I have to do a Maths GCSE and it scares me

[Enchilada81]

For my course I have to complete a Maths GCSE upto grace C. This terrifies me as I'm RUBBISH with maths

I'm that bad, that I can't even help my 11 year old with his maths homework.

I look at sums etc and all I see is a load of jumbled up numbers.

I skipped my maths GCSE in school because I had so little confidence in it.

How on earth am I going to scrape a C? I'm more worried about this than I am about doing a nursing degree.

please dont think that because you were rubbish at it once you will be again.

i had to do mine. i totally failed it at GCSE but i did really well relearning as an adult.

in the end the career i went for didnt require it but it really helped me pass the entrance exams for the police!

i found the biggest single thing you can do to help yourself is learn your times tables! everything comes back to it. from the simplest sums to the more complex stuff. its really all you need.

dont be scared! trust me - if i could do it anyone can.

Thank you VicarInaTuTu

It's just so embarassing when I'm trying to work something out and I have to turn to DS (11) and ask him to do it for me (he has a mathamatical head!).

I don't even try half the time. My confidence is just so low, I assume I'll never be able to do it.

TBH, I should have got this out of the way years ago but its just one of those things I tried to ignore and hoped would go away

Can you afford a tutor?

i got a g in maths at school not sure how as i though F was fail and thats that but hey ho
last year i did maths with learndirect and it was great you dont do crap like algebra just the stuff you will actually use
you will be fine when you get going

Good luck

I failed it at school as I didn't bother revising etc but resat it a few years ago and felt the same as you as did all the other students on the course. I got the top grade after a lot of work and alot of fun, really enjoyed it actually. Go for it and good luck! (It really isn't that bad, especially the modular course).

I'm doing an OU maths degree in Sept. I've been brushing up using the University of Plymouth's CIMT MEP GCSE maths course. The entire syllabus is free and downloadable, or you can pay a v small fee for the hard copy.

It's excellent.

www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/

go to resources then follow the link for GCSE maths

when i did mt gcse at college a few years back, my tutor's tip was to 'get thee to wilkinsons and buy loads of those pencils with the times tables printed on'

we all did seriously though op, there was a few of us on the course who had very little confidence, and we all helped each other. you can do it!

Highlander - I'm nearly halfway through my OU maths degree now, it's good.

I definitely agree about learning tables first!

As others said please don't assume you won't be able to do it. Self-fulfilling prophecy and all that. And there's always MNers to help

I've always found the most important thing about learning maths is practice. i.e. it's not much good just reading examples in the textbook, you really need to just work through loads of exercises so the process gets wired into your brain, IYSWIM? Until it becomes more automatic. If there aren't enough exercises in the book you'll be able to get past papers or something, I'm sure. Takes more time, but totally worth it. HTH

Does it have to be maths GCSE or can it be an equivalent qualification?

If an equivalent is acceptable enrol on a Numeracy Essential Skills course. It focuses on real life functional maths and is equivalent to a C if you study at Level 2. It?s usually offered to students who haven?t been able to achieve GCSE maths. It?s part of a government initiative so it?s free and can be tailored to the type of work you do or vocational course you?re studying towards.

It also sounds like you could be suffering from maths anxiety which is extremely common.

Think how good it's going to feel when you've mastered the basics and it's lost its fear for you .

If you want any help Enchilada81 PM me - I am going to be doing a Maths PGCE Sept 2011 so am more than happy to help out