Maths Year 12 Grade C

[Headunderthecovers]

Classic story (from previous searches) of low grade Year 12 internal exam from minimum work at maths. I know maths A level needs constant work, so was hesitant that ds insisted he wanted to do at A level.
Other subjects are A star (Geography, History).
He does his homework- which usually is A standard, but occasional D if little effort/last minute. That is it for what he has done as regards Maths work for A level, apart from some past papers in the month before the exam. It worked for him at GCSE so he just carried on the same- high 8 Grade at GCSE. He got a high grade on the Algebra entry test for suitability for A level Maths at the beginning of Year 12.
Has a weekly tutor and he understands the topics well, but (through lack of practice?) often fails to see what the topic within the question. He gets frustrated quickly if he cant see the way through a question and then just looks up the answer. He makes silly mistakes sometimes.

His plan is to do all the mixed exercises on Physics and Maths Tutor and textbook (he hasn't done any so far) to recover the Year 12 material and particularly Stats/Mechanics. He already has the A level Maths Revision Website extra access to videos and questions and I see he sometimes watches TL Maths Videos.
He is very disorganised (ADHD) and needs help with keeping on track and set tasks.

Is there anything else resource wise that would help and is it possible to get him on track for an A. He has these 6 weeks just to spend the mornings wholly on his maths so I am hopeful it can make a difference .

Rather than getting him to start in the mixed questions, I would get him to start with the weakest topics from his Y12 exam - that way he won’t be practising stuff he can do.

Having access to the answers was a problem for my son too so I ended up not letting him mark any of his work so he had to go through incorrect answers with me. Thankfully I didn’t have to do this for long before he started to look at the answers himself a lot more carefully to work out where he had gone wrong.

Have you asked his tutor what they think he should do? You seem to have a lot of resources already, so I am not sure how more will help. At the end of the day the only way to learn maths is to get on and do it. Best of luck to him.

Thanks so much for your reply. He should have access to his paper next week, so he can look at what topics he can focus.

It's frustrating as it will hold back his predicted grades for Uni applications and where he goes if he can't get the grade up. It's an outlier with his other subject grades.

What degree does he want to do? That's an interesting combination of A level subjects.

He wants to do a History degree.

He's quite analytical and good at seeing his way through information (although obviously not maths currently ).

OK, so the maths is not 'necessary' to that degree at least, so a means to an end to a decent grade for a uni of choice.

Has he started UCAS yet and Open Days and so on? I find that focuses the mind of the coasting but bright student a fair amount.

Is he doing an EPQ? He might get a dropped offer if he is .

He definitely should aim to get that C u to a B . A star A star C isn't a very useful combo!

For your info, it's also worth knowing that A stars in history are like hen's teeth, so realistically that could be an A ( I have taught loads of students with two A stars and an A , with the A in history , and this also describes my university history studying DS). Notwithstanding AAB should see him able to select really topnotch history courses.

Yes, he's to a few Uni's on visits - Nottingham, Leeds, York.

He knows History A star is tough, but has been consistent in getting top grades and is definitely talented. He can remember lots of information easily and then formulate a good argument. He is also very good at Geography.

He isn't doing an EPQ as both History and Geography A levels have a lengthy coursework to come next term. He is doing some History essay competitions and supercurricular History.

He does have the ability to do better at Maths- I hope -as he isn't struggling with his understanding; so much as that natural interest in his other subjects has meant he has pretty much ignored it in year 12.
He isn't particularly diligent at studying.
He probably should have taken Economics or Politics A level. He was very good at sciences as well, but had little interest beyond GCSE.

Just as a side note, has he thought about Warwick, Sheffield, Birmingham? All fab for history!

Yes, we just didn't make them at June/July open days, but definitely going to look at them.
He likes world history and the 1750-1930 period. Not social history as such, but more shifts of power between nations and their relationships. He is good at Human Geography because of this and it's almost a combination of the two subjects that works for him.
He is currently reading about the Ottoman Empire, as he was interested in the Balkans and has gone backwards from this.

That sounds interesting. DS likes the very contemporary, social stuff.

Different unis definitely lean different ways, historically and I always think coverage of eighteenth and nineteenth century is a bit sidelined. But the big departments do cover everything.

