Year 13 son struggling with A level Maths

[alwayswantchocolate]

My son is just starting Year 13, he's doing three A levels in Geography, Economics and Maths. He's predicted an A for Geography and a B or possibly A for Economics. It's Maths that's the trouble.

He got a 7 (almost 8) at GCSE and felt confident that A level Maths would be ok. But it isn't. In April he failed a test and had to resit it. Then his mocks in July he got a D. He's just failed another 'start of year 13' test with less than 50% (I don't know what he got as he's not home yet but I've had an email from school telling me he has to resit it).

I'm despairing. We got him an online tutor for one hour a week to support him back in May but it hasn't helped. A 'D' would be a nightmare as he wants to do a degree in Economics and the courses he likes are BBC entry requirements.

I just don't know what to do next. I suppose I'm reaching out to see if anyone else has experienced this and it's turned itself around. Please no comments about only those with an 8 or 9 should do A level maths.

A 7 at GCSE is still an A grade in old money - but did it come as a hard slog with loads of extra practice and revision or was it relatively easy for him get that grade?

The A-level is certainly tough and catching up at this point in the course is going to require him to double his maths effort. Can you afford more tutoring? Are you sure the tutor you have is any good? We started off with a tutor who had a PhD in the subject but no formal teaching experience and our DC made no progress at all but switching to a tutor who was a retired Head of Department teacher for the subject with 40 years' teaching experience made a huge difference.

To get a good grade in A-Level maths the logic and beauty of the equations need to be "clicking" into place like a eureka moment so that it becomes a pleasurable experience to work through a proof. It comes with practice, practice and more practice but you need a good teacher by your elbow to help analyse why you make the mistakes you make.

It’s early enough to change subjects without too much bother. Are there any others he did well in and likes?

It's really not. There's only a term and a bit till it's time for Mocks! Are you getting confused between y12 and y13?

Thanks for your reply. The 7 at GCSE came easily, yes, he didn't appear to make much effort at all.

I'm wondering about the tutor fit. She's an examiner and a teacher which is why I picked her, but my son doesn't like her particularly - although I don't think that is causing a problem as he engages with her during the lesson perfectly fine. It's only an hour a week but I can't really afford to double it, so perhaps I need to find someone different...

He did start his A levels thinking it would be easy to get good grades but I believe has had the realisation that it isn't true for Maths and I thought had knuckled down but with that and the tutor it's still D grades.

Yes a change in subject is out of the question at this stage. We are where we are.

Yes sorry I have 😬

I'd try a different tutor. Face to face if you can find one.

We seriously discourage anyone with a 7 from taking A-level and the expected grade would be a C/D if they did so there are likely to be comments. A tutor really ought to be making a difference; perhaps change tutor? Are there particular areas he is struggling with or is it exam technique.

@alwayswantchocolate He did start his A levels thinking it would be easy to get good grades

Yes that's the root of this.

Getting a grade 7 (or better) at GCSE reasonably easily is an indication that you can survive the A-Level course but it's still a lot of work and if he's been assuming he can coast it like he did in y7-y11 that would definitely lead to this kind of problem.

Yes if he doesn't like his tutor then get a different tutor. Maths is supposed to be fun, if you are doing it beyond GCSE - fun like climbing mount everest is fun sometimes but he needs to be looking forward to his lessons not dreading them.

I’m not aiming this at you, op, but in case there are others reading this whose dc are yet to choose options. Ds, who has always had a facility for maths, but didn’t particularly like it, was once advised that you should only do Maths A Level if you really love Maths, and that the jump from GCSE to A Level is bigger than from A to Degree level.

I would think the best option for your ds, op, is to find a different tutor, who he can hopefully engage with fully, and do lots of past papers with the marking schemes. Hopefully he can push the D to at least a C.

In the early stages of maths, (i.e. GCSE), some concepts just 'jump' into your brain fully formed. the teacher explains if, you get it, it seems easy.

Other maths concepts need practice. Hours of practice working through the problems until eventually it clicks.

it is relatively common for a student to find GCSEs easy and then suddenly get disheartened by the time and practice required at A level.

Also, teaching quality makes a MASSIVE difference for maths. if he doesn't like this tutor, find a different tutor. And find workbooks and just work through examples. he can get it, it will just take time.

I agree with all the above comments, but, just to add something different as a possibility - have you considered Uplearn? My son is currently using it for A Level Chemistry and has gone from being predicted a C half way through year 12 to borderline A/A star now - it's worked wonders for him. You really have to invest the time though as the Uplearn course materials are vast, so your son would have to be fully on board for it to work.

