# Why Some Students Never Reach an A* (Even When They Know the Content AND how to fix it!) | S2 E37

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/miss-estruch-teach-tell-7095349/why-some-students-never-reach-an-a-even-when-they-know-the-content-and-how-to-fix-it-s2-e37
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/miss-estruch-teach-tell-7095349/why-some-students-never-reach-an-a-even-when-they-know-the-content-and-how-to-fix-it-s2-e37.md
Podcast: [Miss Estruch Teach & Tell](https://stenobird.com/podcast/miss-estruch-teach-tell-7095349)
Published: 2026-05-18T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.missestruch.co.uk/podcasts/miss-estruch-teach-tell/episodes/2149205742
Audio file: https://app.kajabi.com/podcasts/medias/2149205742.mp3
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Duration seconds: 940

## Resource

Most teachers focus on content gaps when students miss out on top grades. But what if the real barrier between an A and an A* is not knowledge… but mindset? In this episode of Miss Estruch Teach & Tell, I break down the practical mindset strategies I use in my own classroom to help students move beyond fear, perfectionism, and fixed beliefs about intelligence. We explore: • Why some high potential students stay stuck at a B or A • What fixed mindset actually sounds like in an A level classroom • How to explicitly teach productive struggle • The Learning Pit and Iceberg Illusion strategies • Why challenge questions can transform resilience • How MARCKS analysis reframes failure into actionable improvement • The language shifts that change how students respond to difficulty This is not about motivational posters or toxic positivity.   It is looking at practical classroom implementation that helps students persist when the work gets difficult, especially in subjects like A level Biology where the jump from GCSE can hit confidence hard. If you want more students reaching those top grades, mindset cannot be left to chance. The A* Blueprint: Why Mindset Might Be the Only Thing Standing Between Your Students and an A** TEASER HOOK I want you to think about a student you've taught. Smart kid. Works hard. Knows their content. And yet, come results day, they get a B — maybe a high B — and you're standing there thinking, they should have got an A. They had it in them. So what went wrong? I've been teaching biology since 2009, and I used to think the answer was always more content, more past papers, more revision. And yes, all of that matters. But the more I taught, the more I started to realise that the students who were genuinely transforming their grades — the one…

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