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

Ah ok that's true but that figure includes resits and older students. The % of resitting students gaining a 4 is really low so that skews it. If you just consider 15/16yo year 11 students (which tbh I think is reasonable, that's your DS's cohort) the figure is fewer than 30% gaining below a 4.

DD went from a predicted E/F grade to achieving a C grade. I paid for an amazing maths tutor who ‘got her’ and her style of learning once a week but dd could also WhatsApp her questions at any times and the tutor would explain stuff to her mainly via videos outside of that paid for hour. Dd was also very clear of what she wanted to do in year 12 and knew she needed that C grade in maths and worked hard, independently, to achieve it.

DS’s school arranged and paid for peer tutoring by students who were on course for 9. He went from a 3 to a 5 with a term’s 3x weekly tutoring before school. He liked it much better than the teacher as it was someone his own age who knew what they were doing and were good at communicating it.

Students need to take ownership though. PPs here have made the point that practice is key. If a student doesn’t do any work outside lessons and tutoring, they are much less likely to improve. A 15yo is old enough to realise that and work.

I agree poor teaching is not acceptable; but all the more reason for your ds to step up.

Yes if there are topics you don’t understand then the tutor should help your son. For other students at the school, sounds as tho they could bring their concerns to the maths teacher clinic.

The motivation can come from passing it and never having to study it again! Worked for my ds1.

My daughter moved from a 3 to a 5. She had a tutor in Y11 - should have started that sooner.

We used:
Save My Exams
Corbett Maths 5 a day book. First 6 months “foundation” then “foundation plus”.
Endless past papers which I marked in front of her using the mark scheme again and again so she understood how to scoop up marks (often she did some steps in her head correctly then got the wrong answer, but would have got marks had she illustrated the steps).
Going over and over re-teaching the maths behind questions with the help of videos on the Corbett Maths website, BBC Bitesize website etc. I got an A in GCSE maths but it was a long time ago so when I was going over eg nth term stuff I would often quietly watch the video first to ensure I was supporting her correctly.

I reckon he can turn it around if he puts in the effort now and you get a decent tutor (not just an enthusiastic sixth former!)

And has he been assessed for dyscalculia ? ie is it definitely just lack of engagement?

I am not entirely sure but for instance once my daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia we then could read a lot about how best to help her, and I got her a specialist tutor

If it were me, I wouldn't ask your elder DS to get involved. It sounds like he has enough on his plate. Also, getting a 9 at GCSE doesn't mean he's going to be able to help a student working at a 2.

A 9 suggests a natural ability to grasp complex concepts quickly and easily. It doesn't follow that they will be able to break those down into a language a student who's struggling is going to understand.
Also, your older DS will have taken taken the Higher paper which is very different.

I do appreciate that not everyone is in a position to be able to pay for help so in some cases siblings may be the only option.

As an aside, you mentioned your DS is considering psychology A level. At my DS's school the entry requirements are a 6 in maths and sciences. There's a lot of statistics in psychology.

He still has a year to go though and if he's working at 5s in science now, 6s are possible. It's obviously the maths that you've correctly identified as the biggest issue.

But the maths is also not complicated at a grade 5 GCSE and he’s struggling to achieve that.

I would be worried about anyone who doesn’t naturally sit at a grade 4 or above in maths going on to do a maths heavy A Level like psychology.

Does he understand the subject? If he doesn't no amount of revising is going to help. Is the school helping?

Just because he can struggle to a 5 doesn’t necessarily set him up for success in an A Level that expects this to be second nature.

I’m not saying he can’t or shouldn’t do it, but it should be a well managed decision - is he willing to keep up maths practice into his A Levels post GCSE as you need to keep using the maths “muscle” to keep it effective if it’s not natural ability.

It isn’t just a “get a 5 and your in”, it’s “get a 5 and continually expect to be applying maths skills of that level and possibly above even when that isn’t the thing that’s being taught”.

A couple of other things that have occurred to me:

Ask to see his maths papers from school. Some schools seem reluctant to share them but it's worth asking. You can then pass them on to the tutor so they can see what's going on.
It would be useful to see why he's getting a 2. Is he not finishing? Is he making silly mistakes?

On the Foundation papers, the questions build so the first few are 1 markers then the last 6 or 7 tip into the type of questions from the Higher paper. They can pick up method marks here even if they get the answer wrong/give up.
So if he's spending ages on the start of the paper on 1-mark questions that he may be getting wrong, that's going to be a big issue.

My DS went from a 3 to working at a 5 quite quickly once he had a tutor in place who could help him go over some of the concepts he didn't understand. It can be hard in class if you don't grasp something as the teacher maybe won't have time to address everyone's difficulties.

The other thing to mention just so you're aware, if a DC gets a 4, they don't get to retake at school. A 4 is a pass so there's no funding for a retake. A 4 can be a very good achievement for many DC but I know you're specifically asking about getting to a 5.
It may be that some schools are prepared to let a DC retake for a 5 if a university course is at stake but I just wanted to flag that's it's not the norm.