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Original poster

Rant about the new maths GCSEs. Michael Gove you tosser.

242 replies

noblegiraffe · 14/06/2017 00:06

I've got to write this because I've been fuming all day and I need to get it out or I'll never sleep.

So today was the final maths paper, the first round of teaching of the new GCSEs complete. What a total and utter nightmare the whole thing has turned out to be. The poor kids today looked like wrecks. Over 20 different exams spread over weeks has really taken its toll, thanks to all subjects being made linear. We had a revision class yesterday and they had nothing left to give, it was a really horrible ending to the course, trying to cajole them into squeezing in some last minute revision. Three papers for maths has meant it has been a real trial to keep the momentum going (not to mention the added expense of all the extra photocopying of 3 papers instead of 2). Next year it will be even worse as at least this year they still have the cushion of coursework in some subjects.

Due to the last minute scrapping of SAMs which meant the textbooks were out of date and useless even before they left the warehouse and school funding cuts which meant we couldn't afford to buy them even when updated, teachers have been scrabbling over the internet for resources to teach the new topics on the syllabus. The syllabus is unclear and teachers have been trying to find out what they actually have to teach from looking at the sample papers put out by the exam boards. Workload has been horrendous. One question on Edexcel Foundation caught lots by surprise because that style of question wasn't on any papers, and being an old A* topic, many schools hadn't taught it.

Some of the syllabus is just stupid. Memorising exact trig values on foundation? Really?

Before the most recent higher and foundation papers we had foundation (up to a D) intermediate (up to a B) and higher (up to an A) which were then replaced with foundation (up to a C) and higher (up to an A). Essentially what has happened is that we've gone back to the old system with an intermediate and higher paper, but got rid of foundation and are making all the weaker kids sit intermediate. There is nothing for them on the papers. Kids who would have got a G or F grade are having to sit 4.5 hours of papers where they can answer maybe 2-3 questions on each. What does that say to them? The first question on the first maths paper that they sat was (non calc) 2^4. The third was solve x/5 = 2 1/2. Those poor kids.

And the papers themselves? Awful. It used to be 'the examiners are looking to reward what you know, not trying to catch you out'. Well that seems to have passed Edexcel by. Questions which could have been fine had twists put into them for no reason other than to increase the chance of failure. Foundation kids for the first time have to solve simultaneous equations. But why put a question on which is going to trip them up and confuse them? Lots of fuss about trig being on Foundation so we dutifully taught it and spent lots of time on it because it's hard. It was on every sample paper they produced. It wasn't on the sodding real thing. What a waste of time.

My foundation class would have comfortably got Cs and be able to answer the majority of a paper without breaking a sweat. Now it's all very, very difficult and they hate it. We've had higher tier students lose all confidence, bomb out of the higher paper and be moved to foundation, capping their potential grade. Other higher students have decided that maths isn't for them and wont be taking A-level.

All this has served to do is to put kids off maths and make them think they can't do it.

And it's all very well saying 'the grade boundaries will be low, it will be fine, the same proportion will get a C as last year' etc etc. As a maths teacher who is interested in the maths education of the population, this is simply not good enough. You can't make kids better at maths by battering them over the head with stuff they can't do.

OP posts:
missnevermind · 14/06/2017 08:53

Possum. Mine thought it was an easier paper than the last one too. He also is down for A level maths.
I honestly think I am more worried than he is

tinypop4 · 14/06/2017 08:47

I am sorry to read this thread and feel very strongly for you with 100% exams.
I am a secondary music teacher so I am lucky that they can't fairly ditch coursework in my subject- this remains at 60%. Nevertheless, the 40% exam is extraordinarily hard- it's for first examination next year so I've been teaching it to year 10 but some of the concepts are eye wateringly difficult and things I didn't study until A2 and in some cases first level of degree. It's been a tricky year with year 10 many of them wishing they hadn't taken it as it's too hard.

