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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

GCSE maths - does an A* really matter?

21 replies

GnomeDePlume · 29/12/2011 11:32

DD is on line for an A in GCSE maths. If she doesnt get an A she will be under a bit of pressure from her school to retake to get an A. Does an A* matter that much? DD1 will be doing her A levels at a different school (including maths).

DD will be getting her maths result in January and has now started a statistics GCSE. TBH I dont want her to get distracted going after an A* if the benefit is more for the school than for her IYSWIM.

Do any of you good folk have any advice on this please?

OP posts:

cinnamonnut · 29/12/2011 12:52

As long as she does well in A level maths it shouldn't matter. Most universities which have requirements regarding GCSE maths ask for A or B at most. If she really wants an A*, there's no problem with retaking either - but it might get a bit tiresome.

I got an A in GCSE maths and an A* in GCSE statistics. The teacher said statistics is often considered to be a more difficult GCSE, so it should look good.

bruffin · 29/12/2011 13:06

DS's school wont let you do a further maths A level without an A* at GCSE, don't know if that is relevant.

Original poster

GnomeDePlume · 29/12/2011 17:48

Thanks all. Wow though bruffin that is quite harsh!

DD isnt planning to take further maths so hopefully not an issue for her.

OP posts:

amerryscot · 29/12/2011 17:49

Yes, A* matter.

noblegiraffe · 29/12/2011 18:11

If she wants to do well at A-level then she should aim for an A. A lot of the content of the first module at A-level is A GCSE maths content. If she can master this at GCSE then she will find the leap to A-level easier to manage. A lot of students struggle with this and it is noticeable that the A* candidates have an easier ride (minimum grade to take A-level at my school is an A and even then we get students dropping out because it's too hard).

blaaahh · 29/12/2011 19:55

Getting an A is better than having a retake A*

senua · 29/12/2011 20:24

"If she doesnt get an A she will be under a bit of pressure from her school to retake to get an A."

If school is so keen on an A* then they should let them take it in the summer. You know, when it is supposed to be taken.

noblegiraffe · 29/12/2011 20:35

I disagree, blaaahh, getting an A* in maths is much more useful in terms of progression to A-level. There is no worry about it being a retake, universities don't care about retakes at GCSE - and they won't even know this is a retake.

I agree that taking it in the summer would be the better option for the school from the start. I strongly disagree with students doing maths GCSE then sitting statistics. A long period of time without any algebra will be a poor start to her A-level and she will need to do lots of preparation over the summer to revise and refresh her algebra skills.

Original poster

GnomeDePlume · 29/12/2011 20:36

'If school is so keen on an A* then they should let them take it in the summer. You know, when it is supposed to be taken.'

While I agree senua, DD isnt offered a choice.

Thank you for the further views. DD is at the high end of an A so if she doesnt get an A* she is unlikely to miss it by much. I am just a bit concerned about the school putting pressure on DD and distracting her from her other GCSEs.

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noblegiraffe · 29/12/2011 21:34

If she is planning on taking A-level maths, then the extra work that she would be putting in now will be worth it.

I've seem too many students flounder at A-level to recommend risking it.

Original poster

GnomeDePlume · 29/12/2011 23:55

Thanks all. I have discussed further with DD. If she gets a B then she will resit (B will have been sign of brainstorm during the exam!). If she gets an A then she wont resit.

DD is concerned about pressure building on other subjects. I have complained both on MN and to the school about how dismal some of the teaching has been. This year an awful lot of catching up is having to be done and a resit would be a distraction.

DD has a the revision books so is ready and willing to do some extra work to keep her maths up to scratch over the next few months.

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Colleger · 30/12/2011 01:23

I'm very surprised the school want the pupils to sit it now, is that so they have time for resists?

Does DD need maths for university? If she can't manage an A* then the chances of getting more than a B at A'level is slim without a lot of extra work.

