Maths grade 2 needs to get to a 6/7 grade over the 2 years of GCSE

I assume that your child is y9 in September. Personally I think that it's not hard to go from 2 to 6 in 2 years as during that he will learn 3-9 material. (I'm assuming that he'd be in the higher class)

I think it's weird that you got a GCSE number grade in y8. My son is the same age and would be fine with some foundation questions- say fractions but doesn't know enough maths to make an informed prediction about end of y11 performance. My dd is in y11 and at the beginning of y9 there was no way to predict how'd she would take to grade 9 questions on vectors, trigonometry etc but is on course for a 8.

I'm a maths tutor. It really depends why he is a grade 2 at present. Getting a grade 7 is not trivial and in my opinion, much harder than getting an A on the old style papers.
Is he secure on the basics? Tables; fractions, decimals, percentages; paper methods for X+-÷ including 2 or more digits and decimals; basic shape, angles, coordinates; BODMAS and early algebra;
If not, he would really need to concentrate on these first.
If he is secure on these then I'd recommend getting CGP foundation level Maths busters and really blitzing this from now until September. It has teaching videos, revision pages, practice questions, and tests all in the same app
If my student are aiming for a 6/7, I'd really like them to be a 4/5 by the end of year 9.
So why is he at level 2. Is it because he finds maths really hard to understand and grasp or because he's not bothered with trying. Even if it's the former, he could still make great inroads in 2 years but he'd need loads of practice and dedication and good clear teaching. He'd have to be willing to slog at it step by step ( I tell my students it is like climbing a high mountain. You have to aim for the top but you can only get there by taking a step at a time).

@Comefrom I get what you’re saying. To be honest, there’s very little difference in revising for a 5 or a 6, so I’d just be optimistic and aim for a 6 (get that into his psyche) that way if things don’t go to plan then he’ll More likely end up with 5 rather than a 4 which is what you suspected might be the result all along.

If he's willing to work, I'd suggest you go backwards and get him to do past papers/revision guides/workbooks at a lower level to improve his confidence and fill any gaps in his knowledge/ability.

Maths is a subject that progresses at quite a pace, so if he's struggling with the basics, he's going to struggle as the course progresses, not just getting further behind, but also knocking his confidence.

It would be good if you/he could drag him up in the next few months, to improve his basic maths skills ready for the new school year in September so that he can hit the ground running and hopefully keep up during lessons, so that he doesn't fall further behind.

There are lots of free resources online. Have a look at CorbettMaths which have plenty of worksheets but also online tutorials showing how to do things. There are usually also loads of used books on ebay and even plenty of relatively cheap new workbooks on Amazon.

If you start now, you're willing to sit with him and help him/make sure he does it, and he's willing to do the worksheets etc., then, yes, every chance he can improve by several grades.

Well thats on a good day , if he works and doesn't have a meltdown. if you put ds under too much pressure he crumbles. We are ecstatic that he got 4 and 5 this year but that was based on year 10 mocks that didn;t include the whole syllabus and without the pressure of the actual exams.

@comefrom if his tutor has said he can get a 6 by next yr and DS has already shown he can do this by improving from a grade 2 to a 5, then why are you going backwards by wanting him to aim for a 5? .

Not with maths but we have hopefully done it to a certain extent with English. In Year 9 his on track for Grade was a Grade 2. We got hinm a tutor and in his recent Year 10 exams he got a 4 and a 5. His tutor thinks he can get that to a 6 by next year.

We would be very happy with 4/5 though as thats what he needs to get onto the next stage. Would trying to get to a 5 be more realistic?

Got my son a tutor (a uni student doing maths and science) to help him. Yet to see results but we’re just aiming for a 5. (4 in mocks).

I suppose part of it will be why he is a grade 2 now?
Also what year is he in?

Does he really struggle with maths?
Has he had no teacher/poor teacher?
Does he do his homework?
Is he lazy?

A private tutor might help wit the first 2.

Practise, practice.... going over everything at home to make sure he understands as he goes along.

Following

DS1 did the easier, old-style GCSE but doubled his Maths grade in six months.
End of Y10: 33% (C)
Mid Y11 mock: 72% (A)

He did this by practising questions on every topic, and going over all the questions he got wrong.

During study leave just before GCSEs, the teacher offered optional revision sessions. DS1 was often the only pupil to turn up, so the teacher went through practice papers DS1 had done, showing him how he could have got more marks. This was really valuable.

He got an A in the actual exam.