What happens if a child repeatedly fails maths GCSE?

[OhArsebags]

Dd did his GCSEs last year. He did ok in most of them - even got level 9 in English and English lit but only got a level 2 in maths. Level 4 is what is needed for a pass (c grade in old money).

Because of the maths, he couldn’t do A levels so had to do a Btec, along with redoing maths GCSE. This year with everything being cocked up it will be graded on his work but the tutor had said that it would likely be a level 2 again.

I honestly doubt he will pass it next year either.

I bought a functional skills level 2 maths course for him to do from home (it’s the equivalent to a C Maths GCSE), but he struggles with this too.

He’s had a maths tutor for the past six years. A few in fact. He just can not grasp it. He’s never been able to right from being a small child. He excelled in English but maths has always been a struggle.

The tutors have been great. It’s really not them or the teaching, Ds just doesn’t get it. I’ve spent thousands on tutors and to be honest, I can’t afford to keep it up.

My Dh (Ds step dad) is an ex maths teacher. He spends an hour a night with Ds on the functional skills course, going though each question/example breaking it down, explaining it to Ds. He just can’t grasp it.

Have looked into discalcular - Ds was given extra time in his maths GCSE but to be honest, he could be given a year to do the paper and he still wouldn’t be able to do it.

He’s at the point now where it’s making him seriously depressed. He’s now saying he doesn’t want to go back to college in September because he can’t face more maths.

It’s a requirement of his course (or any level 3 btec) that he also does maths GCSE along side. He would need it for anything he wanted to do - he wants to pin the police but would need the C in maths.

I honestly don’t know what to do.

Discaluclar was looked into but they didn’t think that was the problem.

I’ll have another word about changing courses

With all due respect, OP, I think you're being too nice with the school and not being pushy enough.

I get that it's difficult with sixth form-aged DC to push for help as the parent because to some extent communication with the school is up to the teen now, especially when it sounds like he hasn't been identified as having SEN up to this point.

But at this point, I would be pushing the SENCO for assessments, answers and support - it's no good their saying 'oh, it's not dyscalculia' and then leaving him to struggle! Clearly something's going on and he needs support with Maths.

I wouldn't rely on class teachers or the head of year to identify issues or to refer him to the SENCO, especially not at the moment when everything's different - just contact the SENCO direct and express your concerns, and don't let them fob you off if you genuinely believe there's an issue.

at this point, I would be pushing the SENCO for assessments, answers and support - it's no good their saying 'oh, it's not dyscalculia' and then leaving him to struggle! Clearly something's going on and he needs support with Maths.

I strongly agree with this.
You could have described my son.
Really good grades in every thing but Maths. Was tested at High School and they said he didn't have dyscalcula.

He went on to sixth form and resat his GCSE and we had a tutor - he got the same grade, a D. He absolutely hated it. He did extra maths with support all the way through school but always struggled. I was exactly the same yet got an English degree.

Finally In the second year of sixth form when it became obvious he was going to struggle again to obtain a C in yet another Maths resit and with his heart set on Uni, he was assessed again and found to have dyscalcula. He was also diagnosed with dyspraxia too!

He now has a statement, a small bursary and extra time with work and support if he needs it. He went on to do very well in his A Levels and Btec and got into the Uni of his choice.
The pressure has gone and he was over the moon when he realised he could finally drop Maths.

In your shoes I would definitely get another assessment done through college.

I’ll email his head of year and find out who the senco there is.

I'm really surprised he wasn't allowed to do Alevels Just because of Maths GCSE. I know several boys who didn't get English last year but were allowed to do science/maths Alevels and GCSE English alongside. In would seriously look into him starting Alevels somewhere in September, rather than continue with a boring course for a year.

I took mine 5 times and eventually passed at 29. I have a degree in an arts subject just couldn't do maths. It took the right teacher and a LOT of practice to get there. If he really wants to he will get there eventually, otherwise there may be other routes in to jobs he would like.

Seems such a shame he can't do English Lit a level!!

Agree with what @LynetteScavo said - see if somewhere will take him for A levels. Particularly if you’re looking at relocating again- what’s the point of half completing a btech in something he doesn’t want to do.

