Rant about the new maths GCSEs. Michael Gove you tosser.

[noblegiraffe]

I've got to write this because I've been fuming all day and I need to get it out or I'll never sleep.

So today was the final maths paper, the first round of teaching of the new GCSEs complete. What a total and utter nightmare the whole thing has turned out to be. The poor kids today looked like wrecks. Over 20 different exams spread over weeks has really taken its toll, thanks to all subjects being made linear. We had a revision class yesterday and they had nothing left to give, it was a really horrible ending to the course, trying to cajole them into squeezing in some last minute revision. Three papers for maths has meant it has been a real trial to keep the momentum going (not to mention the added expense of all the extra photocopying of 3 papers instead of 2). Next year it will be even worse as at least this year they still have the cushion of coursework in some subjects.

Due to the last minute scrapping of SAMs which meant the textbooks were out of date and useless even before they left the warehouse and school funding cuts which meant we couldn't afford to buy them even when updated, teachers have been scrabbling over the internet for resources to teach the new topics on the syllabus. The syllabus is unclear and teachers have been trying to find out what they actually have to teach from looking at the sample papers put out by the exam boards. Workload has been horrendous. One question on Edexcel Foundation caught lots by surprise because that style of question wasn't on any papers, and being an old A* topic, many schools hadn't taught it.

Some of the syllabus is just stupid. Memorising exact trig values on foundation? Really?

Before the most recent higher and foundation papers we had foundation (up to a D) intermediate (up to a B) and higher (up to an A) which were then replaced with foundation (up to a C) and higher (up to an A). Essentially what has happened is that we've gone back to the old system with an intermediate and higher paper, but got rid of foundation and are making all the weaker kids sit intermediate. There is nothing for them on the papers. Kids who would have got a G or F grade are having to sit 4.5 hours of papers where they can answer maybe 2-3 questions on each. What does that say to them? The first question on the first maths paper that they sat was (non calc) 2^4. The third was solve x/5 = 2 1/2. Those poor kids.

And the papers themselves? Awful. It used to be 'the examiners are looking to reward what you know, not trying to catch you out'. Well that seems to have passed Edexcel by. Questions which could have been fine had twists put into them for no reason other than to increase the chance of failure. Foundation kids for the first time have to solve simultaneous equations. But why put a question on which is going to trip them up and confuse them? Lots of fuss about trig being on Foundation so we dutifully taught it and spent lots of time on it because it's hard. It was on every sample paper they produced. It wasn't on the sodding real thing. What a waste of time.

My foundation class would have comfortably got Cs and be able to answer the majority of a paper without breaking a sweat. Now it's all very, very difficult and they hate it. We've had higher tier students lose all confidence, bomb out of the higher paper and be moved to foundation, capping their potential grade. Other higher students have decided that maths isn't for them and wont be taking A-level.

All this has served to do is to put kids off maths and make them think they can't do it.

And it's all very well saying 'the grade boundaries will be low, it will be fine, the same proportion will get a C as last year' etc etc. As a maths teacher who is interested in the maths education of the population, this is simply not good enough. You can't make kids better at maths by battering them over the head with stuff they can't do.

Was watching some of ds1's friends study for their maths papers this May bank holiday, and was shocked at how hard it was.
This thread has just confirmed it.

Sorry, what are SAMs?

It sounds a total mess.

There won't be terrible exam results across the board, the same proportion of kids will pass this year as last year, and the same proportion will get an A or above (7+) as last year. The grade boundaries will be on the floor to compensate. The average mark for both higher and foundation nationally in the November mocks was about 30%. That means that most kids were sitting an exam where more than half of it was beyond them.

