Further maths GCSE

[var123]

Can anyone help me understand the English exam system, particularly the GCSEs?

Things I don't understand:-

1. Why there are several exam boards, and what it means in practice.
2. Do the GCSEs count for anything once you've got your A Levels?
3. Do the GCSE choices limit which A levels you can do?
4. What the difference between igcse and GSCE is?
5. Are there still resits? Does the child have to wait until the following summer or is there another moment?
6. Why would a child do further maths GCSE and what are the implications if the school does not offer it?
7. Is it the current year 8s or current year 9s who will take the new GCSEs for the first time?

I know its a lot of questions but help with any one of them would be much appreciated!

By way of background, I have two sons, both are very good at maths. DS1 is in year 8 and I noticed on the school web last night that there are a list of GCSE options. Triple science is marked as "optional" but I can see no mention of further maths, which very likely means the school doesn't offer it.

However, maths is my DSes thing. They both enjoy it, find it really easy and I can see at least one of them wanting to go on to university to study it.

EPQ?

Extended Project Qualification - the level 3 is usually offered alongside A Levels for more able and motivated students - they have some support but for the most part they are independent projects on a subject of the student's choosing resulting in a report of 5-6000 words or an object and 2000 words. They have UCAS points and universities do seem to think of them quite highly. My ds is only Y11 so he hasn't looked into to in much depth yet.

Actually, I might be wrong about the UCAS point bit - I can't remember, sorry.

@OddBoots, DD's school currently does EPQ and in terms of her personal development I think that looks worthwhile regardless of whether they tick any boxes for anyone else. A quick search says A* = 70 UCAS points, so same territory as a music G8 etc.

Triple science is what higher ability sets do usually anyway, if the school offers triple science that is. So I wouldn't worry about it.
Maybe check whether your local FE college requires further math at GCSE to do further math at A-level. This is first college I could find that stated so explicitly, they only wanted A/A* at regular math to do Further Math A-level; no mention of further math GCSE.

I know my DDs school doesn't require FM GCSE in order to do A level FM. I doubt anywhere does - it would exclude too many who didn't get the chance to do it.

Yy to it being fun. She's got her exams next week, did a pair of past papers today and was as happy as Larry. (OTOH some schools enter the kids for the exam but don't teach them which can be a lot less fun)

I am surprised at the a level physics thing but I looked up the topics in maths and there definitely has been a migration towards the overlap with physics.

Its a shame that science gets offered in this blended way. Knowing my Dses, neither will enjoy the practical aspects of biology experiments esp dissections. They don't even like to handle raw vegetables!

DS1 was planning not to do triple science gcse but he may have to rethink.

Could you buy the Further Maths books from Amazon and start working through them? As far as I can see, there's a lot of overlap with the A level.

On the different exam boards issue - I teach in a secondary school and I can tell you there is a big difference in the standard of the GCSE exams from different exam boards for SOME subjects. Departments in some schools spend a lot of time looking at which exam board offers easier material and exams. There is then quite a bit of switching boards each year.

Since UCAS applications require a student to put the exam board on the application, it must be used by some unis.

I did also specifically say that OCR MEI is the hardest. This is not the same as OCR.

if he's bright then I suspect, Var123, he'll be quite bored in Double Science. That's how it worked for my DS (who had picked up most his science from Horrible Science books, actually). DS (who is generally a slacker at school, btw) was very worried not to do Double Sci because he knew it would be deathly dull. Before Triple he disliked Biology most but now (end of y10) he is projected A in Biology & maybe A* in Physics. So my feeling is that triple is well worth it if they are already getting high enough marks in science.

wouldn't it make so much sense to adopt the Scottish single exam board system? I.e. an A in History (say) is an A in History. You get to university and everyone has followed the same syllabus and taken the same exam.

Looking at the gcse options, triple science is a column on its own. I have the idea that the options relate to timetabling I.e. all the year 10s do their option B classes at the same time.
What do the dc in other schools miss to do triple science? Maybe school assemblies?! Ds1 would be up for missing those!

Dc do triple in same timetable slots as double. The double syllabus is covered y 10 then y11 is revision or triple.

