Maths Levels in Secondary School

[HPFA]

My Year 6 DD is very keen on science so when we visited secondary schools I asked about what she would need to be able to do Triple science. One school said she would need to be in top set science and "not necessarily" in top set Maths (but I got the impression it would help!!), the other school said she would need 6As in science and Maths at end of Year 8. (They do a 3-year GCSE course). I don't know current level in science but at end of Year 5 she was 4A in Maths. My question is, is it realistic to go from 4A to 6A in three years? Would this represent normal progress, good progress or amazing progress. I'd really like to know whether Triple science is likely to be an option. Many thanks

My DD went from 4b y6 to 7c in y9. This was (very) good progress from her starting level. I would think an able child, already at 4a end y5 should be able to make this progress.

I wouldn't be happy with a 3 year GCSE course though. The options DD would have picked in y8 would not have been as good as the options she picked in y9.

Did you ask whether triple science is accelerated (ie done in same time as double)?

I think that would be expected progress (two sublevels a year)

I don't have a problem with it being done as a 3 year course, as long as options arent generally chosen at the end of year 8.

It sounds fine to me. Like your DD, my DS was 4A in maths at the end of year 5 and he got a 5A at the end of Y6. He'd already overshot your target at the end of Y7 thanks to a very motivating maths teacher. However, he was at 6C for science so he would be looking at 2 sub-levels of progress this year to reach 6A at end of Y8, which is considered normal-good progress. They do a 3 year GCSE in science at my son's school too and at the moment he is on track for triple science.

Sounds 'normal' - maths levels in secondary can quite often go up rather faster than other subjects, they seem to operate on a slightly different scale to other subjects.

I think it's not uncommon to do the science GCSE over 3 years but choose options after yr 9.

That's the expected progress for 3 years and perfectly achievable for a reasonably bright child.

Many thanks for all these very encouraging replies. Of course, she may chnage her mind but it's good to know she should be able to have the option.

Yeah that sounds reasonably my daughter went from 6c (year 6) to 9c (year 8) to a* GCSE maths (year 9)

"Yeah that sounds reasonably my daughter went from 6c (year 6) to 9c (year 8) to a* GCSE maths (year 9)"

And that is relevant to the thread exactly how?

9c doesn't exist ....

9c?? DS very bright was at level 8 in years 8/9, we were told they couldn't go above as no grade over an 8, now year 10 predicted A/A*.... No pressure at all then

Above an 8 is Exceptional Performance.

She achieved the equivalent of a 9c had this been achievable as she was beyond level 8 so did GCSE papers - I'm just saying its relevant as it indicates 2 levels of progress is more than possible

"She achieved the equivalent of a 9c had this been achievable "

DS went from a 4a in his Y6 SATS to an 8 by the middle of Y9. In Y6 he was still catching up from missing large chunks of school due to (as it turned out) temporary deafness. In Y8 he missed almost a whole term with whooping cough, but one of the subjects where the school really got its act together and provided proper work at home was maths (he was already a L6 by then, so was clearly forging forward anyway). Being freed from the constraints of the classroom he was able to really find his level. I'm not sure he would have made such good progress had he not had WC though. And inevitably, it was a double edged sword because other subjects suffered at the same time as maths and science and history benefitted.