Maths gcse boundary grades

[hmmwhatatodo]

Hello, I’m trying (and failing) to get my head around the complicated system for working out approx marks needed to get certain grades.

Studying gcse maths foundation with edexcel can anyone tell me approximately how many marks out of 240 will be needed to secure the equivalent of an old c. Or if anyone can tell me how many marks to gain a 4 or 5 grade? I think I saw that 122 were needed to get grade 4 in the exams last year but I may be misinterpreting the data.
Thanks in advance!

50% at 3-5 not 505

Yes, the papers start off easy and get harder.

Ah yes they certainly seem to start off easier if you look at practice papers, also the questions towards the end are worth more marks generally.

Noble- can you please tell me the best way to revise for the new maths GCSE. ?
My dd is finding it difficult to revise maths due to the lack of past papers

The exam boards put out loads of practice papers, so not past papers because they haven’t been sat, but for the new syllabus - the school should be able to provide these in lieu of past papers.
If not, then there are some ‘fake’ papers here: crashmaths.com/gcse-practice-papers/ (grade boundaries totally unscientific so take with a pinch of salt).

Best way to revise maths at this point is to do a paper, mark it, identify weak topics, then put in some work specifically on those topics - corbettmaths videos and worksheets are good for these corbettmaths.com/contents/ and there are some exam questions by topic here: justmaths.co.uk/2015/12/21/9-1-exam-questions-by-topic-higher-tier/
And here for foundation justmaths.co.uk/2015/11/29/9-1-exam-questions-by-topic-foundation-version-2/

Just to keep maths ticking over, 5-a-day problems are quite good corbettmaths.com/5-a-day/gcse/

Thanks so much Noble.
Your ears must be burning, I have been singing your praises to my dd

Last summer the Edexcel maths grade boundaries were (marks out of 240)
Foundation:

4 122
5 158

Higher:
4 41
5 68
6 96
7 124
8 157
9 190

that's more like what I had heard - thanks. Were they igcse or just gcse

That was GCSE.

Anyone know what the igcse were or might be ?

For DS1 mocks it was 9 - 92%; 8 - 80%; 7 - 69%; 6 - 58%; 5 - 48%; 4 - 40%.

This year is the first cohort to sit iGCSE Maths so no grade boundaries. It is easier than GCSE so expect higher %.

IGCSE is not easier than gcse.

And its been around for ages

For 9-1 grading is the first year. I oversaw the change to the new GCSE as HoD in a state school two years ago and now taking the first cohort through the new iGCSE in an indie, I can tell that it is easier than the new GCSE.

My dd is doing Edexcel GCSE, please tell me it isn't hard.
I've downloaded the syllabus and will support with resources, not sure dd will have much time for extra though. Obviously homework is a must and compulsory.
I know I sound like a 14 year old, but it's good to know what others think about it.

That's annoying as dds school have swapped from IGCSE to the new gcse!

The grade boundaries are set after the exams so if it is hard, it will be hard for everyone. Hence the reason the grade boundaries were so low last year. Personally, I think a grade 7 or above, which is a standard requirement, is good preparation for the new A Level Maths.

Not so sure about iGCSE actually. I know for the old specification, iGCSE and GCSE are very similar standard IMO. I am not a big fan of the new one. I prefer the GCSE but it is still too early to say.

Last year with Edexcel GCSE, you could get a grade 7 with 124, or 52%.

A whisker over half marks for a 7.

That means that there is a lot of material you don't know or get wrong - which may not be a good start for A level.

TheFrendo

I can assure you my dd won't be looking at continuing to A level.
I'm just going to have to make sure she puts in the extra when and where she can. Although just over 50% does sound great for a level 7.
I suppose we'll know more when they have completed the end of year exams. Mine has climbed to around 55% but not on GCSE still completing KS3.

Adding another (badly worded) question! In the foundation paper will there be a lot of grade 5 stuff? And if someone finds grade 5 questions tricky or really tricky is it still possible to come out with a grade 4 from the exam? I guess what I’m asking is, if someone is doing fairly ok with questions up to grade 4 but gets confused with quadratics and simultaneous equations and can’t remember all The formulas for speed and density etc can they just stick to answering the questions up to level 4 (and have a go at the level 5 questions obviously) but still manage to get a grade 4 from the exams?

Sorry if that makes no sense!

50% of foundation is aimed at grades 1-lower 3 and the other 50% is aimed at upper 3 - 5.

To get a grade 4 last year you needed a mark just over 50% so it’s certainly possible to get a grade 4 without covering all the topics and answering all the paper. For students aiming for a 4 it’s more important that they are solid on the basics so that they aren’t losing silly marks at the start of the paper. Make sure they are totally confident in arithmetic, fractions, decimals, percentages, anything to do with ratio, know all their angle rules etc before worrying about hard topics like trigonometry (will take ages to master and will only be worth a few marks tops) or solving quadratics.

Thank you very much for answering, there’s so many topics to remember! And I hear they now have to memorise all the rules and formulas that might once have been given.

Yes, they do have to learn them unfortunately!

Here are the ones they need to know: qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/mathematics/2015/teaching-and-learning-materials/W148-GCSE-Maths-A5-Poster-colour.pdf she only needs the blue ones, green are higher only.

Thank you so much once again.