pretty clueless to get an E. With grade inflation around 40% of students now get As and Bs. And which looks better on a CV - an honour or a pass grade?


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## sidzer (19 Jun 2010)

Mocks are usually a good guide and it is at this stage that the teacher offers his/her advice on levels....

Many students choose to ignore their teachers' advice and it is only closer to the exam that they then realise the game is up.... Teachers are usually fairly good at guessing how the student will perform although they don't always get it right...

If it is his weakest subject and he is doing 6 other higher level subjects then it probably won't have any bearing on his points tally... if he drops down its not the end of the world but it would be good to talk to a physics teacher about any differences in course...

anyways hope he does well whatever level he chooses,,,


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## csirl (21 Jun 2010)

> He doesn't need Physics for any of his college choices and I am confident he wont need the points as it is his poorest subject.


 
Then he has nothing to lose by doing the Honours paper. 

The way I see it is, if his teacher did not think he was good enough to pass the Honours paper, he would have dropped him to pass level months ago. A decision made over a long period of time by an appropriately qualified and knowledgeable professional will usually be better than one made under pressure at short notice by anyone else. Go with the professional advice.


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## Cooper7 (21 Jun 2010)

One of my biggest regrets in life is deciding to drop from higher level maths to lower level a couple of days before my leaving. I actually still think about going back and doing it just to prove to myself I can.

If he is in two minds about it I say go for the higher level, he has studied and geared himself up for the higher level over the last 2 years probably and because it's not his strongest subject he is getting nervous but what's the worst case scenario, he fails it but as you said he doesn't need the points from this subject so it doesn't really matter but to be honest a person doing higher level physics at all ,in my opinion, isn't going to fail.

Best of luck to him - I know it's a tough decision.


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## MaryBe (21 Jun 2010)

Please let us know how he got on today....


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## Subtitle (21 Jun 2010)

Well, I'm delighted to say he stuck with it and did the Higher paper. 
He thought some sections were tough but certainly doable and is very pleased that he didn't drop down.
He said when he got home, that if he had dropped he would be regretting it already and whatever grade he achieves he is very happy with the choice he made today.
He took a lot of encouragement from all your comments as well. So thank you all for your input.


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## fizzelina (21 Jun 2010)

Well Done to him  Now he won't have any regret or I wish I'd done the HL thoughts.


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## niceoneted (21 Jun 2010)

Fair play to him. Very character building decision. Hope he can let his hair down now and enjoy the summer before college. 
Do come back and let us know how he got on when the results come out in August.


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## MaryBe (22 Jun 2010)

Very well done to him and I'm sure he is extremely proud of himself and you are too.  Now he can relax and go mad at oxygen!!!!  Congrats


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## Boyd (22 Jun 2010)

1) Congrats, great to hear it worked out!

2) Referring to him as a child probably would annoy him if he knew since he is at least 17!

3) 





MaryBM said:


> Very well done to him and I'm sure he is extremely proud of himself and you are too.  Now he can relax and go mad at oxygen!!!!  Congrats


This is why nobody wants to go to Oxegen anymore......


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## MaryBe (22 Jun 2010)

username123 said:


> 1)
> This is why nobody wants to go to Oxegen anymore......


 Depends on you defination of 'going mad'.  I go mad DANCING.  You obviously interpret a different defination.


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## Boyd (22 Jun 2010)

No I meant due to the fact that Oxegen is now predominantly seen as a post-leaving cert party.....not a music festival


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## MaryBe (22 Jun 2010)

Point taken.  I didn't know that.  My son is coming home from the U.A.E. and I asked him if he wanted tickets for Oxygen.  He said he will have a think about it......there was a time he would jump at the chance.  Maybe he is aware of the change.


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