Yearly warning about taking A-level maths with a 6 at GCSE

Shame. Economics is not a subject which particularly builds on prior knowledge. Decent written & maths skills are needed, eg 6 in maths & Eng lang. Even selective schools round here only ask for 6s for that subject. Good luck sorting something

Honestly he’s done the right thing. He’ll likely get a much better grade in something else! A 6 isn’t a bad grade at all but A level is just so hard from my experience and I totally agree with this post.

@utahsainthood time to look elsewhere I guess then.

That’s good to know. I replied to the other poster and unfortunately that’s their requirement. It’s an academic top 50 type private school so they are allowed to be selective I guess. He got 8877776664.
one of his 8s was English language and as I said he got a 7 in maths. He’s really interested in Economics - doesn’t want to study it at uni but is looking to a management or business degree with MFL (he also got an 8 in Spanish)

I'm pretty old! I was only second year of GCSE and DH did O level (plus one CSE).

I understand nowadays the A-level involves statistics AND mechanics which would have done for me as I don't understand mechanics bit used to get 100% in statistics, making up for my total inability to ever get an actual solution in calculus. The pages I covered...

Unfortunately that’s their entry requirement. It’s an academic private school and DS only just got enough grade average to stay at the school for 6th form. He got 8877776664

As I said upthread - my school wouldn't let anyone who didn't get an A do A level maths (this was the only subject it applied to) and that was over 30 years ago

Thank you, my son was focussed on taking A level maths but only achieved a 6 yesterday. He was devastated and the school gently pointed out that in their experience letting someone on with a 6 would mean a struggle. He has switched to another A level. He said last night he feels relieved - so it is the right decision.

I did maths O level (oldie) early, in the November of year 11 as we didn't call it. We then spend the rest of the year on AO maths. Blimey it was tough. I had planned to take maths A level (I do love maths) but I couldn't get my head round the basics of calculus. So I did Greek instead hahahahaha

I agree with this. There seems to be an element of ‘if you’re not going to get an A ⭐ or an A at A-level then there’s no point taking that A-level which I don’t necessarily think is true. Mine aren’t that age yet but I have friends whose children got Bs and Cs at A-level and went on to do good courses at decent universities and do well.
I think maybe maths is slightly different (I got an A at GCSE maths but knew I wouldn’t have coped with the A-level). But generally, the fact that you’re ’only’ likely to get a B or C at A-level shouldn’t put you off the A-level, unless you’re looking at highly selective universities.

Regarding Maths A-level, even if you "only" come out with a B or a C, you've still acquired useful knowledge, haven't you? Although Core Maths does seem a better option.

I was in the top set for Maths GCSE in 1988 and took it a year early, getting an A in old money. They made us do AS Maths in what would now be year 11. Woah it was hard. I got a B but I'm sure it ultimately helped me get an A at A level two years later.

That's mad. Only around 8,000 students sit Economics GCSE every year while around 40,000 sit A level. The GCSE is very niche and in my professional opinion poorly designed and pointless as A level repeats so much of it but with appropriately aged students.

I've had students with high grades in Economics GCSE do poorly in the A level because they rest on their laurels and/or don't sufficiently develop their essay writing, and students do brilliantly with no previous contact with the subject.

We don't set entry conditions involving the Economics GCSE but instead rely on English and Maths.

@Namechangedisaster according to the recent table posted above about 30% of students starting with a 7 get an A or B and about 60% get an A-C.

On mumsnet it can seem.like everyone is getting straight As, but they aren't. Bs and Cs wont open up the most selective courses, but they do enable worthwhile next steps. If he wants to do A level maths, doesnt have 3 stronger subjects or ones he is more interested in and is willing to put the work in i'd say go for it. However, im not a maths teacher so posters more experienced in this area might take a different view.

I think that is outrageous. DS is doing economics with GCSE 6/7 profile and doing really well. This is normal.