There was supposed to be a drop in the pass rate for English and Maths of about 23%, with the 5 being the new pass grade, but the government bottled it at the last minute and said that a 4 will be a 'standard pass'. School league tables will be a disaster in January though as they will still be using the 5 as a pass.
I think in August there will be lots of relief as kids do better than they thought they would (i.e. They will get what they should have got) and people might say 'well what was all the fuss about?' But the point is that kids will already have had their confidence destroyed, teachers will have quit/been made ill over the workload, A-level subject choices will have been made, and we won't be able to get that back.

My school is introducing an extra hour of maths per week from Y7 from September. When current Y7 hit the GCSEs they'll be much better prepared, but at the expense of the arts and technology subjects which are being reduced to make way.

It is a cluster-fuck of epic proportions.
Poor kids

apparently they have to work harder on the foundation to get a 4.

We have no idea. We have no idea how hard they will have to work on either paper to get a 4. We don't know what proportion of kids sitting higher or foundation will get a 4. We've had to make tier of entry decisions blindfolded and in lots of cases with borderline candidates it has been a best guess and no doubt some kids will lose out due to the wrong decision being made.

bonnevacances, I think it depends on the child. My DD would have totally panicked if she had seen the Higher papers and probably have frozen. She did Foundation, said it was ok and managed to answer all the questions (whether she got them right is another question!). I think she has a better chance at a pass with Foundation and it's all she needs.

Are there fewer pupils opting for A level maths next year noble?

SAMs are Sample Assessment Materials. They were the sample exam papers put out by the exam boards so that schools could see which style they preferred when deciding which exam board to go for.

Ofqual had signed all the exam boards off. The textbooks were written and ready to go. Then exam boards started bickering between themselves about whether some SAMs were too easy and the 'easy' exam boards were stealing their custom. There were threats to sue. Then Ofqual stepped in, got some kids to sit all the SAMs and it was discovered that they were way too hard (except one) and the exam boards were told to rip them up and start again. This took about 6 months, and they were only properly signed off in July for first teaching in September. Most schools had already started teaching them the year before to fit the content in. The textbooks had been written to the level of the SAMs, so were also too hard and therefore unusable.

So these exam papers are easier than they were going to be,(!) and it was only because of threatened court action that any kids actually sat them as a trial.

Pupils where I work are so disillusioned. I teach English and besides one paper for all (which is ridiculous) the lit paper is so hard in respect of volume of things that need to be revised

We are changing the curriculum next year to increase maths and English teaching hours to the detriment of PE, PSHE and RE.
All of which are subjects which help develop the kids in a more rounded way.

My dds school are giving less options in year 10 to allow for it

I agree noble, but at least you still have tiers. English is not tiered and my weakest pupils, SEN/EAL were supposed to interpret an extract from a 1908 short story about a hat shop! Please tell me how the ability to do this will help them in their adult life? I have never been in a hat shop and I am in my 50's! Do they still exist? If this was Literature fine, but Language!?!?

The average mark for both higher and foundation nationally in the November mocks was about 30%. That means that most kids were sitting an exam where more than half of it was beyond them.

It is absolutely crazy that after 7 years of schooling our pupils sit down to a paper where half of it is beyond them, soul destroying for pupils and teachers.

Low grade boundaries and everyone breaths a sigh of relief, it doesn't change the fact that they can't actually do the work. Madness.

Poster above, what do you find ridiculous about the functional skills syllabus as as I actually think it is pretty well rounded and actually relevant to real life? It is a really good award for young people who cant cope with the gcse.

DS teacher told then about the I think 37% of dc that passed the mock exams. He got 65% and his friend who is a bit of a genius got 85%. They have both found all the maths papers fine but I get that they are good at maths.

I just hate the fact that yet again the exam system has been meddled with.

I am sorry to read this thread and feel very strongly for you with 100% exams.
I am a secondary music teacher so I am lucky that they can't fairly ditch coursework in my subject- this remains at 60%. Nevertheless, the 40% exam is extraordinarily hard- it's for first examination next year so I've been teaching it to year 10 but some of the concepts are eye wateringly difficult and things I didn't study until A2 and in some cases first level of degree. It's been a tricky year with year 10 many of them wishing they hadn't taken it as it's too hard.

