A Mumsnet user was shocked to discover her daughter had failed her maths exam and kept it a secret
The mum-of-two who goes by the username WoolleyS explained how she uncovered her daughters lie.
Her daughter who is now 18 studied three A levels last year (one including pure maths) and up until this point her mother thought she passed all the exams because that's what her daughter led her to believe. However, she recently found her daughters exam results paper and discovered that she actually got a U in pure maths.
The mum took to Mumsnet in a thread titled: 'Bloody hell... Just found this in DD's [dear daughters ]room,' and posted a photo of her daughters AS exam grade to ask for advice. The grades show her daughter got an U for all three of her maths modules, alongside the photo she wrote: "How bad is this? It's a fail, isn't it? She said she did ok. Her school hasn't spoken to me at all. This was last year."
She then went on to explain that although she was pregnant at the time with her second child she was unaware her daughter had failed: "I was told she did fine and she even went out with her friends 'celebrating'... I don't know what to say to her."
Hundreds of people replied to the worried mum with many people comforting her. One person wrote: "It's not the end of the world. I got 6% in my pure maths AS and the teacher told me there was no point in me turning up to the A-level exam. I bought books of past papers, worked my arse off and got a C, and ended up with a double first and a PhD from my first-choice Uni. She can still pull it back if she really wants to, but she needs to talk to you about what's going on and what extra help/support she might need."
Someone else commented: "Certainly looks like a fail. Pure Maths is horrific though, I got a U in it too at A level. I'm now financial analyst!"
Another person said: "I didn't do brilliantly in my final exams but I have a good job and I'm doing my degree now (I'm 26). It's not the end of the world."
A fourth person wrote: "Might be worth a gentle chat with her to find out what's going on, and if that doesn't achieve anything, have a chat with school. I would have thought that they would have been in touch with you if they had any concerns though."
Someone else wrote: "If she's in sixth form in my experience they don't really discuss with parents anymore as at college age they really should be managing their work independently."
However, plenty of people questioned why the mum-of-two has only just discovered the truth - a year later. One person argued: "I'm surprised you didn't question a bit more when she said she'd done 'fine'"
Another person wrote: "You never asked your daughter what grades she got? For real? Sorry but I don't believe it, no matter how disinterested you are in your daughter you would surely ask what grades she got?"
A third person said: "How does being pregnant mean it didn't cross your mind to ask your daughter what grade she got in important external exams?!"
Someone else left a comment that read: "Aren't you interested in her education? I'm not a helicopter parent and am not emailing school every 5 minutes but I do know what sets my kids are in, how they are progressing, what marks they are getting in their tests/class exams. That's pretty standard, I'd have thought. Asking whether they were doing OK and had 'enough' wouldn't be nearly good enough for me."
One more person added: "I think you need to start showing more interest, not to even enquire what grades she got is pretty sh-t to be honest. She obviously has kept this a secret and could have done with some support. I would also arrange a meeting with school. Poor DD [dear daughter]."
The mum who originally posted the question revealed that she didn't feel the need to ask her daughter the exact grade she got. She explained: "She said she did good and got what she needed. I didn't really think. I never did a levels and don't really understand them. I always ask if it's what she needed, etc. I was also pregnant at the time."
She later revealed she confronted her daughter and it didn't go well: "I spoke to her and she is really angry with me and is staying at her friend's house. Apparently it's all my fault because I only cared about the baby and apparently the school has supported her with that?
"She has been really arrogant about how the school thinks I'm not being a good parent by only caring about my son. A school wouldn't really say that would they?"
She continued: "She's clearly hurt by us having another baby. I do make time for her though. I genuinely am very interested in her grades and school. I do struggle to get my head around it all though."
After people pointed out that throughout the thread she kept use her pregnancy as an excuse she denied the claims and admitted that she would contact her daughters school to find out more information.
You can read the full thread here.
How would you react if your child failed an exam and kept it from you? Do you know anyone who has gone through a similar experience? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter.
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