The truth is that even teachers don't know what the new gcses will be like.

A letter from ds's soon to be school sums it up.

"Dear Parent

Some of you may have noticed that the government’s Department for Education (DfE) recently decided that they would not recognise International GCSEs (IGCSEs) in their exam performance tables any more. Interestingly, this is an exact reversal of a decision made by the DfE a few years ago when the former education secretary Michael Gove was keen to persuade maintained schools to take the international alternative, following the independent sector which had turned to it in a big way. IGCSEs were, in general, felt to be more appropriate to more able candidates, more traditionally content-heavy than the GCSE, and assessed by a single terminal examination.
However, we now have a new education secretary and a new policy. The DfE has removed IGCSE examinations from the performance tables although schools are still at liberty to enter their pupils for IGCSEs if they choose. Undoubtedly this is being done to try to ensure that schools take up the new reformed GCSEs, which start being taught this September. This has led to the publication of clearly absurd performance tables in January 2015, with a large numbers of schools, including Eton and our school achieving 0% of pupils passing 5 or more subjects at GCSE, including English and Maths.

But is IGCSE now easier than the new GCSE? And is that a turnaround from the position where independent schools first, and then many maintained schools, chose it precisely because it was a bit more challenging?
The simple answer is that we don’t know yet as no pupil will sit these examinations until May 2017. We are looking carefully at it however and we will continue to allow each subject department to analyse what is on offer and then make up its own mind as to what course best suits our pupils and, where relevant, gives the most appropriate and useful preparation for A level. It may be that, as the new schemes of work appear, some departments will say that they prefer the new GCSE specification for their subject: if they do, they will be free to choose it.
Ultimately it’s not about allegedly "easier" or "more difficult" exams. Our teaching staff are looking for courses that will give their pupils a good grasp of the content and grammar of the subject, provide appropriate ranges of stretch and challenge, furnish a strong basis for further study at A level, and be reliably assessed and efficiently marked. Therefore the decision depends partly on our impression of the efficiency or otherwise of the exam board in question.

wouldn't it make so much sense to adopt the Scottish single exam board system? I.e. an A in History (say) is an A in History. You get to university and everyone has followed the same syllabus and taken the same exam.

So you'd remove all options from the syllabus and teach just one period? There are currently about thirty optional modules in A Level History, ranging from the Angevins to Vietnam, and schools offer a subset based in the interests and experience of the staff. How do you propose to select that period? How do you propose to staff it with qualified teachers?

Balletgirlmum - that's a great letter - is it from a state school?

Since UCAS applications require a student to put the exam board on the application, it must be used by some unis.

It's so that, in the event of dispute, we can check that the applicant is telling the truth by contacting the board. I have never heard anyone doing admissions looking at the board for any other reason, and aside from prejudice and rumour, there is no basis for making such assessments anyway.

That was my thought, put the exam board down so they can more quickly verify it's genuine.

gemauve - no that's not how it works in Scotland. for ecample, in English, everyone gets the same paper but you choose which questions you want to answer and you tailor the answers to the books you 've studied. It sounds like I've just inadvertently uncovered another difference between the two countries.

No, it's a private school.

Dds school on the other hand doesn't offer either further maths or triple science & most pupils will not go on to a level but vicationsl training which makes me think that she needs to do some self study to extend herself.

Ah - I thought it was unusually frank for a state school!

Is dd's a performing arts school?

DS (state grammar) has chosen options early (in year 8) & they have reduced from 11 to 10 to allow for the linear exams. They did say at options evening that they didn't actually have the curriculum for a lot of the subjects . He wants to go into performing arts so doesn't need the super star top grades he might need if he was aiming for something very academically competitive - I'd be bloody pissed off if he was!

Pissed off at the shambles I mean.

Yes, ds is at dance school. She got a place at the other school but chose not to go. However she thinks she may like to go there for a levels then apply for an MT degree aged 18 rather than a diploma at 16 like lots of her classmates.

The private school do 9 or 10 gcses with the option of an extra curricular one in subjects like drama or astronomy.

Both schools don't choose options until year 9 to start in year 10.