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Were you ever underestimated by your teachers?

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Yeah, I think I must look stupid or something because people seem to think I'm mentally disabled. Sometimes they even ask me outright.

But right at the start of my GCSEs my new English teacher took me aside and quietly explained how my high school were suggesting that my target grade should be an A, but that he thought that there was some mistake and that I wasn't capable of more than a C. I went on to get two A*s in English.

Reply 81

CarysMoo

Some arbitrary "predicted grade" calculated in year 9 predicted me a C in English GCSE, which really hurt me at the time because I thought it was the only subject I was good at. Got A*A at GCSE and A*A* at A-level.

Predicted a D all the way through AS history, got an A. My teacher was lovely to me in year 13 after that and had real faith in me! I think she just had the wrong impression of me.

Told by my GCSE maths teacher that I would get an E, and indeed, got Es throughout GCSE. Ended up with a B, which is a fail by TSR standards, but a personal triumph for me as someone who massively struggled due to years of bad teaching.

Generally, at my secondary school, there was a "get a C and you'll go far in life" attitude, and I always felt a bit underestimated. I got 2 A*s and 4 As or something, and a few Bs, and that was the second highest in my year (which by no means is amazing by TSR standards, but it was an absolutely fantastic achievement for me at the time who had no faith in my intelligence). I then got A*A*A at A-level. So, yeah.

Reply 82

vanessa409

Never did any work in maths throughout the whole of secondary school, my maths workbooks were just filled with doodles and strange drawings, and I'd spend the whole lesson messing about with my friends. I took my maths GCSE module 1 in year 9 and to my teacher's great surprise got a B, but then my school decided to scrap that result and go with a different exam board :angry:

In year 10 I stopped turning up to maths class altogether, but at the end of the year I got a grade C which was nothing short of a miracle! The annoying thing about passing maths in year 10 was that I had to legally continue it into year 11 even though I'd passed, so I just continued not turning up.

Reply 83

TheIrrational

Year 12 Term 1 -> You will probably fail maths AS.

Year 12 Term 2 -> With more work you could get a B.

Present day -> A*A* Maths and further maths A levels and getting solid firsts in maths at Warwick.

Reply 84

Joshale

Was in bottom set for maths in GCSE, predicted a flipping F, well got a C so I was happy.

Reply 85

username1277215

Yesss my chem a level teacher thought I was such a dumb girl, but surprised him at the end.

Reply 86

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Totally. Was told I wasn't clever enough to study Latin, and that I'd never get anywhere near an offer from Oxford :colonhash:

Reply 87

Michiyo

Yes. In Years 6-9 my Romanian teacher kept on giving me D's and sometimes F's, C's only when I did exceptionally well.

Guess who got A* and the best marks in the entire school at the exam, without even studying.

In Year 9, my Mathematics teacher taught I would fail the exam. In return, I got straight A*'s all throughout the rest of the year and eventually passed the exam.

Also, this year I am in the upper middle class at English solely because I am foreign. I am predicted A* and got top marks at every assignment so far, not to mention that it is not my first language and I moved to England less than four months ago.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 88

Asexual Demigod

My teachers never underestimated me; my intelligence was quite evident. I severely underestimated myself though and still do. If anything, I underestimated my teachers.

Reply 89

parentlurker

personally, no but my child was consistently underestimated throughout their school life. Took great delight in telling the teacher who said they wouldn't get into Oxbridge that they had a place at Cambridge.

Reply 90

Andy98

Was told I wouldn't get a C in maths :dontknow:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 91

NerdyMeg

Yes and I have proved them wrong.

my school gave higher preferences to those who came top 10 in the class. They always cleared their doubts and helped them through everything. Students like me ( who got mediocre grades throughout school) were neglected. I had to study on my own. I used to buy books and read them. I literally taught myself. In India we have ICSE which is like GCSE in UK.

I scored second higest in my class in national examinations. Everyone was shocked xD

including me.

Reply 92

subjunctivehistorian

I don't think anyone expected me to do as well as I did because I didn't really look the part and I always mucked about in class. In the end I did the best in my year.

Reply 93

subjunctivehistorian

Original post by TheIrrational

That is amazingly impressive. Well done for proving them all wrong! :biggrin:

Reply 94

Raman9

"If you do IGCSE English First Language extended you will not get higher than an E"

I got a B. And it is not even my first language!

Reply 95

Stridey_xxxx

I had a lot of time off during gcse due to illness and therefore got lower than expected gcse grades and then was told not to bother with sixth form as I struggled at GCSE. My target grade for all my a levels was a D and in my as exams I received AABB :smile:

I'm glad I was doubted as it gave me the motivation I needed :biggrin:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 96

Rk57

Original post by Nadine_08

Were you ever underestimated by your teachers but in your final exams you turned around and proved them wrong?

Also, have you ever underestimated yourself but ended up getting really good grades?

It will be interesting hearing some of your experiences. I need some inspiration. :smile:

Predicted ALL c's , ended up with A's and B's and only 3 C's in exams I wanted to take in foundation tier.

Reply 97

icecreamcake

Original post by karmacrunch

Wow. Well done! :tongue:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Haha thank you very much! :wink:

(I actually more cases of being underestimated xD)

So how's year 10 going for you? :tongue:

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 98

alexxandra

Original post by Nadine_08

Ah my maths teacher; we sat our exams a year early in year 10 and in the mock at the start of year 9 I got a C and I was so upset and cried for ages (this sounds so lame but at my school there is so much pressure they make Cs seem really bad) and in my report he wrote something like 'it would be nice to secure a pass' but then I worked so hard and at the end of year 9 I was on a B then we moved into year 10 and I got moved down a set so of course I was very angry so I worked even harder to get myself to an A which is where I was going into the exam but because I had put so much time in I finished with an A*! :smile:

Reply 99