To want 9s not 7s for my child in their GCSEs?

If he's already a good student who completes homework unprompted then he is likely working to the best of his ability. Adding pressure to get 9s that he may not be capable of will only make him feel like a failure if he doesn't achieve them and risks him burning out trying.

Why not concentrate on advising him to work hard and try his best and let him know you'll be proud of him whatever grade that results in?

Also... the number is irrelevant really.

What matters is the percentage of kids given each level. 5% get a 9, another 7.1 get 8.

When A* was first introduced for GCSEs only 2.9% of entries got it, so even less than get a 9 now.

You can consider things as much as you want.
But the 6-7 boundary was pegged at the old B-A one, and the 3-4 at the old D-C.

Stop pressuring the poor kid. The most you should expect is for him to try his best.

When you apply for uni the only grades you actually have in the bag are your GCSEs. So they will take notice of them.

Is this a wind up?

Mocks are not always an indicator of success, I got Ds in all of mine and A*s in the actual exams as with ADHD I didn’t see the mocks as a proper exam so didn’t study or try.

I think it’s fine to quietly want better if you have equipped your child with the tools for it (I.e. tutoring to make up up for any lack of schooling, a positive attitude that encourages him to always try his best, and a home environment that allows him to study without pressure). His mock grades are decent and you should be happy with those and not pressure him to get 9s even if you equip him with the ability to get them- he needs to want it for himself.

I think a levels matter more than GCSEs? For uni? Or do some unis want top grade GCSEs too?

Maybe your kid just isn't bright enough for 9s.

That said, i would consider 7s the low end of an A/top end of a B really.

An 8 is a high A/low A, a 9 is a solid A*.

The government created the 4/5 split in a desperate bid to create a lower level at which you can claim a "pass" in GCSE maths and stop studying it.

Get your child in the rat race early-it will be good for them! 😁
Honestly, unless the young person themselves really wants to get into a very competitive career like medicine it really won't matter in the long run if they get 7s or 9s.
In the older system I know people with 10 A*s and people with a mix of As Bs and Cs who became teachers for example and it wasn't always the people with the most academic qualifications who went for promotion and moved forward in their careers.
I've also seen young people put under too much pressure burn out.
What do you want long term and what does your child want?
Also avoid living through your child, if you want a challenge find one for yourself.

If I remember correctly from all the stuff that came out when they introduced the new grading, this is exactly why they’re using numbers: so they can eventually add grade 10, 11 etc.

Without knowing what your DC's ability is, we can't possibly know.

My (state school) DS is a model student in school in the sense that he does what he's told and finishes his homework on time. He does fuck all study beyond that. He's getting some 9s in his GCSE mocks, some more in the 6-7 range. And quite the opposite of stressed: a little anxiety about or at least mild interest in his grades would do him good. I can't convince him to think beyond will he get into college, which of course he will - but if he has better GCSEs he will have more options beyond that. Not to mention building independent study ability and self control and skills like that which he will need.

If yours is like mine you're not at all unreasonable to wish they'd aspire higher.
On the other hand there are plenty out there working their socks off and getting 6-7s and in that case you should be delighted with their diligence. In the wider world, those students will do well because they know how to graft.

This 💯. I would rather have a happy, well rounded child than someone stressed out by exam and parent pressure.

If I could go back to myself doing my GCSEs it would be to take pressure off rather than pile it on. That A* in English got me fuck all and wasn’t worth the work! A pass is a pass and you need to try hard especially if you want to go to college or do A Levels, but really there isn’t much to be gained from pressuring a kid to do better for no one’s benefit but yours

Hopefully your child will find a decent therapist in future.

They should do their best and aim to get what they need for the next step. I guess you need 9s for medicine but otherwise not. My kid went to private school. Got one 8 the rest at 5-7. Got him into the 6th form of his choice and subsequently into the uni he wanted to go to.

You could prefer to win the lottery doesn't mean it will happen

Spot on.
Please lay off the pressure

There is no harm aiming high, as long as dc knows , if they don’t reach those 9s, it does not make them any less of a person. as long as they try their best, that is all that matters.

my ds state school, large fsm cohort and they and a few of their friends most certainly got handful of 9s each. One got all 9s , so totally possible.

Having said that, 7, and 6 are not bad at all - equiv of A and B.

I know someone who works for cahms and alongside all the dysfunctional stuff causing mental health issues, they say that parental pressure is a massive factor.

I agree with you OP.

The emphasis put on grades is so silly. No-one knows or cares what my school grades were and being a top achieving student carries no weight in the real world in the long run. I was a top achieving student at university too and no-one cares about those grades either (unless applying for other courses when they want transcripts).

If I wanted to employ someone, I'd employ the student with 6s that I get a good vibe from over one that has 9s that I get a lesser good feeling about. It doesn't take long before experience counts more (and just knowing you have the right bit of paper to do the job if that's required).

Only around 5% of grades are awarded at grade 9. This means a very small amount of pupils will achieve them. I know it seems like everyone gets 9s in ‘mumsnet world’ but in real life it’s very few. A grade 7 is actually pretty good.

What do you want, ultimately for your DC? To be happy? To be able to move on to the next phase comfortably? To be wealthy? To be well-adjusted? To be better than everyone else? (in a variety of senses). Trust me, I see 14 year olds shaking with anxiety because their parents have "high standards" , I see suicidal teens who can't cope with a day in school, I see unrealistic kids and parents shouting at the school that they want to do A level physics and I am ruining their life because they "passed" maths GCSE with a grade 4...
Love your happy, well adjusted intelligent diligent child.

9s are the upper end of the old pre 2018 A star not better than than the pre 2018 A star.