how many GCSE do we need?

[lovemusicanddance]

Hi,

We are recently moved to the UK and I really dont know the system. My daughters are in independent senior school and they are doing great academically -majority of their grades was A or A in their end of term report. But one of my daughter hates Maths. She never enjoyed learning Math so this effects her grades. They did 2 test since September she had %78 one of them and %38 from other and her Maths grade was C in the end of term report. School mentioned in the report that these grades are not their future expectations of GSCE grades - they just gave marks to the students between A-E. I heard some people also got C’s in their report but I don’t know if anybody got lower then C grade. She is in year 7 and came from state school. Do I need to worry about this grades in this stage? She is in selective school, she passed the 11+ assessment and interview but school is not hot house or super academic school. It is in top 50 in Independent Schools Londons in GSCE and A level result table. Allmost all people says to me that she has an offer from this school so they believed that she will do good. But my daughter loves sport, she got gold medals in swimming and running. She also do gymnastic, drama and dance since 5-7 years old so we showed to school what she did before. She won chess competitions in her primary school. Recently she won the creative writing competition in English lesson and also they picked her to play in their netball and hockey team. - So do you think we got an offer because of all these? I was told that all children needs to get 6 GCSE or more to to be able to move Post 16. I wonder if she gets good grades from other subjects and fail from Math GSCE or get lower grade - Can she still move to the PoSt 16? Of course she can not study Math A level without Math GCSE but what about any other subjects? Can she do study something different? Basically; Math and English are the core models which each student needs to pass to
move to independent schools Post 16?
Meanwhile I don’t push her to get top grades. I just worry if she can not move to the Post 16 if she can not manage to get good GCSE in Maths.

Many thanks in advance 🙏🏻🌸

Gcse grades are 1-9. You need a 4 in gcse maths and English to access most educational courses beyond age 16 @lovemusicanddance . However most dc take 8, 9 or 10 GCSEs, not 6. They must include maths and English. There’s a long way to go before GCSEs so why she wouldn’t get at least a 4 with good teaching isn’t clear to me.

You generally need a 4 in maths and English at least to get onto a post 16 course however there are plenty of post 16 courses where you can resit these whilst doing the course if necessary.

It would be quite unusual for a child with no additional difficulties to fail maths having been in a private school fkr their secondary education. She is only in year 7 so I dont think you need to be worrying yet.

I agree that you shouldn't need to worry, there is plenty of time for her maths to be supported so she can achieve.

I wonder if your comment about her needing "6 GCSES" to progress to 6th form may be a misunderstanding of their required grades. It is not uncommon for schools to require a certain number of GCSEs at a grade of 6 or higher, to enter their 6th form. But as mentioned above, for maths alone a 4-5 may suffice.

Hopefully your daughter will encounter a teacher who inspires her and helps her feel more positive about maths.

@Hellocatshome @Pythonesque @TizerorFizz thank you so much for your responses. I feel more relaxed now. I also heard that some people who can not do well in GCSEs can do BTEC. For example a student who does Business, IT and Math Alevel has advantage from the student one who does BTEC Business? Or they are similar or equal?
By advantage I mean has more chance to get an offer from the universities?

Personal opinion, not an admissions tutor:

The A levels will open more courses than a BTEC for the same equivalent grades at the upper end.
If you can do 'better' on the BTEC than A levels, then better BTEC grades may open more doors to uni.
Going straight into work, a medium BTEC may be more immediately useful than A levels.

It is common for schools to insist that a child does 9 GCSEs however it is not necessary for the child to sit 9 to move to the next stage whether that be A levels or an alternative such as B-Tech.

My son, who was home educated, did 6 as that was the entry requirement for his 6th form of choice.

He is now doing A Levels and will go on to a good university.

Most colleges, from my experience look for 5-6 GCSE's for A Levels and the minimum grades tend to be 6 or more for specific subjects.

For B Tech the entry might be lower. Most are required a 4 in Maths and English.

@lovemusicanddance
I think you are over complicating this. Most school educated children will do 8-10 GCSEs. Lots of private schools don’t do BTecs. Often by choosing the BTec route you have a career in mind as they support that career. So considering that in y7 is very early. They are often ok alongside A levels too.

You also should realise we have a mix of university entry requirements. Some will look at GCSEs if it’s an ultra competitive course but others don’t. Others take a much more relaxed view on GCSEs and all post gcse qualifications. You just need to see how it goes.

@TizerorFizz all the private schools round us do BTEC and rate them.

@Bambala
Academic private schools usually don’t offer BTecs. Nor do my local grammars. If BTecs are offered, the schools are probably not selective. We looked at around 6 independent schools when dd wanted to change 6th form. None did BTec. None were very academic either. Having said that, there’s nothing wrong with BTecs but the better universities will want Distinctions and sometimes an A level or two as well. You are also tied in early to a career. A levels give more flexibility.

If she's in an independent selective school, it's very unlikely that she's not heading to get a reasonable set of GCSE grades. Have a look at the school's past GCSE grades - you may well find that there are very few below 6, if any.

I agree with the others that it's far to early to be concerned that your dd may not pass GCSE Maths on the basis of 2 very different test results.
My dd was weaker at Maths compared to other subjects and still obtained the grades (including the one in Maths) needed for sixth form.
In terms of the Btec / A level debate, BTecs are currently under review so the system could have changed by the time your dd reaches that stage.
It is no longer possible to take A level IT.