Possum. Mine thought it was an easier paper than the last one too. He also is down for A level maths.
I honestly think I am more worried than he is

That makes sense Keira, I hadn't thought of that. Poor kids.

The whole thing is an utter shambles. It is disheartening to read posters such as Noblegiraffe who are obviously dedicated teachers and who have provided such help and support on the GCSE thread, so demotivated and angry. I completely agree that this year's students will most likely get whatever grade they were going to get under the old system because the grade boundaries will be tweaked but how does it actually help anyone if a student gets, say, a 6 in this year's GCSE while retaining a hatred of maths and the feeling that it is way too difficult, then in a couple of years goes into the workforce for an employer who is going to assume that this 6 implies a certain understanding of maths and is going to be surprised and disappointed to find that the reality doesn't match up!

It will be interesting, and I suspect depressing, to see how the numbers taking Maths A levels pan out in coming years, particularly among girls, who are already less willing to "have a go".

As a teacher and a parent of a year 10 I would do physical damage to Gove if I ever saw him. He has destroyed education and taken every once of joy out of teaching it - I don't have time to do anything but bash through the required stuff. The recent science SAMs had horrible mark schemes - answers that last year would get full marks got nothing due to the restrictions and specificity required. We did them as a Dept and we weren't getting full marks as we didn't realise we had to be mind readers and give the only words in the examiners head. We have complained. My poor DD is shattered already as every subject is trying to get through the syllabus and so piling on the work. This year group are going to be on the floor well before the final exams. It is crap. I am angry.

May is completely deluded bringing Gove back into the cabinet. Does she realise what people think of him?!

Just posted the following on a different thread. I agree with you noblegiraffe. It is a mess.

ds has a couple of friends who were going to do Maths A Level & have now changed their minds. I suspect that grade boundaries will be lowered and they will get similar marks anyway but by that time the damage to their self confidence will have been done.

I think the powers that be were trying to add harder questions to stretch the top 3% but it has backfired a bit. Maybe they could have achieved this with tweaking the Further maths GCSE instead.

I'm very confused about where the grade boundaries will end up especially at the top.

Are there fewer pupils opting for A level maths next year noble?

The Mathematical Association are currently surveying schools to find out the lie of the land. It's not looking good, with some schools reporting that they won't even be running further maths A-level next year.

That's not just due to the GCSE putting students off (although that has undoubtedly had an effect), it's also due to Gove's catastrophically stupid decision to scrap AS-levels. Most schools are now only encouraging students to take 3 subjects with no option to drop after AS. As maths is seen as a hard A-level, fewer pupils will risk taking it knowing they can't drop it after a year if it goes badly. Three subjects also means students won't take further maths which was always seen as a 'fourth' A-level. Maths, further maths plus one other is seen as too restricted.

We might see some improvement in numbers once the results come in and students see they've done better than expected, but it's going to be hard to change their minds, especially with no cushion of AS.

Everyone involved in maths education is very worried. The last time they messed with A-levels, maths take-up plummeted, which has implications for the future economy of the country.

It's utterly crap, isn't it. I'm not surprised the numbers are lower, quite a few of dd's friends would have taken A Level maths but have opted not to because they are 'not good enough' when they were A/A* students. It's horrible. wtf did Gove think he was doing, he has destroyed education, I feel so helpless and angry about it. DD is tired and demotivated right now with 4 left to go, she thinks she did badly on the maths (edexcel higher) and on the English, even the english language which she's usually stronger on. This is not how it should be. It is running these dc into the ground at a time they should be feeling encouraged and built up and excited about their future.

I also feel for all the teachers who are doing their best to get these kids through. It must be very demoralising. Thanks noblegiraffe for all your support on this board and the GCSE thread in particular, I can see it is so very frustrating and gutting for you