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Any Maths GCSE teachers about?

26 replies

TippyTappyLappyToppy · 16/03/2016 04:49

Could someone please explain to me whether/why it's better to do foundation maths for a student who struggles and would be a borderline C/D in the higher level paper? I know you can't get higher than a C in foundation but I've also heard that the questions are much much easier across the whole paper so it's easier to get the C in foundation than it is in Higher.

I am having a discussion with someone who seems to think it will be easier to get the C in the higher level because the student only has to know a few topics well, and get those questions right (for about 25% I think, to get the C?) whereas in foundation they need to get 80% covering many more topics. But what if those topics the student knows well don't come up? Confused

But I've also been told that some of the questions in foundation level are things like 'measure this line with a ruler' Hmm So getting 80% shouldn't be beyond the remit of most people who do not have SEN.

My argument is that unless you are predicted borderline B/C at higher level you are better to play safe and take foundation, because your C is going to be much easier to obtain, and a C is what most people require to move forward with anything, whereas a D at higher level is useless for most courses at most half decent universities. (not that this person wants to study anything with a maths element.)

Thoughts please?

OP posts:
Fleck · 16/03/2016 05:03

This is not an easy question to answer and it's one that teachers struggle with. When we first changed to a two tier system (approx 8 years ago) it did seem to be 'easier' to get a C on the higher paper. However the exam boards cottoned on to this quite quickly and changed the papers. Over the subsequent years it has generally been accepted that for a student with no chance of a B or higher, foundation is their best bet. (For a while schools could dual enter their students for different tiers/ exam boards so could compare, not allowed now). Yes it's true that you need to know less material to get a C on higher but what you need to know is challenging for a student at that level and they will find it difficult to access the questions. The foundation paper starts at grade G so the early questions are very straightforward. With borderline groups we will try them out with past papers for both tiers before entering them for the exams. If they do not want to carry on with any maths or science based study then the tier they take should not be relevant in the future.

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