New GCSE's- higher tier or foundation level? 2017- 2018

[Feistymum1]

Hi thoughts appreciated please. My daughter goes to private school and is a B/C/A level student. She is sitting her GCSEs next year (2018) and I am surprised to have just been asked if she can sit the foundation level science instead of higher tier. It's completely out of the blue- she didn't do brilliantly in her end of year exams. I was wondering if schools have been told they have to do a few foundation level exams and she is an easy pick. She gets stressed and anxious about work and exams so I do understand it's a balance. Thanks, Fuming mum.

I saw a maths teacher on here the other day describing the tiers as the new foundation tier being like the old intermediate tier (and with the old foundation tier not being accommodated at all).

The toughness of the exams suggests that higher tier is aimed at those at the very top end of the grading.

I've copied & pasted my answer from the zombie thread for clarity.

You really should start your own new thread as this is from 2013 but what year is your dd in. Will she be sitting the new 9-1 GCSE.

The new syllabus is hard. At dd's private school (he leaves at the end of this year) for the first time EVER they are considering introducing a foundation paper rather than entering everyone for higher. The biology teacher said they will struggle to get some of their lower ability kids through (& their lower ability kids are all above average nationally) due to the sheer content & introduction of topIcs that were previously only on the A level syllabus.

In the foundation paper it's still possible to get up to a Grade 5 equivalent to an old high C/low B grade) if a child is borderline Grade 5 it may be better to sit foundation.

Thanks. It feels like the old O level/ CSE situation and I am a bit peeved that I have sweated blood to get my daughter into private school for a better education and she's being put in for a lower exam despite all their resources!

Like you, the school will want your daughter to achieve her best possible grade.

The new exams are tough! It may be that, following this assessment, they feel that it would be better for your daughter to sit an easier paper than to be faced with a harder one - some pupils will panic and not do themselves justice at all if the questions look too difficult.

In some ways its worse than the CSE/O level divide, I'd say, in that back then borderline students could double enter for both exams. The limitation on that was the cost, but if you as a parent were willing to pay at least it was an option.

The new science spec is hard not least because they have to remember all of the physics equations and don't get to have a sheet with them on.

What does she want to do long term? You need to look into what 6th form courses will be looking for, our closest one won't even entertain students doing science, maths and psychology A levels without a B/6 at GCSE. If her chosen courses don't need science then it maybe better to take the pressure off and do foundation.

Would you have been happy if she'd gained a B/C grade in science?

With science there is the added variable of double or triple, have you or the school decided on that?

If triple then could she do higher in her strongest science and foundation on the other two, as a compromise?

Her exams are a year away and you have the summer holidays coming. Would she be prepared to put in the work and see if the school would reconsider when she goes back in September?

Thanks everyone. They are pushing me for a decision now. I am also aware they don't want lower grades on their league tables as it looks bad, so maybe better for students who are not so strong to do foundation level so it is reported differently. The joys of private schools!

Are you paying for this? Ask why they cannot wait until September. Have a talk with your dd and see how she feels.

The league table stuff doesn't work quite that way now. The focus now is on progress made from the KS2 (SATS) results.

Obviously the grades are important but the aim is to assess how the school support (or depending on your point of view, push) students to achieve higher grades than would be expected for them.

Option 1 - daughter sits paper, does as well/better than expected

Outcome - grade on CV 9/8/7/6/5/4; grade reported on school tables 9/8/7/6/5/4 (grades 9-7 roughly old A/A*, grade 6 top end of B, grade 5 lower B/top C, grade 4 lower C)

Option 2 - daughter sits higher paper, does poorly

Outcome - grade on CV and on school results U

Option 3 - daughter does foundation tier (easier questions overall, some overlap with higher paper), does as well or better than expected

Outcome - grade on CV 5/4; grade (reported on the same table as above!) 5/4.

If she gets a 5 or a 4 on either paper it will look the same on the results tables for the school and her CV (unlike CSE/O level)

If she attempts the higher and is panicked by harder questions she could end up with a U if she doesn't reach the 4. (This will be recorded on the tables.)

If she does the foundation she will have easier questions (although will need to get more right to get a 5/4), and the safety net of the rest of the grades before a U. (This result will also be recorded in the same tables.)

It is in the school's interests for your daughter to get as high a grade as possible. The results of the foundation and higher paper will be recorded together.

oddboots - private schools often don't take part in the Progress 8 league tables as many/most of their intake will not have done KS2 SATS

Thanks AlexanderHamilton , I thought that was the case but as the OP mentioned league table I thought maybe some private schools opted in, sorry if I was wrong on that. I guess there is probably a separate league table for private schools.

They just report 90% of pupils attained A or above etc.

Not sure why they are pushing for this now. She won't be entered for the tier until next March. We make our decisions as late as possible as a year is a v long time with teens. So for now I'd tell them Higher - they can change to F if needed next year. I say Higher as then they are more likely to teach her the harder stuff in Year 11.

SineoftheTimes I hadn't realised that if you didn't get a grade 4 on a higher paper that meant an Unclassified grade? That's a bit worrying, with this year's Maths exam.

I thought Higher tier maths went down to a 3?

OP - say Higher at this point, but be prepared to switch next spring. Easier to drop down, but once she's in a Foundation class it'll be so much more difficult to change that.

Higher was changed to include a 3.

The girls were shown the foundation maths paper and the higher maths paper to help them decide what level to go for.

One of my friend's sons was changed to foundation the week before he sat his exam, so I think schools are constantly reviewing what's best for the particular pupil. Also, my daughter has just sat the new English and Maths exams - from what I can gather they were much harder than previously, so maybe some schools are reviewing things. Eng Lang wasn't too bad, Eng Lit asked them to write about a couple of lines no one could remember as they were so insignificant and Maths was appalling - teachers slated it on here and some of the ones locally who've had a go at doing the odd question and it's taken them 20 mins, so bearing in mind they had 20 questions and 90 mins they don't stand a chance with hard questions.

In theory you can get a 3 on a foundation paper but the paper doesn't cover the full range of '3' - if you get a 3 then it means you were a mark or two off a 4, any less than that and you get ungraded.

Now they say that for sure she can have a go at the higher tier but they have terrified her about it so she is too scared to go for it. Private education? Don't bother!