My DS took Economics GCSE this year and got a 6, after being predicted an 8. He got a 7 in Maths but wasn’t intending to do Maths A Level.

The school (private) are not allowing him to take Economics for A level and they don’t offer business or accounting so we are thinking of moving schools now.

I started a thread about this last week because of my concerns about my dd taking A level Maths. She loves maths and really enjoys solving maths problems. She’s v stubborn too and is now in the mindset to prove me and everyone else wrong. Without doubt she’s a hard worker and determined.

She got a 7. Comfortably a 7 but not a mark or two off of an 8. She had a bit of a panic during paper 2, struggled to get back on track and feels this has affected her mark. She says if she could do it again she’d have done a lot better. Although this isn’t as reassuring as she thinks it is!

She’s done well overall and can take 4 A levels so there is a chance it’s something she could drop later on. A maths teacher said they would review her understanding & ability within the first few weeks and advise her accordingly if there were any issues.

Sadly the way subjects have been blocked doesn’t help much with alternative A levels to do instead. At least ones she is interested in.

I do feel your pain. Looking at the stats about grades achieved does make me nervous.

@jobnotsure I think there should be a stepping stone qualification. Something like Core Maths (but more algebra-based) in year 12 and then AS-level Maths in year 13. That only works if you are taking four subjects though, since neither is a full A-level, and that is probably one reason why schools do not offer this progression.

At one point there was a "Use of Mathematics" A-level, which was not "respected", but perhaps actually useful. I don't know to what level this took pupils, though.

These threads haunt me.... DS loves maths and really wants to do it at A level (with no particular career / uni pathway in mind)... he worked hard for GCSE, but althogh had a tutor for year 11 and missed an 8 by 4 points, finding the exams really hard. He knows exactly what he got wrong, months later.

He is not very good with arithmetic , but loves playing with numbers to see what they do and is going to a college with a great reputation for maths where standards will be high, workloads even higher.

I am worried for him because I got screwed over by A level maths myself (went from an A at GCSE to a U due to thinking I knew better than to attend any maths lessons).

He doesn't want to do anything else, it's maths he gets switched on for and won't be persueded to drop it.

What do you reckon?

Just wondering-Which is the better achievement?

Grade B maths Summer 1993 or Grade A maths summer 2017.

I did both. Paid for the 2017 course as I was still disappointed with the Grade B.

@NuffSaidSamBusiness Studies or Economics would be good. I teach Business and as longs as they had 6 in both Maths and English then a student could study one of those at our school. Sociology, Psychology, Law, Geography and History would all be good depending on their interests. I always advise my Y11s to pick the subjects they enjoy the most (& A Level students too when discussing degree options). Unless you're going for a very specific job with a very specific academic path eg medicine/dentistry then they should study what they find the most interesting

I did gcse in around mid 90s and got a B. Which was then a C at add maths and then alevel. It likely impacted my other alevels.
But back then gcse wasnt that stretching so the A grades and A star were not necessarily more able but perhaps more accurate.
but now gcse is a lot lot harder and so the 6 dont get to do much of the paper where previously i could do all. Even with my C at alevel the 8/9 grade work is inaccessible largely to me. The 8-9 are more accurate representation of the top say 5-10%.

Also dd with a grade 6 with 7 target isnt even in the top 1/3 of her school for science or maths

@noblegiraffe why are you not allowed to tell your students the data and likely outcome with a gcse grade 6?

I get it that you're in competition with the next college but that's crazy! Sixth forms seem over subscribed in most places so wouldn't it make more sense to be upfront even if it put a few kids off choosing your college?

This makes me realise how good my boyfriend's results were of 10 a stars back in 1998. Sounds like with grade inflation that's as good as all 9s these days?

To be fair I did my A levels ages back and my school said you could only do maths if you had an A or A* or - a B but it had to come from the higher paper and they’d speaks to you on a like individual basis if that was that case.
It seems odd to me other schools wouldn’t do that. They weren’t struggling for students though and wanted high results.