English NAB disaster

Got english first attempt at my close reading NAB back today. Complete and utter disaster. I'm not even going to say my mark because it was so bloody awful. Really, really disapointed, Especially after I started of so well in higher english too. I really don't know what to do. My confidence has been completely crushed and I just feel like giving up. I'm preparing myself to open my results next August and seeing English not being on my certificate and how ashamed I'm going to feel and I have completely no idea on how to get better. I can't bear to see how dissapointed my parents will be after seing how happy they were for me last year. Urgently need some help and advice. I don't know what to do :frown:

Reply 1

siobhan.siobhan

Ah love,
same thing happened to me last year. Don't panic. If you did much worse than you'd expect to get, or than you deserve, your teacher can put it on a UCAS/ job reference that you underperformed.
Not the end of the world!! Could you repeat it perhaps, if you still feel the same once you get the result?
Hope it didn't show too much that I don't know what a NAB is. God Bless Scotland.
Anyway, good luck. Best bet might be to speak to a careers teacher/ english teacher from school about it.

Reply 2

rosie9391

15

Don't give up, keep on working at the close reading by doing past papers - if your stuck /don't understand where you went wrong go and see your teacher at break/lunch. August is still along way off so don't give up hope just yet, it will all come with time and practise.

Reply 3

LuhLah

3

Well I got 9/20 for a test textual analysis NAB (assuming it's the one that you've just sat), I wasn't pleased with myself to say the least...but that's life in a way, you get thrown down but ya gotta get back up and fight back. Just look at this as an opportunity to see where you've gone wrong, study more and get help from your teacher :smile:

TA is apparently much more harder than close reading anyway.

It isn't the end of the world :hugs:

Reply 4

jackwka

OP

LuhLah

Well I got 9/20 for a test textual analysis NAB (assuming it's the one that you've just sat), I wasn't pleased with myself to say the least...but that's life in a way, you get thrown down but ya gotta get back up and fight back. Just look at this as an opportunity to see where you've gone wrong, study more and get help from your teacher :smile:

TA is apparently much more harder than close reading anyway.

It isn't the end of the world :hugs:

Thanks for everyones replies. Have calmed down a bit since my last post :p:

Once I think about it, I can hardly say I'm surprised, I didn't do any prep at all. In some way, it's given me a good kick up the arse to study for every test. I think I was just shocked since it's the first time I've ever failed a NAB. I failed to mention it doesn't actually count as one of our attemps since we've only looked at one close reading passage.

Luhlah, close reading is different from TA. And close reading is the hardest :P

Reply 5

C274

For the majority of people, when they do close reading papers at this point in the year, their marks tend to be pretty crap. In my class, you were considered to be doing well if you got about 30 out of 50. The average mark was about 20ish. But practice really does make perfect. Our teacher kept giving us papers to do and, slowly but surely, the marks went up. It might not seem like it now, but you will get the hang of it. If you don't understand why you didn't get a mark in a particular question, ask your teacher. The marking schemes can be ridiculously obtuse sometimes so you just need to know how they want you to answer the question.

Reply 6

ally93_

you just need to practice
i've never failed anything in my life and we were given an int 2 textual analysis NAB to sit before we did the higher and i failed that, 13/30, i was so annoyed
but we did a couple more practices and i passed the higher this week :smile:

honestly its not the end, just keep trying :biggrin:

Reply 7

LuhLah

3

jackwka

Thanks for everyones replies. Have calmed down a bit since my last post :p:

Once I think about it, I can hardly say I'm surprised, I didn't do any prep at all. In some way, it's given me a good kick up the arse to study for every test. I think I was just shocked since it's the first time I've ever failed a NAB. I failed to mention it doesn't actually count as one of our attemps since we've only looked at one close reading passage.

Luhlah, close reading is different from TA. And close reading is the hardest :P

We were told the TA is the close-reading NAB...oh well. It's still harder imo.

But, it's good you've calmed down :smile:

Google "Higher English Survival Guide", it gives a lot of good tips with close reading and essays.

Reply 8

TimmyVermicelli

11

Close Reading is definitely the hardest part of the course, but it can be learned and, once you get the gist of every what every question is really asking you to do, it becomes a piece of cake. But don't panic, you have around six months to get there, and you will, trust me.

Reply 9

Kirsteneg

2

Get the How To Pass Higher English textbook, read lots of good quality newspaper articles (i.e. opinion/debate sections in The Times, The Guardian etc.) and practice lots of past papers. You have ages yet so don't worry. I think I was getting low/mid twenties (/50) in close readings at the start of the year but then progressed to high 30s. Practice.

Reply 10

Nonie No

C274

For the majority of people, when they do close reading papers at this point in the year, their marks tend to be pretty crap. In my class, you were considered to be doing well if you got about 30 out of 50. The average mark was about 20ish. But practice really does make perfect. Our teacher kept giving us papers to do and, slowly but surely, the marks went up. It might not seem like it now, but you will get the hang of it. If you don't understand why you didn't get a mark in a particular question, ask your teacher. The marking schemes can be ridiculously obtuse sometimes so you just need to know how they want you to answer the question.

All of this - and much of the rest of the advice too.

It really is just a case of learning how to answer the different types of question. There is a general formula for each type, which, when learnt, makes it all fall into place. 'How to pass...' and 'H Close Reading' both help enormously with this.

Some of the best performing students really do benefit from the shock of a first fail... banishes the complacency! :wink:

English NAB disaster

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