Peanutbuttercheese · 14/06/2017 08:39

DS teacher told then about the I think 37% of dc that passed the mock exams. He got 65% and his friend who is a bit of a genius got 85%. They have both found all the maths papers fine but I get that they are good at maths.

I just hate the fact that yet again the exam system has been meddled with.

PlymouthMaid1 · 14/06/2017 08:29

Poster above, what do you find ridiculous about the functional skills syllabus as as I actually think it is pretty well rounded and actually relevant to real life? It is a really good award for young people who cant cope with the gcse.

NewDayDawning · 14/06/2017 08:23

The average mark for both higher and foundation nationally in the November mocks was about 30%. That means that most kids were sitting an exam where more than half of it was beyond them.

It is absolutely crazy that after 7 years of schooling our pupils sit down to a paper where half of it is beyond them, soul destroying for pupils and teachers.

Low grade boundaries and everyone breaths a sigh of relief, it doesn't change the fact that they can't actually do the work. Madness.

Redsrule · 14/06/2017 08:19

I agree noble, but at least you still have tiers. English is not tiered and my weakest pupils, SEN/EAL were supposed to interpret an extract from a 1908 short story about a hat shop! Please tell me how the ability to do this will help them in their adult life? I have never been in a hat shop and I am in my 50's! Do they still exist? If this was Literature fine, but Language!?!?

TheDrsDocMartens · 14/06/2017 08:09

My dds school are giving less options in year 10 to allow for it

hahahaIdontgetit · 14/06/2017 07:46

We are changing the curriculum next year to increase maths and English teaching hours to the detriment of PE, PSHE and RE.
All of which are subjects which help develop the kids in a more rounded way.

pieceofpurplesky · 14/06/2017 07:43

Pupils where I work are so disillusioned. I teach English and besides one paper for all (which is ridiculous) the lit paper is so hard in respect of volume of things that need to be revised

Original poster
noblegiraffe · 14/06/2017 07:43

SAMs are Sample Assessment Materials. They were the sample exam papers put out by the exam boards so that schools could see which style they preferred when deciding which exam board to go for.

Ofqual had signed all the exam boards off. The textbooks were written and ready to go. Then exam boards started bickering between themselves about whether some SAMs were too easy and the 'easy' exam boards were stealing their custom. There were threats to sue. Then Ofqual stepped in, got some kids to sit all the SAMs and it was discovered that they were way too hard (except one) and the exam boards were told to rip them up and start again. This took about 6 months, and they were only properly signed off in July for first teaching in September. Most schools had already started teaching them the year before to fit the content in. The textbooks had been written to the level of the SAMs, so were also too hard and therefore unusable.

So these exam papers are easier than they were going to be,(!) and it was only because of threatened court action that any kids actually sat them as a trial.

OP posts:
DrDreReturns · 14/06/2017 07:39

Are there fewer pupils opting for A level maths next year noble?

Lokisglowstickofdestiny · 14/06/2017 07:38

bonnevacances, I think it depends on the child. My DD would have totally panicked if she had seen the Higher papers and probably have frozen. She did Foundation, said it was ok and managed to answer all the questions (whether she got them right is another question!). I think she has a better chance at a pass with Foundation and it's all she needs.

Original poster
noblegiraffe · 14/06/2017 07:37

apparently they have to work harder on the foundation to get a 4.

We have no idea. We have no idea how hard they will have to work on either paper to get a 4. We don't know what proportion of kids sitting higher or foundation will get a 4. We've had to make tier of entry decisions blindfolded and in lots of cases with borderline candidates it has been a best guess and no doubt some kids will lose out due to the wrong decision being made.

OP posts:
troutsprout · 14/06/2017 07:36

It is a cluster-fuck of epic proportions.
Poor kids Sad

Original poster
noblegiraffe · 14/06/2017 07:34

There won't be terrible exam results across the board, the same proportion of kids will pass this year as last year, and the same proportion will get an A or above (7+) as last year. The grade boundaries will be on the floor to compensate. The average mark for both higher and foundation nationally in the November mocks was about 30%. That means that most kids were sitting an exam where more than half of it was beyond them.

