When's the best time to get a private tutor for GCSE

Yes, get a maths tutor now, it will help her confidence and can identify and rectify weak areas which work in Y11 may build on.

I would start tutoring now. If it all goes well then maybe you would be able to stop in year 11. I think the worst situation would be to get to year 11 and wish you had started in year 10.

GCSE grades are needed often for sixth form applications and some university courses. It is not true to say once you have the next level the previous exams are disregarded. Even when you have a degree many graduate schemes still require you to have certain A level grades.

Talkin l think one should also consider those DCs who are taught well and those who are not. Tutors can fill in the gaps from poor teaching. Being tutored does not necessarily mean being taught beyond your natural level and also some parents do not have the knowledge to help their DCs.

But if you needed intensive tutoring to get those top grades, you will REALLY struggle at University.
The reason courses want top grades is because they want the brightest students, not the ones who were tutored above their natural level.

It is well observed that state school kids often excel at Oxbridge over their more molly coddled and tutored private school fellows.

Its a shame that it is deemed acceptable to tutor kids to the utmost and take places that are not rightfully theirs.

I'm just researching getting a Science tutor for DD (Year 10) after a school move, and it seems that the new school have done other bits of the syllabus in year 9, so she is completely out of her depth. My logic is get the tutor when you notice you need it/when the child tells you, - so in my case now, early. For our DD she says she 'feels so stupid' not understanding when the rest of the class does, - so I'd like her to see that with a bit of one to one help, and someone explaining in a way she understands, she can get it, and feel more confident. I hope that we won't then need the tutor all the time to GCSE, in fact that this might be a short sharp 6 weeks, but lack of self confidence for me is key, because our DD was getting to the stage where she thought if she read it, she wouldn't understand it. That kind of panic seeps in. I think of how I used to feel when my driving instructor used to get me to reverse park. I literally couldn't hear the instructions.

Grades at GCSE do have an impact on future choices, e.g. if you want to study medicine lots of places are looking for 5 A at GCSE I think I've read. At our year 10 parents evening they were citing I think University of Birmingham, which they said wanted 5 A at GCSE from applicants - but haven't checked it myself. And obviously only matters if thats what you want, and can carry it on independently afterwards, - just citing as a reason why could make a difference. Having said that, I wouldn't tutor to get the grades, just to rebuild the confidence in our case.

This is interesting.

MadameSin .... also, my sons results affected which college/6th form he went to and what A-Levels he could study once there, so GCSE results are very important ... a C may not get her to study A-Level in the same subject. My ds wanted to do Economics at A-Level, but as he only got a C in maths, he was advised not to. Although no-one will give a monkies what GCSE's you got further down the line, they will affect what can do in between, is you see what I mean.

The thing is, if someone needs a tutor for 2 years to get them from a C to a B in maths. Would an A level that requires them to have a B in maths be suitable anyway? Or would you be storing up problems for the A level too, where the ability in maths expected of a B grade GCSE is not really there?

For my DD1 (also y10) I have decided to help her (ie random self-tutor) in subjects where she may not get a C, but not help for her stronger subjects that she might consider for A level. If she can't get at least a B (pref an A) without too much extra help, then I think she shouldn't do them for A level. But maybe that's not the right approach. I'm not sure.

As long as you can afford. If you can afford a Maths tutor for both years then do it. If you can only afford one year then year 11 would be the one to go for.

Out of the two subjects, Maths is the one to concentrate on imo (I may be biased though as I'm a maths teacher). Most college courses and jobs will expect at least a grade C in Maths, very few care what grade you get in French. Do her teachers think she's on track to get a C but she wants a B, or is a C going to stretch her?

Maths now as one bit builds on another. French depends on how important it is for what he wants to do in the future.

I think the earlier, the better to support the curriculum and get them into good habits ... if you can afford it for that long!

A B at maths looks way better than a C and as Madamesin says maths is needed for lots of other courses. Economics, Biology and Psychology use maths as well as chemistry and physics. Some areas of Geography and even my uncles corner of history need maths. (He has written books about the history of American trade with pages and pages of figures).

DH uses maths everyday in his IT job.

I gave up French at 13 and have never needed it except to do the DCs homework.

.... also, my sons results affected which college/6th form he went to and what A-Levels he could study once there, so GCSE results are very important ... a C may not get her to study A-Level in the same subject. My ds wanted to do Economics at A-Level, but as he only got a C in maths, he was advised not to. Although no-one will give a monkies what GCSE's you got further down the line, they will affect what can do in between, is you see what I mean.

We got ours in Y10, she stayed with us all the way thru revision period and right up till the actual exams ... got my son an A in English and that defo would not have happened without her. She didn't only support the curriculum but the most valuable help she gave was revision technics that worked for our ds. Good luck

Why?
If he's bright enough to ge C's and he wont carry those subjects on, does it really matter?
Once he's got A Levels and a degree, GCSE grades drop off the CV anyway.
And if he does plant to carry those subjects on, you are storing up problems for later