Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to discuss GCSE and A-level realities with my Year 8 daughter?

111 replies

roughtrenches2 · 13/08/2026 22:30

DD is still young so I am aware this might sound a bit crazy. She is going in to year 8. So will pick her gcse options at the end of year 9. She is adamant she knows what she wants to do and has done for a long time but I don’t think realistically she is going to manage academically what it requires. Her friends older sister was talking about her GCSE choices the other day when I realised how much daughter has her mind set on this path. She soon told everyone what she was choosing for GCSE because then she could do her chosen A levels science ( biology and physics )

The issue is maths ! She is very science motivated and has done amazing in science this year BUT she will not get the maths grade required to do any A level sciences.
when do you start nicely having these conversations with your children without it sounding like you are being evil.

she has had a very turbulent start to education which she had done incredible considering but to catch up in maths would be a real task that will take a lot to get to a grade 7 she would need. I’m not sure if she even knows she would need a 7 in maths. Do I just let her go ahead and think this is the plan and dream until she finds out later on that it will be unlikely ?

sounds silly being worried about this now but I don’t want her to get crushed later on either.

OP posts:
Whynottryagain · 14/08/2026 00:37

I think it's still early days.

At primary school I was average at maths. In years 7 and 8 I was still average, and it was one of the subjects I was weaker at. I lacked a lot of confidence in it.

In year 9, I don't know why, but it just suddenly clicked (it wasn't the teaching, which was good throughout). I ended up doing A level maths and a degree with a high maths component. Incidentally, I was pressured to give up the maths modules at uni by the awful lecturer and I lost confidence again, but worked really hard and got 100% in the exam. Ha, I so enjoyed proving the awful lecturer wrong.

I'd say continue to encourage her, find ways to help her catch up and re-cover things if the teacher is bad.

I also really enjoyed reading "Why do buses come in threes", around year 9. Maybe she'd find it fun.

TeenLifeMum · 14/08/2026 00:36

roughtrenches2 · 14/08/2026 00:29

It’s not that I’m not chill I am super proud of her no matter what she chooses to do. I just always have this very thin line between her over doing it vs letting everything slide and so I like to make sure I know things about the systems so I can stream line appropriate and make sure she doesn’t burn her self out on things that are not needed. Unfortunately for me a lot of her education has fallen on me over the years which is not ideal because I only have a certain amount of hours in the day and her full time carer to with a lot of night time medical intervention.

Show quote history

She will work out what’s in her reach without you telling her and you’re just way too early in ruling it out. You may be right but my dd in year 8 was an anxiety filled shy girl - nothing like the 18yo she is now.

BasilandTom · 14/08/2026 00:30

I agree that it has a lot to do with the teacher at school. If it gives you hope, I missed significant amounts of primary school and a lot in years 7-9 due to being in hospital. I got a D at GCSE and felt like an utter failure. However, I left school and resat my GCSE Maths with a wonderful teacher and got a B. Perhaps I needed a bit more time to catch up, maybe I needed a better teacher. Maybe I just grew in maturity and learnt how to revise 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don’t think your daughter has had a fair crack of the whip if she has missed so much school. Don’t underestimate her ability or her determination. School will guide her with her choices as well, and may also have a quiet chat with her in the run up to making her choices about how much work she’ll need to do, to achieve her ambition.

BoredZelda · 14/08/2026 00:30

roughtrenches2 · 14/08/2026 00:00

Just checked again her school requirements is a grade 7 in the science they want to do at a level or a 7-7 in combined science, a 7 in maths and a 5 in English.

it’s good to know some are a grade 6 because maybe if we are not quite a a 7 we could look at alternative places.

Edited

Or, talk to the school, explaining her issues and they may make an adjustment for her. It may not be as hard and fast as you think it is.

Original poster
roughtrenches2 · 14/08/2026 00:29

TeenLifeMum · 14/08/2026 00:23

She is going into year 8. You need to chill! I say that with a dd who got her results today and at times I wasn’t sure she’d cope as science was very up and down. Well, she’s done it and off to uni… taking science. Get through GCSEs then worry about alevels!

