Yearly warning not to take A-level maths with less than a 7 at GCSE

@FriendlyRobin - I think your DD sounds like she will be OK to do those 3 subjects at A level. They need to do what they enjoy and are passionate about.

Some girls get very worked up about the mocks, because they are so conscientious. I think they can get nervous in the exams - in Maths/Physics in particular, you have to think clearly all the way through the exam.

Re Further Maths/Ad Maths - I think it is worth doing for those getting 80% plus in mocks at this stage and a 9, because they need the further challenge in maths. For them it will be good prep for A level and Further Maths A level. However, it is better to focus on really doing your best in the standard GCSE - so I think that giving it up is a good move. It is not necessary, in fact, many Sixth Forms do not even take it into account on entry. So it is more of an extension for those who seek that additional challenge who may otherwise find the standard GCSE quite boring. Some of my DCs friends were getting 100% in their mocks at this stage, so for them it is a no brainer to do the Further Maths or Ad Maths (whichever one their school offers them).

Also very important to bear in mind that GCSEs are a marathon and not a race. It is early stage now and they need to keep their motivation and energy up until June and not burn out or be too hard on themselves.

My son (Y13) wanted to take maths A-level. He got a 6 so wasn't allowed, so did core maths and got an A which we were thrilled with.
I think he would have struggled with the actual A-level so it worked out as well as it could have really. And because he couldn't take maths, he had to pick another subject - ended up taking finance - turns out he both likes it, and is good at it even though he hadn't previously considered it. Win win!

Good point about being liberated from other subjects. She's finding 10 a lot and just turned down doing further maths (after much anxiety about doing so) as she is worried about managing it on top of her 10.

Oh yes I'm all for them working at A level. I just wondered if it's where some of the "it's hard" comments from the older years are coming from

Some people don't find the STEM subjects that hard at A level though and fly when they're liberated from the other subjects. Whether that applies to your DD I don't know, of course @FriendlyRobin, it may not , but I do wonder how many (girls in particular perhaps) are put off physics because they're told it's hard.

Also, having to learn to work rather than wing it can stand them in good stead for uni.

That's really interesting. I think chemistry is her favourite subject of the 3 but I have warned her that the leap to A level is huge and she'll really have to work if she wants good grades whatever she does. I think the downfall of a lot of grammar kids is so much comes easily to them at gcse that it's a shock at A level when they properly have to graft.

I think she may find history/psychology easier to get good grades in at A level but if she's genuinely excited by science and numbers I dont want to stop that as it keeps more doors open.

Hi @FriendlyRobin I can only say from my experience that my DS16 finds maths and physics kind of straightforward, as much as that's possible! But bearing that in mind, and how capable he is, he is finding chemistry reeeeaaally hard. (I don't know why there's a weird tag at the end of this but I can't get rid of it!) @robi

Thankyou so much noble. I've always appreciated tour threads and it's amazing to have reassurance from someone I "trust"!

@noblegiraffe sorry to come back to this thread but my duaghters choosing her A level options at the moment and I wondered if she could have your (and anyone else's advice!)

She's at a Grammar school and wants to do chemistry physics maths. Or possibly swap one for psychology.

She's excited by the idea of a clinical scientist job or something like radiology or possibly psychology. But she'd like to get good grades and to her go to a "good" uni. I've tried to temper expectations a bit but she's surrounded by high flyers at grammar.

She's just got a couple of marks off an 8 in her maths mock and is a bit disappointed. Would she still be okay to aim for maths A level so you think? Also don't know if you know but she wants to do physics and likes that it goes with maths but so many 6th formers are telling her physics is hard and people drop out...

Its so hard at 15 to decide but just thought I'd ask you if it's okay if this sort of mock would be "worrying" for a high flyer or okay for maths... We could have psych as backup if she doesnt score well for gcse but she was hoping to keep maths for the science!

We still do that here in Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Is there any data for DCs doing the Additional Maths GCSE? In the grammars my DC attend/attended typically top 3 sets aiming for A level Maths and Further Maths were advised to do AdMaths as a stepping stone. I hear from friends in selective independents that that is the case there too. Are DCs only doing the standard GCSE at a disadvantage even if they get a 9?

another data set from 2020-2022: https://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/Images/707601-progression-from-gcse-to-a-level-2020-2022.pdf
In general, the trend is to score roughly 2 grades lower at A level than at GCSE in maths, so e.g. for those with a 7 at GCSE there was a 56% chance of getting a C or above.

Repeating as this has the data re progression gcse to a level grades.
For @user1471457495 Click the top half of the link for some reason.

Hi
I’m a careers advisor working in school and I’d really like to be able to use this data. Are you able to let me know the source/ where I can find it? It would be super helpful I think

Good new, hope he is happier about this now

We have found a college that will accept ds onto Maths A level and also willing to let him try Further Maths. So much better than the college that was all "Computer says No" to doing any A levels at all.

He's doing Sociology as his third, and if needs to drop FM can pick up geography.

Thanks everyone for your reassurances. DS seems quite excited for 6th form now.

I don't know if this is of any help to your DS, but DD2 was in a similar situation a few years back – ie a solid 7, didn't want to do A level, but did want to do other science subjects – so she took a Further Maths GCSE and a Statistics GCSE the following year. She got solid 7s in both of those too, and they did prove beneficial to her science A levels and to her subsequent degrees.

Might your DS's school offer something similar?

Agree.

Hi @noblegiraffe where did your conversion data come from, and is it available for other subjects? Thinking particularly about the sciences.

@Araminta1003 @noblegiraffe my dd is tutored by Dr F. He is an utterly brilliant teacher. The resources on his platform are also fantastic.

De-lurking to say thanks so much, especially to @noblegiraffe but also to others for such great insights. You have helped my DC to make the decision, now it is down to the one hour extra for each lesson 😀