FWIW - in view of the different school and university system and not needing grades for advocacy.
DS16 was always an A's and B's student. A's on the subjects he loved, B's on those he loathed. He has finally reached a happy place due to the fact that he is at the point in his schooling where he can elect only the subjects he is truly interested in, hence all A grades. The exception to this is English which is compulsory. This is a subject that fell into the loath category but interestingly enough now that his results over the next two years count he has stepped up to the mark and is achieving here as well.
Thinking back DD was similar in some ways except she had the results game down to fine art. She is not as driven and was happy to only do what was necessary to get to where she wanted. Therefore she knew the minimum she had to achieve in each subject area to still get the marks required to attend the university she wanted. By that I mean she didn't aim for the minimum just knew what mark she couldn't afford to fall below. Now that she is at university, doing what she wants, she too is happy to give it her all.
