Year 11 mock GCSE Maths

[kilmuir]

How did it go for your teenager? Our school have hinted that it was hard and much work needs to be done!

YY! DD says a lot of them were in tears, it was so hard. She says she gave up after question 8 of 26. It's really knocked her confidence..

Which paper? Dd said she found it easy but she's not doing the higher paper. School have hardly put anyone in for the higher. She was predicted a B in old money and is top set (but near the bottom of top set).

Mine said that paper one was awful. Higher tier. He struggled and said that everyone was complaining.

He is set 3 out of 10, so is pretty bright and is predicted an A/equivalent. I think he will be lucky to get a B.

He has been revising intensely since September so I know it's not lack of effort.

Possum can she get a B on the foundation paper? I thought the highest was a C (in pounds shillings and pence..)

No she won't. But that's the point I was (badly) trying to make. In year 9 they were saying she'd be on track for a B. She hasn't slipped down in target grades, etc. But the school aren't confident enough to put kids who would have been predicted Bs in for the higher paper. So only doing a foundation where she should get a 5.

Is maths still allowed to do higher and lower tiers? I thought they had been stopped. Interesting maths is allowed them, but English etc aren't.

Oh I see, that's interesting. My dd is currently working at a 6 but predicted to get a 5, and they've put her in for higher as that's grades 9-3 apparently? But there's so much on the paper she can't do she found it very demoralising.

My DD is in year 10 and her form teacher is head of Maths , so she was very vocal at telling the students how hard the Maths road is going to be.

Thanks for this thread. I'm new to all this, do all schools sit the same Mocks? Or is it the school that sets them?

Yep, another one with a ds in tears. Dd has looked at some of his work and said there's a lot of A level content.

Bustle, your dd sounds about the same level as my dd. Working at a 6, predicted a 5. But teachers reckon it will be easier to get a 5 on the foundation than the higher though they admit this is partly guesswork as nobody knows for sure.

Walker I think from reading other threads on this that this year each exam board has issued its own mock, being kept accessible to schools only (so kids with later mocks can't cheat).
This is because it is the first year of the new specs.
Usually schools use last years papers as mocks. These are also not generally downloadable by all and sundry for a year, even though previous years papers can be found online easily.

Teen- thanks very much. This answers my question, so in effect provided it's the same exam board, students will sit the same mocks.

If they can get a 5 on the foundation paper, (1-5 I think) then that could be a B in old money. The higher end of a grade 5 is equivalent to the lower end of a B, at least for this year. Employers won't 'get it' for years, is my worry. Teachers at the school I work in don't get the equivalency yet.

Reading the government explanations, the bottom of a grade 4 is tied to (i.e. worth the same as) the bottom of a grade C. The bottom of a grade 7 is the same as the bottom of a grade A. A grade 9 is roughly the top third of an A*. So a grade 5 is worth about the same as the top third of a C and the bottom third of a B. A grade 6 is worth about the same as the top two thirds of a B.

The lower grades only have 3 divisions instead of 4 so D, E, F and G are divided up between 3, 2 and 1.

The new standard to aiming for will be a 5, higher than a grade C.

My poor DS3 is in Y10 so will be hit with these new GCSEs for most subjects, not just English and Maths. At least for the first year the proportions of DC getting the grades as explained above will be set to the same proportions as last year. So if say 60% of DC nationally got a C or above in English or maths last year 2016, 60% will get a 4 or above this school year 2017. The same with the A grade/grade 7 boundary. It's tied to last year's proportions for thus next year.

DD1 found her maths mocks hard, scored 62-64-66 (all out of 80) but feels she can do better by putting in work on the things she missed between now and the real thing. Her school puts her result at a borderline 8, which would be good only no-one really knows if it is accurate. However, only 4 in her top set got these kinds of marks, the rest got much lower. It is a very, very tough exam. We are fortunate that DD1 has a natural talent for maths and also works very very hard. I think a lot of Yr 11s will struggle this year, but would think grade boundaries will be low to compensate.

Blimey my head is spinning!
I am trying to get info on year 6 SATs , changes to A level curriculum, GCSE headings arghhhhhh

Grades not headings!

DS predicted a A* (9) in maths in old money found the mock really hard and got a 4. Will do extra classes after school... Not sure what else we can do.

dd got 37-44-46 (127/240), which was graded as a 5. She was initially predicted an 8, she'd be happy with 6 & totally over the moon with a 7. Pre-mocks (so this past term) she's been doing an extra 3-4 hours a week (more in half term) but for the last few weeks she's doing an extra hour of maths every day & is planning to carry that on with that.

The grade boundaries will be low if everyone finds the exams really hard. As I said above, the proportion of DC who got at least an A grade last year will get at least a 7 this year. I hope that provides some comfort.

Draylon 7 is being pegged to an A, so by asking for 7s upwards the 6th forms are not changing the requirements.

Macbeth - love that play - tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, that makes Thursday.

I'd be happy with a 6 in Maths now, I never thought I'd say that but as he's not planning A level maths that should be ok.