To lie about GCSE grade to get on to course?

[hellohh]

I have GCSE maths at grade C and want to re-do maths to get on to a grad scheme. I can't afford to pay for a course at the moment.

I know you can get funding if you don't have a maths GCSE at grade C. So I was wondering if colleges check if you've already done GCSE and what grade you got.

Btw, my maths is rusty so I would love do to it again.

Do you really need to do a course in GCSE maths if you got a C last time? Maybe you could book yourself into an exam and then work through the curriculum on your. The revision guides are brilliant for this.

This is so ridiculous. You want to get on a gad scheme. SO presumably you have a degree. SO who the fuck cares what you got at GSCE????

A friend of mine with a degree who went strait in to PDGE actually had to sit National 5 maths alongside her PDGE so people do care.

why not do an Open University course instead?

Because an open university course is not a GCSE/A level. You can get the skills taught in A levels in OU modules, BUT the modules are not stand alone qualification or recognised as an equivalent to A levels, unless you are joining a degree programme that has very close links to the OU (and academics with the time and inclination to go through the many swings and roundabouts of checking what a OU module equates to)

Don't lie!

I’ve worked in the City and the civil service. All the senior managers lie. That’s how you get ahead in life. Look at our politicians.

This is so ridiculous. You want to get on a gad scheme. SO presumably you have a degree. SO who the fuck cares what you got at GSCE????

I have 3 degrees, and over 10 years of experience in the subject yet I still had to complete a GCSE when I moved to this country as not having one was scuppering my chances even for junior jobs. “Computer says no” and all that, most CVs are now checked (and dismissed) by software before they get to be read by a human.

cuckooken
And it's right that people care. I've worked with trainee teachers who were amazed that I could work out a percentage from a mark out if 25 in my head.

It's really disappointing that there seems to be a "who cares" attitude to numeracy in places. I often wonder if it goes hand in hand with it being socially acceptable to be bad at maths. People don't think twice about saying how they "don't do numbers", "maths is rubbish", "we have calculators now" etc but they'd be less willing to admit to being illiterate.

Also the new maths GCSE is a lot harder than the old system so you could even go down.. don't lie if you get caught its technically fraud

Do that many people really redo maths when they have a c or above? I am wondering if they actually will check. If they do check and you are caught out, what happens? You say you misread it? And then pay it? Or drop out?

I don’t know how bad a lie it is really, to join a class that exists to better adults prospects. You fall into that group too.

What even is a b+?
Would they accept a twist gcse done 10 years later than the rest. They may not do best contact grad scheme and discuss before doing anything)
It would be obvious anyway you had resat with a 9-1 rather than a-g grade.
It would be £150 or so to sit exam as private candidate.

YABU to commit fraud to access funding you're not entitled to.

You can self study a GCSE and there are heaps of revision books and YouTube videos that will teach you everything you need to know. Then you just pay for the exams.

Or borrow the money, or wait until you have it.

Do that many people really redo maths when they have a c or above? I am wondering if they actually will check.

They may not check, but if they are requiring a B+ rather than the usual C there may be a strong reason. We have a similar requirement for one of our courses, and the reason the requirement is there is that in almost ten years of statistics not a single person with math grades below those required has ever been successful in the course. If you are below x grade, you simply do not have a chance in hell to pass.

Yes, OP, colleges will check your prior grade on the national Learner Records Service. Probably not at the point of enrolment, but definitely within the first month or so. Funding is only awarded for study up to grade C, once you've hit that grade you can't have the same funding twice. A college who did try to claim funding for you in those circumstances would be fraudulently claiming double funding (even if your original funding was in an institutionat the other end of the country), and could be very heavily penalised by the funding bodies. My college would immediately invoice you for the full cost of the course, even if you claimed to have made a mistake and even if you then dropped out of the course. The wording is very clear on enrolment forms, you'd be signing something you know to be untrue.

Don't try it. Just ask how much the course is and whether you can pay in instalments.

If you wanted to do it “on the cheap” you could just use an exam centre and self teach.

However, you would have to take the new GCSE which is much more difficult and you would probably not improve your grade. If they want a B then they would probably want a 6 on the new GCSE. The equivalency courses I believe are only equivalent to a C/grade 4 so that wouldn’t help.

I would be grateful you got a C before the spec changed as this is sufficient for most grad schemes/basic entry requirements. It’s unfortunate that it isn’t for the one you want to do; but I would maybe see if they can be flexible on this.

@cuckooken

Oh, I’ve totally misread the thread then

First talk to the grad course provider about whether they ever waive the requirement, or whether there's any sort of equivalency test they accept. Also check what grade they will be looking for if you take GCSE now, as it won't be a B, it will be either a 5 or a 6.

If you end up having to re-take the GCSE, be very careful about who you sign up to do it with, and whether they will be preparing you for the Higher paper. Some providers, especially those focussed on the people being funded to get a level 4/5, will be teaching towards the Foundation paper, which covers levels 1-5. If you need a 6, you need to know you will be taught the Higher material.

Oh, the other thing, is that if the college courses are designed just for people to get a passing grade then they will either be working towards the equivalency (not a high enough grade for what you need) or the foundation GCSE (which also doesn’t go up to a high enough grade). You’d need the higher GCSE to get a Grade 6 and I doubt very much the college courses to just allow people a passing grade would be at the higher GCSE level so I think even if you did lie you’d be wasting your time for what you need.

Cross post with @lanthanum - what they said!

I’ve worked in the City and the civil service. All the senior managers lie. That’s how you get ahead in life. Look at our politicians

Not sure what politicians have to do with proving your GCSE grades but the experience of my DC is that nowadays you have to provide evidence of everything you put on a job application and in many cases more than once to different people

There's a lot of good stuff online to do or retake Maths. If you're in your late 20s then be aware that the syllabus has changed massively recently, there are topics which used to be in the A level, Getting a B will mean far more work than revisiting what you did 10 years ago. If you go on the Exam Board websites, OCR or Excel, you may be able to see the papers from the last couple of years and also the syllabus.
Good luck with your ambitions, I certainly wouldn't recommend you lie, you have a unique DFEE number that would flag up your previous results and someone may notice!

(and academics with the time and inclination to go through the many swings and roundabouts of checking what a OU module equates to)

My OU Maths module was readily accepted as a GCSE equivalent for entry to teacher training at a completed unrelated university.

I’ve worked in the City and the civil service. All the senior managers lie. That’s how you get ahead in life. Look at our politicians

It's not that they get ahead by lying, it's that any lying is excused because of their privilege and/or because they are rainmakers.

OP presumably doesn't share their privilege as OP is concerned with not having enough money to retake a GCSE to get onto a grad scheme, so this doesn't seem particularly relevant here.

They can also check whether you have GCSE English and understand words like "fraudster".

You won’t get away with it.

Definitely contact the people offering the grad scheme and ask where you stand, if you need to resit & what new level would be required or if there’s another way of meeting their requirements, find out exactly what they will/won’t accept and see if you can get a conditional offer before you do anything else.

How much is the GCSE course?

But there’s plenty of free help on the internet & books for sale second hand and I don’t think the exam fee is that expensive.

What even is a b+?

It means the grad course requires you to have GCSE Maths at grade B or above. So A*, A or B (or in today's numbers a 6-9; possibly a 5 which is a high C/low B)