How to move from 2 to a 5 foundation maths GCSE?

what grade is he looking at for science? If he is capable of 5 or above in science then he can definitely pull his maths up, he just needs to learn the content. Does he have the revision guide for maths? If not, I would get the foundation guide for the correct exam board and go through it with him. As you go through it look up explanation videos online to help him understand - Bitesize is great for breaking it all down and simplifying.

You need a tutor to understand where the gaps are in his knowledge.

He might be missing some very basic.building blocks and it all.falls.dien from there.

Slightly different but in COVID I realised my turn 6 years old was struggling as she's misheard 60, 70,80 and 90 as 16,.17,18, 19.

She was in such muddle. Once we figured that out she could then move on.

Tutor twice a week and practice practice practice.

Sparx maths is good for practice

Hi, I agree with others please look into back ups, around where we live you will not get on to A levels or other level 3 courses if you have not passed English and/or maths at grade 4 as there is not enough time table space to do. Re take along side the course. You need to take a lower level course first and then higher course year later once you pass. What subject does he want to take at sixth form ? If it’s a subject he is taking at GCSE is he on track to get a 5. Or higher in that

I would recommend doing past papers and getting real feedback on his errors - get him to analyse whether they are calculation errors or procedural. There are lots of websites with practice papers. DM I am happy to mark and give feedback on any work they do. It is achievable if they are willing to work hard and think about what they are doing. In my experience it takes a real shift in attitude- from this is impossible- to I am willing to work through the pain to achieve this.
Good life experience also - if they can do this they can do anything!

Fi d Hannah Kettle on YouTube and TikTok

Follow her and join all the lives.
She has broken down Foundation into modules on her page. Print off the sheets For that. He watches the video and does the first sheet with it, then the second independently and marks it with the video

Do that with him. As in sit with him and do the maths too. You should get an idea of how capable he is from that

My DS went from a 3 to a 5. My DS has SEN and an EHCP. He has always struggled with maths and even now he still doesn't know his times tables - we've given up at this stage! Interestingly, like your DS, mine is much better at science which no one at this school can understand. I guess it's just the way some brains work?

Past papers are your friend. Be prepared to spend a fortune on printer ink!

You may already know this but if not, DC sit 3 maths papers: 2 calculator and 1 non-calculator. You can download and print off past papers from many years back also the mark schemes. They are free. You can get them on either the Edexcel site or somewhere like 'Save My Exams'.

What my DS's tutor did was get my DS to do a past paper as homework then they'd go through it in the session. I can only speak for Foundation but he will learn that the same type of questions come up every year eg - 'Bob needs to buy wallpaper/carpet for a room etc'. Repetition is the key.

I also second Hannah Kettle. She uses the same method ie doing a past paper then watching the video to go through the answers.

As an aside, please do make sure your DS has plan A, B and C for post 16. As others have said, you can apply and hold offers for several settings. Does your DS know what subjects he'd like to study post-16? Has he started going to Open Days? Where I am, a student needs at least a 6 in the subject they want to take. They may also need say a 6 in maths/English. All this will be available on the setting's website though.

It's very encouraging that your DS is willing and prepared to put the work in - that can make all the difference. Good luck to him!

She waited the year and really knuckled down. Took the paper in June. Her motivation was the difference.

Maths is something you either get or you don’t. I had a tutor for 2 years, tried my very best and took my GCSE maths twice and got a D both times. It’s not just tutoring and attitude - it’s natural ability too.

the rule from the govt is that they have to keep sitting until they pass if they got a 3 at gcse.

this is relaxed for kids who got a 2 or a 1 and they are allowed to do functional skills as the government recognise it’s pretty much impossible to turn a 1 into a 4 and close to impossible to turn a 2 into a 4.

gcse resits are November and June but not all settings allow or insist on all resits.

most unis want apass in gcse maths and some courses want a 5 or higher so if he’s not got it by uni there could be difficulty

I think you need a good tutor to help set a baseline of what the problems are

does he have a poor grasp of basic number calculations, how the number system works, how decimals and fractions work, does he recognise when he gets an answer that is way outside off.

does he have difficulty understanding how to approach questions, ie working out what is being asked, what part to solve first,

does he understand areas of maths like geometry, algebra etc

If a tutor can work out which areas are causing the problems then you can focus on those areas using online tutoring sites rather than just randomly working through past papers/ test questions. This is why it is always best to use a qualified teacher for a tutor , not some 18 year old on a gap year who has never actually had any problems with maths so won’t know how to spot poor knowledge and more importantly , how to remedy it.

Also, rather depressingly, the stats on students passing maths GCSE on a retake are really low. I've just looked it up and only 15.3% of students who retook maths GCSE this summer got a 4 or above.

I've known two DC who ended up in a 'doom loop' of sitting Maths GCSE 5 times and never getting above a 3.

This is why schools tend to throw everything at students who are struggling with English and Maths GCSES.

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/gcse-resits-2026-english-and-maths-pass-rates-fall-as-entries-surge/

The other thing to mention is that in order to get a 5 sitting Foundation Maths, you need to get around 75%. So that doesn't leave much room for making mistakes.

My dagger managed to move from a 2 to a 5 in less time than this. My DH was able to help her and she worked very hard. We used this https://www.mathmo.com/
and found it very effective.

One of the key indicators of whether he will get a 4 in maths is does he know his times tables? If he doesn’t then there are workarounds but if he does then he will find it much easier.

Why can’t anyone in the family help? Amazing resources on YouTube and TikTok and some of the foundation maths is taught in Y6 so theoretically you (the royal you) could
learn from scratch together. I’d be doing that, learning alongside my son and trying to support him with gaps in his knowledge. Did any adult relatives get their maths GCSE?

If you choose to pay, you attend the online tutorials that are relevant. He runs through papers so it helps if they’ve had a go before hand. He taught her several very usual exams techniques and calculator hacks.
Foundation maths appears to me to be mostly stuff they should have done in year 7 and 8. The algebra is the toughest bit.
Mathmo has quite a bit of free content around try YouTube.