There was supposed to be a drop in the pass rate for English and Maths of about 23%, with the 5 being the new pass grade, but the government bottled it at the last minute and said that a 4 will be a 'standard pass'. School league tables will be a disaster in January though as they will still be using the 5 as a pass.
I think in August there will be lots of relief as kids do better than they thought they would (i.e. They will get what they should have got) and people might say 'well what was all the fuss about?' But the point is that kids will already have had their confidence destroyed, teachers will have quit/been made ill over the workload, A-level subject choices will have been made, and we won't be able to get that back.

My school is introducing an extra hour of maths per week from Y7 from September. When current Y7 hit the GCSEs they'll be much better prepared, but at the expense of the arts and technology subjects which are being reduced to make way.

OP posts:
OddBoots · 14/06/2017 07:31

Sorry, what are SAMs?

It sounds a total mess.

Oblomov17 · 14/06/2017 07:30

Was watching some of ds1's friends study for their maths papers this May bank holiday, and was shocked at how hard it was.
This thread has just confirmed it. Sad

YellowPrimula · 14/06/2017 07:27

Not taking away from the fact that it was hard or the ridiculousness of having on exam for all but why is it that children in most other countries in the world can do this level of maths and ours can't. is it teaching, is it a societal attitude to maths .Before we can remedy this we need to try to establish the reason.

I write as a mother of a dyscalculic who at 20 is still trying to pass functional maths ( don't get me started on that ridiculous syllabus) , a ds who managed an A in the old GCSE whilst still be unable to do percentages or mental maths but learned method by rote and had fab exam technique and Maths loving yr 10 who did the exam on 26 May as his year group exam and got 83% but also found it harder than he was expecting.

How can one exam accommodate all these levels of ability.

BonnesVacances · 14/06/2017 07:26

DD is in Y10 and all her GCSES next year will be linear. But she hasn't been in school or studied anything since Y9 due to illness so the move to linear exams has worked out well for us in this instance as it means she hasn't missed any controlled assessments or coursework.

Maths is the most worrying GCSE for us though. I can't see how she will even begin to think about sitting it. Even though she was top set before she became ill, there's no way she would be able to cram before it as there's so much content.

Interestingly DH said that she's still better off taking the higher paper as apparently they have to work harder on the foundation to get a 4. Would you not agree with that if some of your students have moved from the higher to the foundation?

NewDayDawning · 14/06/2017 07:25

My Y11 has found them hard, but finished in good time, he felt paper 3 was quite 'forgiving' (his words)

He has worked so hard, but is completely shattered (emotionally and physically drained) we still have 6 more papers including further maths, chemistry, physics...I don't know how to keep him going.

We are all hoping the grade boundaries are lower on maths Edexcel (wishful thinking?)

MairzyDoats · 14/06/2017 07:15

This is awful. My Y9 hates maths already, we are going to have complete meltdowns. Do you think terrible exam results across the board will open the examiners' eyes?

KeiraTwiceKnightley · 14/06/2017 07:08

Also, as the new exams have to stretch the brightest, it means the weakest have to sit through 2 hour (or longer) papers while unable to read much of them. Additionally, lots have extra time for particular need so might be in an exam for 2 and 3/4 hours. Lots are having a sleep...

KeiraTwiceKnightley · 14/06/2017 07:06

Yes - he thought it was about being possessed.

HibiscusIsland · 14/06/2017 06:58
Sad Keira, did he confuse possessions with phantoms?
DoctorDonnaNoble · 14/06/2017 06:51

As @noblegiraffe and others know I teach in a boys' grammar. Maths is our 'thing'. Some of our absolutely fantastic students were in bits before Maths (in a way they weren't for English). I had to remind them that 'rubbish' at Maths in our place wasn't really rubbish. Maths usually get single figures A and the rest A*. I have never seen the excellent department look so stressed.