It’s not that I’m not chill I am super proud of her no matter what she chooses to do. I just always have this very thin line between her over doing it vs letting everything slide and so I like to make sure I know things about the systems so I can stream line appropriate and make sure she doesn’t burn her self out on things that are not needed. Unfortunately for me a lot of her education has fallen on me over the years which is not ideal because I only have a certain amount of hours in the day and her full time carer to with a lot of night time medical intervention.

OP posts:
CypressGrove · 14/08/2026 00:24

She sounds incredibly bright and more than capable of getting a 7 in maths given her current marks and attendance levels. It's probably a couple of weekends on the missed areas each - division, multiplication, fractions, decimals basics.

TeenLifeMum · 14/08/2026 00:23

She is going into year 8. You need to chill! I say that with a dd who got her results today and at times I wasn’t sure she’d cope as science was very up and down. Well, she’s done it and off to uni… taking science. Get through GCSEs then worry about alevels!

aintnothinbutagstring · 14/08/2026 00:22

My dd had a terrible relationship with maths, truly - if your dd is getting 50% in maths tests right now, my dd was not getting that and her school had streamed her into top set for everything based on SATs scores so she couldn't keep up with her peers either. Her maths teacher gave her a straight talking to end of year 8 as she was failing papers. Also considering much was lost in Y7 and beg Y8 due to covid. Anyway we sent her to tutoring for maths for y9-y11 and she come out with a grade 8 GCSE in maths. Shockingly, she chose maths at A level - I thought our nightmare might be over by this stage and we questioned her many times over this choice. Anyway, we also paid for online tutoring in maths from end of y12 as it wasn't clear if she'd get the grade she wanted without intervention. She has collected an A in maths today. I do feel the tutoring from year 9 onwards was most valuable as it allowed her to fill in any knowledge/skills gaps and it obviously must have gave her some sort of confidence! The stress has been immense following her on this journey though.

Original poster
roughtrenches2 · 14/08/2026 00:00

Just checked again her school requirements is a grade 7 in the science they want to do at a level or a 7-7 in combined science, a 7 in maths and a 5 in English.

it’s good to know some are a grade 6 because maybe if we are not quite a a 7 we could look at alternative places.

OP posts:
Original poster
roughtrenches2 · 13/08/2026 23:55

Yes so realistically I was just looking.

her attendance for year 7 was term 1
42 percent. Term 2 20 percent ( this was a very unusual health crisis even for them and we very nearly lost her ) term 3 - 72 percent.

end of year exams
were
chemistry 92 percent
biology 80 percent
physics 89 percent

English didn’t give a percentage but
was
poetry - mastering
persuasive writing - securing

maths
paper 1 50 percent
paper 2 48 percent

so I think the capability is there and maths has always been a bit of a mix bag really good at some topics for example she actually done really well in algebra but she struggled in conversion of fractions to decimals etc
she also really struggled with divisions.
she struggled with multiplication and started the year with a test they gave them at 30 percent but achieved 98 percent in the repeat test at the end of the year.

OP posts:
Slightyamusedandsilly · 13/08/2026 23:54

Get her a tutor to pull her maths up.

minipie · 13/08/2026 23:52

She sounds like she’s doing brilliantly considering.

I agree with the plan of trying to finish early on days when it’s not one of her core/preferred subjects in the afternoon, and use that time for her focus subjects (esp maths) instead. If she has limited time and energy, better to do 6 subjects well than 10 spread thin. I would hope school would agree. Only thing is how would DD feel about this plan?

daisydaisydais128 · 13/08/2026 23:51

Catza · 13/08/2026 22:45

Of course you don't "just let her go ahead" and dream but you also don't tell her she is not going to get the maths grade she needs. You tell her that she can achieve her ambitions but this will require getting her maths grades up and give her time and resources to do so.

Agree, she’s far too young to write her off (not that you should write anyone off, but especially not a year 8 child!). When it comes to secondary education, GCSE and A level, the vast majority of the population can achieve high grades with hard work and the right support. You don’t need to be a genius.

Druidsrealm · 13/08/2026 23:49

Dovesono · 13/08/2026 23:44

Accelorated?

Show quote history

There is always one, and today it is you!

ProcrastinatorsAnonymous · 13/08/2026 23:47

She's lucky to have you in her corner trying to figure all of this out. You sound great, and it's clearly your efforts that have made sure she isn't much further behind than she is. Dropping a subject or two from the timetable and replacing it with maths focus sounds like a solid plan.

