GCSE Resits

[HowlongdoIwait]

My daughter will need to resit her maths exam. I keep seeing adverts on Facebook of tools which supposedly help. Has anyone ever used them and were they any good? Or it is just another rubbish product being advertised on FB?!

Any other suggestions of tools or websites which actually help?

She's had a tutor for a year but with severe dyslexia she finds it hard to remember everything she needs to.

So she understands the maths but can't remember it?

I would say to get as many past papers as you can.

She should start with not attempting the paper but writing down how to do it. To start with she will probably be looking things up and that is fine.

Once she can say / write how to do the questions then she can start actually working through the paper.

I think it's a bit of both. There's stuff she understands but can't remember and parts she just doesn't understand.

Will try your suggestion though.

Thank you 😊

Having a calculator and knowing how to use it is a good start.

there’s loads of stuff on fb and TikTok to help. The only thing that actually makes any difference is doing the maths over and over again.

From first hand experience, I would say having a tutor that is either dyslexic or has experience with it would be extremely helpful. For children with dyslexia, memory can be an issue; therefore, they sometimes have to work twice or three times as hard. However, things like colour coding, matching and doing things in multiple ways can help children to retain the information much better. In terms of tools, you could have her revise with someone slightly older so it is less intimidating. You could also supplement her learning with resources online. I hope this helps. Feel free to PM if you want more help :)

Thank you for the tips.

Are there any particular online resources you'd recommend?

Maths teacher here. Sorry to hear she's finding it tough. A few things that tend to help students with dyslexia in particular.

1. Ask the college's exams officer or SENCo now about access arrangements for the resit (for example extra time or a reader). There are deadlines for applying, so it's worth asking early.
2. Corbettmaths is free and very good. Each topic has a short video plus practice questions, and the 5-a-day sheets are great for little and often, which helps memory far more than long sessions.
3. Maths Genie sorts past-paper questions by grade, so she can focus on the grade 3 to 4 questions rather than trying to cover everything.
4. Keep one small notebook or set of flashcards of methods and key facts in her own words, with a worked example for each, and look back at it for five minutes most days.

On the Facebook adverts, I'd try the free sites first. If she likes a paid tool, check it's set to her exam board and tier (Foundation) and that it shows full worked solutions, not just the answers.