Maths GCSE early?

OP my DD sat GCSE maths this Summer at the end of year 10 with the thinking that the pressure would then be off (If she passed!) In a subject that she hates.

And getting a 9 in maths is almost certainly going to be a selection filter for top STEMM university courses, now that AS levels are disappearing.

Because of the new GCSE what the top set is doing is Statistics in year 10, then New GCSE and additional in year 11. The second set is aiming to do the new GCSE and also statistics in year 11.

Why on earth are they doing this? It is not clear how hard it will be to get a top grade, 9, in the new maths GCSE. Why not concentrate on getting the top two sets the best grades possible in the new maths GCSE rather than wasting time on a Statistics GCSE that isn't valued by anybody? The statistics content is in any case covered in Maths A level for those who take it i.e. taking Stats GCSE makes the Stats content of A level a bit boring at the beginning.

Agree with Noble

Maths GCSE for a whole class a year early is stupid, it really is. Some kids in the class will get an A rather than the A that they would have got if the exam was taken at the appropriate time. For some (especially girls) this could knock their confidence and make them less likely to take A-level. For others, this could affect top flight uni applications (medicine) where they apparently look at number of As at GCSE.

And with the new GCSE it is even more stupid because it will affect the number of students getting a 9 over an 8, as well as those getting an 8 over a 7. An extra year of maths and maturity do make a difference to grades.

And schools who enter early for GCSE and then start AS in Y11 are total and utter idiots.

DD1 is in year 11.
Her school always used to do GSCE maths in year 10 (for top set) then additional maths in year 11.
Because of the new GCSE what the top set is doing is Statistics in year 10, then New GCSE and additional in year 11. The second set is aiming to do the new GCSE and also statistics in year 11.

My DC's school puts their top set class in for Maths GCSE in Y10. These are all children who are predicted A*/A so the school has decided that they're suitable candidates.

I don't think they get any more free time to concentrate on other subjects in Y11 (much to DD's disgust) as they're expected to fill the Y11 gap with Maths AS level.

You certainly wouldn't want them doing no maths at all in year 11 in case they wanted to take the subject or a related science at A level.

My DDs' school did this before all the changes to league table etc. particularly for set 1s. They then did an extra maths qualification in year 11 to help prepare them for A level. I think with the changes to the GCSE syllabus, it probably isn't as necessary anymore.

Schools used to do this to bank C grades but league table rules changed and I can't imagine any schools doing this now. It is a bad idea for able mathematicians- why settle for a lower grade in year 10 and then forget everything before trying to start A level?

It used to be popular, because very able students could take AS maths in Year 11. Then those who wanted to do Maths or Further Maths in sixth form had more time to do it, and those who weren't continuing maths have an extra A-level (and boost the UCAS points average for the school, as they would be likely to have 4 or 5 AS-levels and 3 or 4 A-levels).
With the A-level reforms, I would be surprised if schools continue to do this. It is much worse to do GCSE in Year 10 if you're not going to continue with another maths course in Y11, as I expect a lot would be forgotten by the start of sixth form.