Dovesono · 13/08/2026 23:44

MyDarlingRose · 13/08/2026 22:54

In year 8 and 9 I was in a low-middling set for English. Accelorated set (above top) for everything else.

Guess what my degree and MA were in? English.

I had a great teacher in year 9 who recognised that I had been divided into the lower set based on SATs and that my English had been growing in leaps and bounds since then. My year 10 teacher was amazing, she saw a spark in me and bolstered it. Her books are probably still covered in my writing.

Despite it being my worst subject at your DDs age I got one of the highest GCSE scores in the country in English Lit. I had won awards for my writing by A level and got a first from a top 10 uni in my degree.

I spent the last 10 years working as a writer before deciding to retrain.

There is so much time left for her to get better at Maths. Don’t ruin her self esteem and guarantee she doesn’t do well.

Accelorated?

nocoolnamesleft · 13/08/2026 23:43

I am seriously impressed that, having been so ill and missed so much school, she is achieving as well as she is. But the higher level the physics gets, the more mathematical it becomes. Given that maths is such a core subject, in addition to being linked to her ambition, and in the context of her health needs, it really sounds like a good idea to try to drop something less critical from the school timetable, in order to get some focused maths tutoring, to optimise her chances of fulfilling her potential as much as possible.

Stompythedinosaur · 13/08/2026 23:38

I'm not convinced she'll need a 7 in maths to do a science A-level. And she has plenty of time to catch up, she's young!

If she's shown herself to be able in science she clearly has the capacity to be able in maths if taught correctly, there's a lot of similarity there.

Myotherusernameisshy · 13/08/2026 23:37

Absolutely try to get her some one to one maths help now, either in school or with a tutor. She sounds very capable of making big improvements but it’s going to take some time to catch up.
Biology A level doesn’t have too much maths in it at all. A level physics is extremely maths heavy, with a huge amount of content to memorise compared to other subjects. If she’s struggling to get a 6 by the time she’s in Y11 I really wouldn’t encourage her to do a level physics.

SueKeeper · 13/08/2026 23:37

The health issues make a huge difference, she's clearly capable of doing anything. The only thing she can't do is follow the same timeline of someone who hasn't had these obstacles.

So do what you can, maybe give her an extra year or two at college getting GCSEs or redoing them, so she can hit the ground running for A levels. Don't take physics off the table, take off the deadlines.

Original poster
roughtrenches2 · 13/08/2026 23:36

noblegiraffe · 13/08/2026 23:29

Please ignore the people saying to ignore it for now, now is a great time to add in some more maths to try to fill those gaps and boost her knowledge. And I actually mean now, in the holidays. Give her a running start to Y8.

You haven't mentioned any details about her health - is this likely to continue to be a problem in secondary?

I mean it’s a difficult one. So it has become in some ways more manageable than younger years with way less time in hospital we have gone from monthly admissions lasting between 18 months and 2 weeks.
to only being admitted twice this year which is the least amount of times ever - but one of those times was critical on life support for the first time in many years which was horrible and more intense than previous Addmisions in the years prior. It did mean she missed half of year 7 so it can be unpredictable. But her second half of year 7 her attendance was the best it’s ever been.
I am able to do slot more at home which keeps her out of Hospital but physically she is able to do more now and is caching slot less viruses that she has to be admitted for every time which has 100 percent helped !

OP posts:
noblegiraffe · 13/08/2026 23:29

Please ignore the people saying to ignore it for now, now is a great time to add in some more maths to try to fill those gaps and boost her knowledge. And I actually mean now, in the holidays. Give her a running start to Y8.

You haven't mentioned any details about her health - is this likely to continue to be a problem in secondary?

Bufftailed · 13/08/2026 23:22

I wouldn’t worry at this point. They tend to figure things out and will be getting annual and predicted grades. You could make casual comments about the work required. Biology and physics round here require a 6 not 7 if that alters your view. Not sure physics a good idea without string maths tho. Biology does not require a high level of maths.

bridgetreilly · 13/08/2026 23:20

Maths is a subject where, if you’re good, you can definitely catch up pretty quickly.

Happyjoe · 13/08/2026 23:17

,,