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Secondary education

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Original poster

Can a school force a student to take GCSE maths again?

11 replies

Maths9 · 22/02/2019 22:54

My ds’s Friend took GCSE maths three years ago in y6 and apparently they are forcing him to take it again under the new system, even though he got an a* back then. Can a school legally do that?

OP posts:
anniehm · 22/02/2019 22:58

They can't force them but if exams aren't taken within a 12 month period many colleges and universities question the results

BertrandRussell · 22/02/2019 23:00

They can’t force him. But his certificate from year 6 won’t count for many things that need GCSE maths today, not least because exams often need to be taken in the same sitting.

Soursprout · 22/02/2019 23:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

unitoast · 23/02/2019 01:00

If he sat the exam 3 years ago it would have been the old specification, so his result would be equivalent to a 7/8. Wouldn't he want to sit the new GCSE to get a 9?

TheFrendo · 23/02/2019 01:06

Maths9,

I assume your friend's child is studying maths at secondary school. If he wants to do A level maths then he would benefit from studying the new specification and taking an exam in it.

noblegiraffe · 23/02/2019 01:17

His old GCSE won’t count for the league tables so if the school don’t enter him it will register that he has failed maths.
If he takes AS maths or further maths (not A-level) then that will count instead of GCSE.

However it’s in his interests to take the new GCSE as it’s different to the old one so he should get it out of the way. If he’s that good at maths it will be a minor diversion.

TeenTimesTwo · 23/02/2019 09:07

I do wonder why his previous school thought it was a good idea to take the GCSE in y6. There would maybe have been better ways they could boast about him or give him a challenge. So much maths not in GCSE he could have wandered in to.

MarchingFrogs · 23/02/2019 09:09

Presumably the school isn't let him not attend Maths lessons(??), so is it really such a big deal to take the exams along with the rest of his cohort?

Original poster
Maths9 · 23/02/2019 10:03

thanks for your replies. It seems that the general consensus is that the school can’t force him but it would be in the best interests of the child to do it again. As far as I’m aware, the parents put him in to do the GCSE in year 6, not the school

OP posts:
CountNaught · 23/02/2019 10:05

His A* won't count in the league tables for the school, only exams taken on the 9-1 scale. TBF though, it should be a cakewalk for him.

Stickerrocks · 24/02/2019 20:49

Is he interested in taking maths at degree level, given his obvious talent? I believe Cambridge expect you to have taken maths &/or further maths in year 13, because they do not want you to have had a maths free year before university. Perhaps his school fell the same.

Just out of interest, what has he been doing during maths lessons since year 6?

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