I’d try not to panic just yet. I can completely understand why you’re worried, especially when he has a degree in Economics in mind, but there is still quite a bit of time before the A levels.
I’d be inclined to look at exactly why he’s getting the D rather than just the grade itself. Is he struggling with particular topics, or is he making silly mistakes / struggling to apply what he knows under exam conditions? That might give you a better idea of what needs changing.
And if the tutor he’s had since May hasn’t really made a difference, I’d probably consider trying someone else. Sometimes it’s not the amount of tutoring but whether the tutor actually clicks with the student and identifies the gaps.
Hopefully the Year 13 teacher can give you a clearer picture after the resit too. I’ve seen kids make surprisingly big improvements once they finally figure out where they’re going wrong.

Thank you. It's the pure maths rather than stats / mechanics. His teacher says he does better in class and is working hard, but the exams are the downfall.

There are things he doesn't understand but initially he said the maths tutor was helping with those and he understood things better. That doesn't seem to have translated into a better grade though and his enthusiasm for the tutor has waned but without a rationale reason (things like "she talks in a monotone").

I am investigating another tutor as of this afternoon.

My Ds did similar A levels including Maths. He got an 8 at GCSE. He found the step up really difficult, the teachers said that he was naturally good at Maths but couldn’t apply himself and was easily distracted. In June of year 12 he got an E in his mock and the school said if he didn’t drastically improve this in the retake he would have to leave the course. We got him a tutor and he got an A in the October retake. He eventually ended up with a C which he was disappointed with as his predicted grade was a B but it was enough to get him onto his degree course. Oddly he really enjoys Maths but something wasn’t clicking at A level. The tutor really helped though.

My DC really struggled with Maths A-Level despite getting a 9 at GCSE. He completely lost his confidence which made it even worse. He had a tutor, firstly for an hour a week and then upped to 2 hours from the Jan before the exam. My DC paid for the 2nd hour himself from his savings. He also did endless papers.

My DS lost his confidence, the tutor restored that I thought but I think he's taken another knock now.

How did your DC do in the end?

My son was in a similar situation. Got a high 7 at GCSE but was struggling at the end of year 12 & achieved only a D in the end of year exams. As he needed a higher grade for his chosen uni course we enrolled him in a maths mastery 12 week course starting at the beginning of year 13. It was intensive, 3 online lessons per week but he followed it diligently & his grades improved. By October Mack’s he was up to a B & his final result was a high A.

this course wasn’t for the feint hearted & we were fortunate to be able to afford it. You might be able to find something similar online.

You can have a certain level of maths that you can 'get' intuitively and can do after a brief explanation and limited practice. Eventually there will come a level when you need greater explanation & just as importantly extensive practice.

You have got a tutor that should help with the explanation aspect, but that will only have an impact is with extensive practice alongside. Sites like maths genie will give example a level questions by topics, but if you are struggling to see improvements you have to do loads within a topic then mixed sets so you can recognise question types within a paper. Some students just get it, but if you dont you have to grind to see results. It's time consuming & if you dont love maths no fun. The time needed can be a big shock if it came easily at GCSE.

It’s really common, my dd the same age was shocked at her AS result as it’s a huge step up but gave her a kick
ip the arse (she needed it)
All I can advise is a tutor and a lot of love at home

What kind of teaching style or personality do you think usually works best for him when he's trying to tackle tricky subjects?

I'd cut your losses, go for a different subject and do a three year sixth form, it's quite common these days, several of my youngest's friends did it. Probably be able to fit in a part time job for the third year, so it's not the end of the world.

Hello,
Maths teacher of 30+ years so will try and give the advice we give our pupils.
If he is stuck with content he needs to ask his tutor to explain and explain these concepts. Pure is tough in Year 13 if the Year 12 differentiation and integration are not known well.
Then he must work hard outside the lesson, completing all HWK and working through past papers - I’d start till half term with AS papers then move into the questions on th A2 papers in topics he has studied. What board is he doing? If it’s Edexcel there is a superb textbook with exam questions at the end of every chapter. Buy this - and the worked solutions are also on Physics and Maths Tutor website. This site also has questions grouped in topics.
How much is he working? A-level students are expected to put in 4.5-5 hours a week outside lessons - and he may need to do more than this to improve.
maths is hard, but it is possible to improve
with hard work.

Could you supplement the tutor with a uni student?
Our genius DD did some tutoring for extra money. She is one of the fortunate people who loves maths and sees a beauty in it.
She charged £20 an hour.

How much work is he doing outside of lessons? You do need to just keep practicing and doing the same type of questions over and over ime.