Also absolutely see what the SENCO has to say - although you might find if it is a college they’re not covered by the LEA Ed Psych service.

Alternatively - apply for an Education, Health And Care Plan? It would likely trigger Ed psych involvement at the initial stage and possible suggestions of where to go from here. The poor chap. Would something like Khan Academy be more helpful in terms of explaining concepts?

Just to add EHCP would likely be rejected, but not before an Ed Psych would have to give an opinion as to what to do

My DS is early 20’s and repeatedly took GCSE maths at one stage 2 marks off a C. Many resits, private tutoring. He has a degree in Politics. We were quite forceful regarding A levels and he did a lot of volunteering in local politics (Went to sixth form attached to his secondary school) which helped him get to uni.

Haven’t RTFT but I would talk to the learning support dept at school/college and see if they can get an Ed psych assessment done. I’m a teacher and one thing we are super alert for when spotting specific learning difficulties is a wide disparity between different skills. I’ve been an English teacher for 19 years and I have never known a pupil who got a 9/A* in English to have got a 2 in anything.

OP - Is your DS self motivated? If so, he could do his A levels studying at home & abandon the stress of BTEC and gcse maths (for now). He could do a course via online providers eg NEC or Wolsey Hall or check what course material is needed from the examination board and study at home. You'd need to ring round local colleges or schools to see who allows external candidates for exams & which boards they use. It's all fairly straightforward to do. And he would still be classed as being in full time education.

@ITonyah he was doing English A level up until we moved at xmas. His new college couldn’t accommodate it alongside the btec sadly, and that college was the only one who he could transfer his Btec to. It was a mess.

Some people are not good at maths so cant he find his path without maths GCSE. I wouldnt put too much pressure on him. It will feel like so much bigger failure than it is (it's not the end of the world)

Why do you have to keep moving ?

Did he enjoy English a level?

I’ve asked if he wants to try somewhere else for A levels but he said he’d rather just finish up the business course to get it done and over with by next May.

He could do Eng lit and lang A level at home?

I never got higher than a d for Maths despite repeating it several times. I did a numeracy test before I was allowed to do my Nursing degree. I’m actually quite enjoying learning maths alongside my kids now. I think I just needed really good teaching and loads of practice and those things never happened.

Sorry is his BTEC the one thsts equiv of 3 A levels?

@AnyFucker I got very ill last, only got SSP, then my company went under. My husband got made redundant at the same time. We needed to move to a cheapwe area ASAP or we’d have ended up getting evicted.

Moved to where Dh family are out of ease as they could find us a place to rent quickly while I was in hospital. But it’s a fucking dump, really horrible area and we’ve had a lot of problems already. Awful schools for my six year old. It’s affecting us all. So we need to move again prob about an hour away (but the other direction from Ds college), but we’ll be able to chose our own area and take the time to look now we are up here and I’m not sick.

What does your husband say the problem is? To pass GCSE at foundation you realistically need to master the number skills. If he gains confidence with these he should be able to tackle other topics. I would concentrate on exam papers - get your husband to mark these - but separate the score into actual errors and computational errors. These are easily fixed - he understands the topic but made small errors. He could be ok with enough maths to pass - however have bad exam techniques and understandably low confidence. I run the maths department in a college and get students like this through the exams all the time - DM me if you want further specific advice.

@ITonyah yes, it’s the level 3. He’s not that fussed about doing Eng A level to do it at home. It just seemed a shame not to when he’d got such good grades in it. Especially not now that he’s doing the functional skills maths at home as well.

@RaelImperialAerosolKid he just never grasped the basics and still can’t. Never could learn times tables. My Dh has persevered with him for years on them. As time has gone on he’s lost all confidence as well and now he’s just given up totally and just switches off.

Honestly- it will just be a confidence issue - some people just never can learn their timestables (I never could and still don't know them ) they then equate it to being bad at maths and it spirals from there.
Children who can learn them by rote are told they are good at maths and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
It takes a good teacher to acknowledge that tables - whilst useful are only a small part of maths.
Have a look at mathsbot.com and read up on visual representation and diagrams. Get his confidence up and get him entered for nov resit.