Redo gcse or continue with a levels

I guess she could do it privately and maybe get ahead with some A level content. Depends how much she wants to do maths and physics.

Can she do science A Levels and Core Maths? She'd be fine to do that with a 6 in maths.

Does the college do level 3 BTEC Applied Science? Our school suggest grades 5/6 students to do BTECs and grade 7+ people to do A-levels. Level 3 BTECs will count for uni entry as they are level 3 qualifications. I know that dd has 6,7 in science but it might be a way to study science.

The suggested A-levels don’t sound appropriate unless dd enjoys the statistics in maths and economics. Sometimes people start a subject from scratch in year 12 but it’s a massive gamble and studying economics at good unis often require maths.

And then there are the social aspects to consider, particularly if she's just studying Maths GCSE at home for a year....

It will be too late to change courses if she takes the November resit (provided she could enter) because the results don't come out till January.

It's a tricky one, especially as she doesn't have a "vision" of what she ultimately wants to do and Physics/Maths/Chemistry are tricky A levels, usually taken by people who want to work in a specific field and/or have a particular flair for them.

Does she want to do Stats and Economics? They are good A Levels and will open a lot of doors as well as closing some...

If she really doesn't want to study them, then she probably won't be committed.

It's a very personal decision and depends on what your daughter wants, really x

When you talk about resitting the maths GCSE @oishidesne what exactly do you mean? Bc as @LillieLoo says, the resit maths classes will be for those who got a 3, trying to get them a 4/5 - will probably in fact almost certainly be doing foundation work so that's no use to your DD.

Or would she take the maths GCSE privately? I think you might have missed the deadline for this November resits. It's really not a good idea to take a year out of studying if your choices are physics and chemistry. Will they let her take chem? Can she not find somewhere that wll let her take physics A level without maths? It's not ideal but it is possible (mate of Ds2's did it).

Honestly tho based on the info you have supplied, unless there is more detail wrt her maths ability and why she didn't do better at GCSE, I would suggest she does the suggested A levels (which I presume she has started?). What is the third one?

The problem with the Maths resit classes at sixth form/college is that they will be targeted at students below a 4, aiming to achieve a 4/5...they would be able to set and mark different work for her but would be juggling with different abilities.

Also, would she have to take other Level 2 courses alongside this to build her timetable?

The other consideration is that whereas at school, Maths would be allocated 4 full periods whereas at 6th Form/college, most only allocate 2 periods rather than 4....

In your place and based on what you’ve been told, I would get your dd to do the A levels she is able to do and resit maths. I think the reason they’re refusing as a student can only restart year 12 under certain circumstances as the college will only get funding for 2 years. I would use that time to find out what those circumstances are and if changing to a different school / college would make a difference. It’s a bit of a gamble, I know. But redoing GCSEs will be demoralising and your dd may not even succeed for this reason.

OP what is your dd doing currently? Is she trying the alternative subjects the college have suggested?

it’s just that she’s already a few weeks into term- and the A level study phase isn’t that long so she really does need to commit to that if she’s started it?

spending a whole year resitting one GCSE doesn’t sound like time well spent to me. Even if she did improve her maths grade (and there are no guarantees) she’d be neglecting physics and chemistry?

what does she want to do?

@oishidesne DT is design and technology - I imagine you need to have done the GCSE tho which presumably your DD didn't.

You haven't said (maybe bc you don't know) why she dropped from a 7 in mock to just into a 6 in the real thing. I think being top of the class if that equates to a grade 7 is fairly meaningless tbh. DS2 got. 8 in maths and was far from top of his class (I imagine); he took A level and found it a slog, finishing with a hard-worked for B, which is great of course.

Does your DD's GCSE teacher think a) she could cope with A level maths b) she should have got a significantly higher grade? If I had an MFL student (my subject) who scraped a 6 but who I have confidently expected to get grade 7/8 then I would probably be OK with them taking the A level.

Do they offer core maths? And would they let her do chemistry (or even physics) alongside that? DS also got an unexpected 6 in GCSE maths. He did chemistry, DT, business and core maths (instead of physics, maths and business). He’headed off to Newcastle last week to study chemistry.

I also agree the BTECs are worth considering. DD did a mixture of BTEC/A-levels after disappointing (teacher assessed) GCSE grades in 2020. She’s now in her final year at Exeter doing business with law, and on course for a 1st.

Even if she retakes and get sat an 8, then she may still struggle at a more advanced level. It all depends on the reasons she didn't do as well as expected, if he reasons is transitory, such as illness or emotional trauma, then could redo. But just my opinion..

Has she looked at AS/A level Maths in-depth? As it's very, very different to GCSE and there's a lot of unlearning. Had a friend who aced GCSE who took it dropped it because they hated it so much, couldn't get their heads around it. So may be worth looking into it first to make sure she likes it before making a decision.

One other possibility: what about doing something like a level 3 BTEC in applied science? It will include some biology, but otherwise will cover the chemistry, phys and maths she is after.

I would do what is suggested in the first paragraph.

As for not being able to do physics without maths, we got a range of advice on this for dd from different physics teachers at different schools/ colleges as she wanted to do physics but not maths. The advice was it’s easier with maths. Maths being the theory, physics being the application. However, she was told as long as her grade in maths was good enough she could do physics. And we did understand that she wouldn’t be able to continue in STEM. In the event she’s not taken physics A level as by the time GCSE rolled round she was bored of the subject.

Yes I understand this. But op said her dd was expected to get higher, was the best in the class and got a 7 in her mocks so it’s entirely feasible she could have got an 8 in the real thing, albeit op has clarified she actually got a low 6.

Hmm.

Maths a level is hard. You can't really do physics a level without the maths - there is a significant overlap.

A grade 7 would be the lower end of what most sixth forms are prepared to accept and even then she'd need to work her socks off.

A grade 6 that's 30 marks away from a 7 is nowhere near what she needs. The sixth form are being sensible - that's just too much of a step up.

It's kind of up to you both whether she resits or not but if she does resit then there's a fair way to go. Ideally she'd be confident in all the grade 8 and grade 9 content before starting the maths a level.

She should be capable of physics & chemistry with a 6 though. I did physics A level without maths. Is there another college she could go to?

I probably wouldn't redo GCSEs though, chemistry, statistics and economics are good options

It is a big jump.
Don't redo it.
Chose alternative Alevels.
She can do maths additionally privately with a private tutor if she really wants to.
She may try and think not for me.