Redoing my maths GCSE 32 years later…..

[Goneanddonedit]

So, after yet again not getting a job because Ido not have a C in maths (I am 49 and had many professional jobs but this counts for nothing apparently) I have decided I will have to retake my maths GCSE.

I know I can do it free, but I don’t want to do it over a year, I’d like to do it from home and ideally as quickly as possible.
I really, really struggled with maths, but now you can find help over the internet and I think I would find it a lot easier than I did at 16.

Has anyone done it and can anyone guide me in the direction of a decent online learning course? I know I will need to sit the exam in an exam centre, but I really need to start from scratch after all these years!

I think if I say myself down and decided to learn Algebra (for example) I could probably manage to get a grasp of it before moving on.

You probably do use algebra but you don't see it as algebra. If you scale a recipe up or down you are using algebra without knowing it.

If you have a teen at school ask them if they can let you take the exams as a private candidate.

If they do then buy the book for that course, AQA have textbooks for over 16s I don't know about other boards.

Check whether you actually need the GCSE or if functional skills will do, functional skills is much more achievable without any teaching but isn't accepted for everything.

On the other hand for my DTTLS course you had to prove you could still function at L2 English and maths so we had to do FS regardless of what qualifications you actually had.

“It’s a weird thing with maths; it’s like solving a puzzle. If you approach it more as a puzzle game you’ll be in a much better frame of mind to do it. There’s something about panic that just shuts down all mathematical thinking and means you can’t even start. I expect this is what you’ve experienced at school”

This is it exactly! I can do mental arithmetic and clearly I can function, but the minute it steps away from all that I almost go number blind, I can’t understand it and I get a bit tearful.

I think I will start with a KS2/3 book and work my way through it with the help of YouTube and bite size and see if I can pick it up.

It’s funny because during lockdown I was helping my younger DD with maths and I couldn’t remember how to do it, however when I started to look it up and it was explained simply some of it clicked and I was like “ohhh I get it!” So I think I could do it.

I could certainly dedicate a good few hours a week to it

@Myusernameisnotmyusernameno

I redid mine when I was 27. I'm 40 now. I went to college and did a year course. The only one I couldn't attain anything higher than a 'C' but I found it much more enjoyable than at school.

I did exactly the same at the same age. Much easier as a mature student

I did this about 10 years ago
I had to get a pass to get my Early Years Professional Status
I used a workbook for foundation maths and practice papers
I only had one chance as I would have had to pay to resit it and we couldn’t afford it then
I got 97% and amazed myself
I did find it was mostly learning formulae and rules like bodmas

@insancerre

I did this about 10 years ago I had to get a pass to get my Early Years Professional Status I used a workbook for foundation maths and practice papers I only had one chance as I would have had to pay to resit it and we couldn’t afford it then I got 97% and amazed myself I did find it was mostly learning formulae and rules like bodmas

So did you go via a course or did you literally do it yourself and book an exam?

Did maths and English at age 40 at my local adult education centre as I only had CSEs. Got my C in maths and an A* in English. Not hard to guess which subject I liked the best. The teaching was so different to school!

You need to decide which specification you will sit then go to their website and print it off. Print off several past papers and mark schemes too. Then get a tutor to guide you and show you how to do the harder bits. Also get the revision guide as essential because of the worked examples. It's never too late. I took 3 attempts to pass my GCSE Maths at a C grade but was able to get A's in several others. It is not easy.

I am 60 with no specific maths qualification, and am currently doing a GCSE just to prove I can . I am using ICS Learn who are great. A mix of online classroom sessions, course materials, a textbook included in the price, as well as a personal tutor and lots of extra links to practice and support. You do have to book and pay for your exams separately (I'm planning to do mine next summer) but they give you a list of local schools who will take private students.

I am sticking to the foundation tier and really enjoying it (a word I never thought I would use with respect to maths!).

Always show all working even if you can do it in your head as you get marks for working even if answer incorrect.

PS they do the Edexcel course

I'm looking at doing mine over this summer as I've just completed a ba in primary studies but they need maths English and science certificates and I did those so long ago no one can find them so to do my pgce I need to prove it. Very daunting as I hated maths at school.

In terms of sitting the actual exam I would highly recommend Tutors and Exams, they have centres nationwide and have ensured private candidates have received grades for the last two years. I'm a maths tutor and would agree that confidence is a major factor in success. Whilst doing papers is good for exam practice I would start by building up your confidence with the underlying skills first as the way some exam questions are worded can be confusing!

