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Original poster

Best working towards a 5 at Foundation Level maths rather than the higher paper?

37 replies

EmmaWithTheGreatHair · 19/12/2020 09:07

Ds (Y9) is in the foundation group and from contact with his teacher, he thinks he’s capable of achieving grade 5. Recent review indicated he was currently at level 3, based on recent test.

I’m new to all of this so am clueless but from what I’ve read you have to answer so many more questions correctly at FL to gain a 5, whereas the HL paper you don’t, but there’s a risk of failing this paper completely.

Ds did have a tutor but she’s told me she really doesn’t think we’ll need her if he’s not in the higher level group. She thinks Ds is more than capable of achieving a 5 but judging from her reaction she sees the higher level as the better option? Although Ds is great on a one to one level, he will often lack focus in the class and gets easily distracted, so I’m not sure how he would fare in the higher level group.

After honest opinions on which option you think is the right one for those borderline dc.

OP posts:
Original poster
EmmaWithTheGreatHair · 19/12/2020 17:41

This came about, as currently, since returning to school in September, Ds has been put in a mixed ability class, whereas normally they would be in sets. They’ve been going over very basic fractions.

There seemed to be much more challenging work towards the end of Y8, via online lessons.

It was during this exchange of emails that I was told Ds was set to take the foundation paper!

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Original poster
EmmaWithTheGreatHair · 19/12/2020 17:35

@user1471530109 I’ve an email stating Ds, in Y9 is currently ‘set to take the foundation paper’.

Hopefully not set in stone.

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Original poster
EmmaWithTheGreatHair · 19/12/2020 17:33

@clary thank you.

We will see how the next six months goes and hopefully have more of an idea where Ds sits within the grading.

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user1471530109 · 19/12/2020 17:32

If Maths is similar to Science, there would be a very real danger of him being awarded a U on higher. They've removed the grade 3 from higher (for science). So less than a 4 would be a U.
But no teacher would be saying higher or foundation with 2 years to go.

clary · 19/12/2020 17:29

My subject is MFL not maths, but it still has tiered papers. If a student was currently a 3 and capable of a 5, No Way would I have them sit higher. Why?

Higher is IMHO only for those who have a strong chance of a 6+. Yes you can get a 5 with a much lower score, but the questions are a lot harder. In MFL, basically the easiest question in the H writing paper is the hardest question in the F writing paper. So if that is hard for you then you would struggle with the rest.

Would you really want to be going into an exam where 75% of the content was closed to you? How demoralising would that be - you might even do worse on what you did know as a result.

If your DC is in yr 9 then I would imagine there is still time to change tiers if they suddenly make a massive improvement. .

Original poster
EmmaWithTheGreatHair · 19/12/2020 17:28

@catndogslife thank you. Hopefully there will be opportunities in 2021 to stretch Ds, see how the next review goes and go from there.

As it stands currently, being in and out of isolation etc, it’s taking its toll.

Foundation might be the better option.

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catndogslife · 19/12/2020 17:11

I would agree that it's too early to make a definite decision about Foundation / Higher tier in Y9.
Other posters would be correct about staying at Foundation level if he were a grade 3 and Y11 now, but a lot of progress could still be made over the next 2 years.
Your statement about fewer marks needed to obtain a grade 5 on the Higher paper doesn't take into account that the questions are harder on the Higher paper.
I would think that at some stage the school may need to check how he does on both types of paper, there are grade 5 questions on both.
However not being able to access some of the harder questions on the Higher paper does demoralise some students and so they are better off doing Foundation.

Original poster
EmmaWithTheGreatHair · 19/12/2020 16:58

Anyone else lend their expert view?

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Original poster
EmmaWithTheGreatHair · 19/12/2020 09:33

I think with most of 2020 being remote teaching, Ds year group in and out of isolation since the start of term, so much disruption, then he’s probably better where he is?

I’d like to think if he showed promise they would think of moving him but then the gap will have widened further?

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Original poster
EmmaWithTheGreatHair · 19/12/2020 09:30

@ladyvimes thank you, it’s good to know that this is the best approach due to currently at level 3. Teacher did state that some in the higher level group were only at this level after the recent test but that it wouldn’t mean Ds would get moved up etc

@TeenPlusTwenties I’d love the opportunity to sit and ask the teacher at some point, hopefully we’ll be able to have a few more F2F meetings in 2021.

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TeenPlusTwenties · 19/12/2020 09:18

I'm
a) following with interest due to my y11
but also
b) wondering why on earth they are apparently deciding on foundation v higher at this stage in year 9, over 2 years before the GCSEs.

ladyvimes · 19/12/2020 09:13

There is a massive jump between the foundation and higher papers. If he is currently on a 3 he definitely should take the foundation paper and not the higher. If he takes the higher paper and doesn’t score well enough for a 5 he might end up much much lower!