To keep pushing or to let go - GCSE

Talk to him about alevel choices and show him admissions requirements in black and white on sixth form’s websites etc. Sometimes it’s a bit of the shock factor that is needed to get over the hump.

Fwiw, this was us last year. Dd is now year 12.

Push with the maths. My son got English but a 3 in maths but did manage to pass maths at his vocational college. A friend’s daughter has tried it four times now and has yet to pass maths and she can’t progress in her career til she does.
Is he ok with other subjects? Ideally he should pass five: English, Maths and three others.

Yeah it’s tricky - with DD I asked her how I can support her studying and if she needed me to be her clock etc. the only thing she’s asked is that I make sure she gets up in the morning!! Which tbf is a challenge…

Is there a time of day where you can get him to sit down and do ten mins of one of the apps (I think maths genie has two votes so far!) - maybe at breakfast or just before dinner or something.

DD is a pianist and I always told her maths is like an instrument - if you don’t practice you don’t get any better

DD missed most of secondary school, she only started to go back to maths consistently in year 11. At the start of the year she was predicted a 1, she got a 5 in the end. Only because she practiced everyday and went to every extra class. She didn’t do much 15/20 minutes but it was every day.
Her teacher said the small amount every day makes the most difference to passing.

She had friends who should have passed, did no practice etc and failed. One wasn’t allowed to stay for sixth form to do a levels and she was devastated. I don’t think she really understood how important it is just to pass because you still have to do it. She went to art college and had to do hours of maths lessons a week to make sure she passed.

Keep pushing, but also schedule in a day off in half term.

Tell him often you are very proud of his efforts.

like others have said keep pushing, my son is in year 11 and also has a tutor, he is engaging with this so far and it’s really helping, I feel so sorry for those who struggle in the maths as it’s so bloody hard! I am no help at all, and although I loathe having to pay for a tutor it is helping, fingers crossed they all pass, as I said for them I really feel for them. Good luck x

Does he know what he wants to do after GCSEs? You mention a levels, do his subjects choices require a 4 / 5 in Maths? Perhaps letting him see what he needs to get to the next stage will help motivate him. At the end of the day you are providing the opportunities (which is great) but he has to want it and be prepared to work for it.

Try maths genie

i guess his peer group isn’t helping if they are struggling too

i understand how you are feeling though - it is very frustrating when you can see where they are going wrong but they just don’t listen!!

Unlike many people here, I would be inclined to just let it go. What percentage of students get below a Grade 4 in GCSE maths at your DS's school? The national fail rate is around 28%, showing how easily kids can fall behind. While GCSE Maths is fairly straightforward (far less challenging than the 11+!), it becomes a steep hill to climb when 'leaving it to him until Year 10' leaves you with less than a year to turn a Grade 2 into a 4. Getting a tutor is fine, but piling on pressure over results might backfire, risking both his mental health and your relationship with him.

I think keep going for maths and English because he will need them. The rest of them he should just do as well as he can.
Does he know what he wants to do next year? Just might give some motivation if he has a college course in mind with minimum gcse requirements

I've posted this on a couple of similar threads but the percentage of young people who pass maths GCSE on a re-take is shockingly low. It was 15% last summer.

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

I have known several young people stuck in the awful doom loop of failing maths GCSE retakes up to 5 times and never getting above a 3. If I were you, I would throw everything at trying to help him pass maths and English. As others have pointed out, 4s in both subjects opens so many more post-16 doors.

Also, depending on where your DC ends up, they could be looking at maybe 1 hour of maths support a week in a class with unmotivated students which obviously isn't going to help the pass rates.

My DS was on track for a 3 in Maths and he ended up on a 5 last summer. He really put the work in though as he was motivated.

Does your DC have any idea what they want to do post-16? That obviously helps. A friend of mine had an unmotivated DC who was looking at a 3 in Maths. They found a post-16 course they really wanted to do that needed a 4 and that did the job. (He did get his 4.)

Ultimately though as parents we can only do so much. It may be that he comes back to GCSEs at some point in the future. It's sensible of you to be helping him think of Plan A, B and C for results day.

like others have said, I’d keep pushing with the maths. My daughter needed/responded well to an awards based approach when she was younger. I would reward time spent practicing or revising (not the grade achieved). She also liked apps like study bunny where she could track her time spent on a subject. Oh and final thing, she learned loads of maths from maths genie. She particularly liked short videos that worked through examples. She was a very unmotivated GCSE kid (did have undiagnosed ADHD) but found various things that worked for her and went from average in maths to now doing it at uni. Your son sounds capable but unmotivated like my DD. Find what motivates him even if it’s short term and only works some of the time. Maths is all about practice.

Is he a summer born?

She uses maths genie and first class maths

One thing you and he need to be very clear on is what grades he needs for different next steps for y12, and he needs to have applications in / plan for
a) his preferred option
b) an option for if he gets his currently predicted grades
c) an option for if he drops lower than predicted grades

Which in this case is likely to be (A levels possibly???), a Level 3 course, a Level 2 course.

Going from a 2 to a 4 in maths is a big step because 3 is quite a wide grade boundary, but even getting a 2 to a 3 may open up some Level 2 courses that may otherwise be closed to him.

On the positive side - at least you know it isn’t an ability issue!!