Fingers crossed for an A*! :)

empirestateofmind · 30/12/2011 03:55

An A* at GCSE is not enough to know you will cruise A level maths. It is necessary but not sufficient in my experience (GCSE and A level maths teacher).

Original poster

GnomeDePlume · 30/12/2011 09:41

DD has already sat her GCSE maths. Results due out in a couple of weeks. Whether the timing is good or not is irrelevant, we are where we are.

DD will need A level maths for university (plans to study chemistry or bio-chemistry).

DD does work hard and in no way will cruise. The difficulty is that her year were badly let down by the school last year with science teachers off sick and replaced by non-science stand-ins. In another subject the teacher was actually sacked (for incompetence) however this wasnt done until the end of the year.

DD is doing a lot of work off her own bat using revision and study guides (MN advice gratefully taken).

The thing is that she is needing to do a lot of extra work already and I dont want her to feel bullied into resitting maths if there is no real benefit to her.

OP posts:

glaurung · 30/12/2011 12:16

gnome, dd is in a similarish situation in that she's had a very messed up GCSE education, needs to do quite a lot of study off her own back, is on the A/A boundary for maths and wants to do it for A level. She's not sitting maths GCSE early, but is doing the modular course, so has done module 1, will do 2 in March and 3 in June. Her current maths teacher advised her that there is quite a jump from GCSE to A level and recommended working through the book "Additional mathematics for OCR" by Val Hanrahan which is presented in a way that can be self studied and bridges the gap between the two (it actually covers the free standing maths qualification work, but you obviously don't have to sit that exam). Dd is planning to do some over the summer as well as some bits that support the higher level GCSE work beforehand. I would think if your dd is doing nothing but statistics between now and the summer this might be a good book for her to look at too over the summer to make sure her algebra and trig is up to speed. In my opinion, resitting to get an A is a choice for your dd, but making sure she has a firm mathematical base to start A level whether or not she resits is more important.

Original poster

GnomeDePlume · 30/12/2011 16:54

Thank you glaurung I mentioned the book to DD and she is very interested so I will add it to my next Amazon order.

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mycatsaysach · 30/12/2011 16:59

ds just missed an a at gcse and went on to do a level but dropped it after a year - it was far too difficult for him.all of the other students in his class had a or a* gcse.

maddiemostmerry · 30/12/2011 17:02

My ds got an A at maths GCSE. He did find the A level very difficult and a big jump up. He got a B at A level and was pleased with it.
His younger brother attends a school which insists on A*, having been through this once I can say that all the A level subjects ds1 took were much more complex than GCSE standard.
Gnome, sounds like she is a worker, good luck to her.

Elijah · 31/12/2011 19:00

Well, it depends on what your kid wants to do. GCSE's are in some-ways just a stepping stone to A-levels - get good enough GCSE's to allow you to do the A-levels you want. Then get good enough A-levels to do the degree you want at the place you want. However, if you want to go to Oxbridge, A at GCSE will be help you and if for some reason your kid doesn't do that well at A-level maths, having the A at GCSE will show they are capable of excelling in the subject. But to resit an exam would only worth doing if taking it meant that it was done at a time when you were taking no other exams. I know people who have done science degrees without even maths a-level, they do a foundation year to catchup, because they proved they were good enough at other topics in the interview.
Good luck.

Original poster

GnomeDePlume · 31/12/2011 19:09

Thanks Elijah & Maddie

DD is most definitely a worker. Fully take on board that GCSEs are just a stepping stone to A levels. The issue for her is that she would have to sit a resit alongside all the other GCSEs she is doing.

The difficulty is that there is a bit of a chimney mentality in the school and members of one department always look faintly surprised to discover that students are taking other subjects. Therefore pressure to resit would ignore the fact that she has other subjects to do her best in as well.

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goinggetstough · 31/12/2011 19:28

A number of posters have said that GCSEs are just a stepping stone, true but do remember that some universities do look at GCSEs and the number of A*s too eg LSE, Durham depending on the subject you want to study.

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