I would suggest looking into equivalency testing - you would have to pay for it (I think you can just do an assessment-only route, but some of them give you materials which aren't bad). The advantage is it's considerably easier than the actual GCSE that Year 11s have to sit now, more practical, and you can take the test more frequently than the GCSE exam series dates.

I have tutored adults who have used this company - www.equivalencytesting.com/ - and they are pretty good, but they're not the only option.

I couldn’t find my old school certificate and needed gcse maths for a job I wanted. Just got an Edexcel gcse online tutorial DVD-ROM from Amazon - it was really useful and gave basic tutorials on each segment. Also used the bbc bite size online stuff. Would do it early in the morning before kids up and work and just plugged away at it for several months. Had to book exam at local school a few months before the date and at age 46 achieved a respectable B (although I could not get my head around vectors). Got the job I wanted too.
Good luck!

I am a TA who 'failed' my maths o level. I wanted to go for a higher level qualification which required a gcse grade c. I was able to take a city and guilds qualification which was considered to be equivalent. I was able to do a few practice tests online and because I could show practice test results that were a pass, I was able to take the proper test without having to do a course of lessons. Not sure if this would be an option for you?

I retook my GSCE Maths as an adult and just studied with BBC bitesize. This was years ago and I'm sure it will be even better now. it covered everything and was easy to follow (and free)

Good luck OP. It is annoying to be in the position Im sure, and these days I'd just lie on my application and have never been asked for proof once, but once you've got it they can't take it away 😅😂

So did you go via a course or did you literally do it yourself and book an exam?
I didn’t do a course, just used workbooks and example papers
The exam was booked by Lancaster uni where I did my EYPS

I am sorry I cannot offer any advice as to options for sitting the exam in a shorter time period.

However, I wish you good luck and hope you get the grade you seek when you sit the exam.

I agree with others who have pointed out the lack of support historically for autism and other conditions, thinking of two people who were in my class at school, one of whom only had a formal diagnosis of their neurodiversity in their 20s.

Work out what syllabus you want to do, AQA and edexcel are popular. Get the CGP text book from Amazon. Look at BBC bitesize and Corbett maths online.

I have recently done my maths at 33, still waiting on my final grade. It was MUCH MUCH MUCH harder than i expected.

Conquer Maths is brilliant. They have videos explaining all the concepts and tests to check your understanding.

the biggest issue right now is as a private candidate, what happens if exams cancelled again - you won't get any grades. But assuming exams go ahead in 2022, then it should be failry easy.

(i would check there are exam centres near you doing private candidates, but in 2018 i found 10+ i could have done an obscure GCSE near London, so maths would be even easier, assuming you are near a big town/happy to travel)

Then i;d get the spec of AQA and buy a guide (Letts etc) which will go through it all. Work out a timetable of a module each week, using the guide, the spec and bbc bitesize. then think about getting a tutor towards exam time to ficus on problem areas. I had to apply to sit the exam, via my exam centre, around Jan, could have done later but the cost goes up for "late" entries.

Hi - exam dates are set for nov and may - so self studying and sitting when you are ready needs to be in that time frame.
Colleges are enrolling now - speak to their maths department and get registered- many are doing online or blended learning so you will have the best of both worlds. Access to a tutor and materials but able to go at your own pace. If you're ready for the November series then they can enter you for that and you will get the results in January.
The new gcse foundation paper is tricky but you need 50ish /80 on each to pass safely so a really good understanding of number with a bit of algebra geometry is enough.

Level 2 is available all year round but is a killer in terms of context to questions - I really don't recommend it, but a college can advise you.

Also you mention you are a TA - does your school subscribe to any maths packages? Can they give you a log in - speak to the maths department- they may be able to enter you - assign you to maths classes so you learn as you work.

My college is doing online tutorials DM if you need further info and good luck! Maths is awesome!

Op many of us are in a similar situation, I know many teachers who had to take maths later on!

Don't worry your are definitely not alone. Many people are also visual learners and if they could just have more actual visual aids to hold etc then that would help enournousky

I don't have a C in maths, got a D. I've managed to work in finance departments quite successfully over the last 30 years.

I'd never pass an exam now, my DDs behaviour meant I had to drop out of OU.