DD did modern history/classics and maths and has gone on to do history. She did an EPQ as well which dropped her grade requirements to BBB, so it is useful to do-she got A* in all 4 as she worked like a demon possessed!

sounds like he just needs to put the time in-not sure how realistic it is that you think he is going to do every morning for the next 6weeks though!

I think going forward he needs to schedule himself time to complete his future maths homework. There may be a pattern to when it is set and when it is due in. How many free periods does he have in school currently and what is he doing in those free periods? Being in that study environment might be a way for him to prioritise his maths homework there and then his other subjects at home.

Maths is all about practise but I agree he needs to get his exam paper and work out where he is failing to get marks and concentrate on those areas first. If he isn't going for early entry for uni then he has time to prove his maths grade has improved and I would get him to speak to his teacher about when the next set of year 13 tests will be.

It is going to hamper his uni application unless he brings that C grade up. Hopefully that will be motivation enough to knuckle down. Remember that the entry grades stated by universities are the lowest grade they will take applicants in on. There are FOI requests online where unis are asked about the grades of their successful applicants.

Is there anything else resource wise that would help and is it possible to get him on track for an A.

Mathsgenie is also good for videos, exam questions and worked solutions
https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk/newalevel.html

However, as a pp commented, he already has loads of resources, he basically needs to crack on with it.

The suggestion of focusing first on the weak areas from his Y12 exam first to get them up to scratch before trying mixed exercises is a good one.

He should then also "sit" AS past papers (so no looking up answers as he goes along) and see if his grade is improving, then look at his weak areas from those, rinse and repeat.

If he can come to school in September with evidence that he has done lots of work over the holidays and the intention to increase the work he is doing out of lessons for Y13 content then he might be able to persuade the teacher to bump up his predicted grade for UCAS.

Thank you everyone.

He isn't working in his frees, unless it's due homework and isn't cracking on with maths homework at home as soon as he gets it.

He is certainly putting a lot more effort into his other subjects and I do feel with effort on his side in maths he can have better results.

I know he is a shocked/upset by his grade. I'm hoping this gives him the push he needs to realise he has to work harder/smarter and prioritise maths.

The paper next week will focus his holiday work, then ensure he is ready for Year 13 step up.
He may have to readjust where he applies or do an extra year at college or year out depending on how this goes.

I'll get him on Maths Genie as well as AS papers once we know where he went wrong on his Year 12 papers.

I don't think he'll have to adjust where he applies. I reckon he'll get offers because the important thing is history. What he will have to do is meet the offer! Probably.

The maths homework will not be enough. He needs to do much more than what is set which will be the bare minimum of work required. He should do it as soon after the lesson as possible and then look at what comes next before the next lesson. Also, be warned 2nd year maths is quite a step up from 1st year of A level and a bit of a shock for some students. He needs to spend the summer getting to grips with the Y12 topics because the Y13 topics build on them hugely and he's going to flounder otherwise.
Some great advice already. I would reiterate - he needs to do questions without looking at the answers. Maths needs a real problem solving approach and the best thing he can do is get comfortable with not being able to answer a question immediately. When he does go over AS papers I'd advise to try it, do what he can and think about what he can't. Sleep on it. Come back to it and try again. Look up the general concepts if he has to. Go back to it again. Try something different. Only when he's come back again and again and tried everything his brain can possibly think of over a few days, answered the question in a few different ways, picked what he thinks is his best attempt etc, should he look at the answers. Always sleep on it first and try again the next day. He can't do this in the exam, I know, but he's training his brain to problem solve in maths.
It's very tempting to think "I can't do this" and look at the answers but that doesn't help you develop what you need to tackle a different question in the future. The exam WILL throw curve balls at him. He has to train himself to deal with them.

Mathsandstats Thank you - that's great advice- especially the sleeping on a question if he is getting frustrated. And pre preparation for lessons.
I understand the year 13 jump and that's why he needs a complete change in approach now.
His shock at his grade is a warning that if he doesn't make big changes it will result in an even lower grade in the actual A level.

Thanks so much everyone- I've come away with lots of things for him to chat to him about then help him formulate his own plan.