GCSE Maths and Linear

[smileANDwave2000]

Hi just wanted to ask as I feel this is really unfair , my daughters doing he gcse's and just got back her result (A) her mag was a B so shes really pleased so are we as she used to really struggle in middle school with Maths but now her class has done the GCSE they are saying they Have to do the Linear harder exam as may get A* she doesn't want to we've told them she isn't taking A level Maths in 6th form and its just adding more pressure she wants to now concentrate on the subjects she does like and also wants to do well in , can they make her?

[mnistooaddictive]

I presume she got A on the modular paper - there is an end paper for thisthat she will have to do this summer. Why not let her do the linear - if she doesn't improve it doesn't matter. It is the same level she has already done, not harder so she shouldn't worry about that.

[smileANDwave2000]

Hi shes already got her final result an A she did the summer exam early she doesn't want to take maths A levels and she wold have to study for the latter half of the course as it differs a bit her other exams are more important to her to study for now shes doing chemistry biology physics history geography drama english obviously she wants to do a geography degree the star wont really make any difference

[cakeandcustard]

They can't force her to do anything, she's already got a grade sufficient for doing an A-level if she wants to (which she doesn't), end of. Just tell them she's going to concentrate on her other subjects.

[mnistooaddictive]

She doesn't have to turn up! I would suggest you ring and say no. Schools are graded on number of A* though and they are expected to put all students under pressure to achieve their very best. This is why they are doing it.

[smileANDwave2000]

she was so happy as A wasn't expected and she should have been able to be proud about getting it instead the teacher was nasty and made 1 girl cry saying if she didn't do it they wont have her for A levels :-o

[langster]

Congratulations to your daughter on achieving a grade A!

Schools have so many different targets to work towards so I understand why they would want her to do it again. As my Deputy Head keeps telling me - the government expect our students to exceed their expected target grades. My advice would be to ask how many extra marks your daughter needed for an A*, and if possible ask for the Results Plus breakdown so you can see which questions she got right and wrong. You could also tell the school that if they are insisting she takes the exam again you would like them to pay for a copy of her March papers so you can see exactly what she got her marks for and where she lost them. Chances are they will refuse that last request.

Bottom line is that the school can't force her to turn up and if you have a conversation with the teachers they will likely withdraw her from the summer exam, and I can't see them arguing with you. I know we wouldn't argue with a parent who made that request.

Wait - she doesn't go to my school does she?!

[smileANDwave2000]

haha :-) why have they made the students feel A is not good enough she already exceeded expectations and as her mags and tags are As and A* She really feels under a lot of pressure already a lot of it is self inflicted shes very strict with herself revising up to 9pm every night shes worried she will end up with lesser grades on the other subjects , thanks for replies

[busymummy3]

Interesting thread. What happens if pupil fails to turn up for an exam do they get a zero or fail result recorded that would be my worry.

[bigbluebus]

My DS also got an A in modular Maths GCSE in Yr 10. (he got A A A in the 3 papers and was only 2 marks off Ain one of them). School tried to persuade everyone who got an A to re-sit - DS refused and he wasn't alone in that.
Why do they need to re-sit. An A is a good grade, he wants to do A level Maths and I don't think the fact that he was a few marks off an A* will make any difference to that. I think re-sitting in these circumstances is a complete waste of the school's money, which would be better directed elsewhere in these cash strapped times!

If your DD already has GCSE Maths at A grade, then she doesn't need another one. No-one is going to give her credit for having 2 Maths GCSE's.

[glaurung]

If a child wants to do A level maths, then it's not a great idea to have time off doing maths, so if the school isn't offering any other maths qualifications (that bridge the gap between GCSE and A level) such as FSMQ or additional maths, then sitting the linear (pointless as it seems) might not be a bad idea, simply because it would stop you going rusty.

If no plans to do A level (like your dd) then no major benefit, unless she wants to try for the A* or just not rock the boat - don't schools have an obligation to teach maths to the end of year 11?

Linear has been noticeably easier to get higher grades in than modular for the last few sessions (probably because weaker candidates but with similar yr 6 SATs scores tend to sit it, due to a large number of schools switching children that do worse in the first module or two over to linear part way through the course), so the school is right - she could come out with an A* which is certainly no bad thing and might be useful depending what she wants to do in future...