Maths grade 2 needs to get to a 6/7 grade over the 2 years of GCSE

[SoTiredNeedHoliday]

Hi,
I need to help my DS to improve his maths out of sight. Has anyone had their child successfully move from a 2 to a 6/7 in maths through the GCSE course. How did you do it? What help can I put in place?
thx

I’m a bit confused about how his teacher thinks that he is currently working at a 2 but that a 6/7 is achievable. Both of these things cannot be true.

He’s on a 2 now but his teacher thinks he can get a 6/7. That is one hell of a jump. Plus he wants to do A-Level maths?

I’m going to be cruel to be kind- GCSE maths higher papers are hard, the A-Level is way harder. All of ds’s friends who done A/Level maths, were those who got A/A* in their GCSE’s, and some of them slipped down to C grades for A-Level. (I’m in wales so we are still lettered grades, but as an ex teacher I keep up to date still on what’s going).

To get those grades he needs to be working on the more challenging stuff now, not be going over the basics. I would seriously suggest that you don’t build him up with a ‘yes you can get a 6/7’ because you both may possibly be very disappointed. Work as hard as you can to get the basics right, then slowly move up the curriculum. If he doesn’t understand the higher stuff, at least he can score a good mark on the lower. Rather than waste his time going over something that he can not grasp.

Has his teacher said how and what strategies will help him achieve a 6/7 in two years, if he is only getting a 2 now?

A-level maths isn’t the only route to engineering, I know students who went onto a level 3 BTEC in engineering in sixth form who only needed a C in maths.

I've just had a look at our local colleges. for a Level 3 Btec in Engineering most say you need a Grade 5 or a B grade in maths and science.

I'm with noblegiraffe in this one. Unless he has been incredibly laid back and cba about it, I can't see how both can be true. Tips remain the same as up thread. Focus on basics then use foundation mathsbusters intensively. Start now, don't wait for the holidays. Get a tutor asap but he will need to do a lot of work in between tutoring sessions. There is no quick fix.

If your son is serious about this grade he needs to start the work now.

To get a 6 he needs to do the higher tier papers(foundation only go up to a grade 5). With his current low confidence, in my opinion, he will crumble with these higher papers. They are so, so tough.

Use the website called 'maths genie' to work through their GCSE revision topics. There are videos/questions/solutions to work through. Do at least 2 or 3 topics every week. He will then need to do as many past papers as possible... Think about 40 minimum.... That should set him up.

If he is currently at grade 2 there's no way he is ready to tackle higher GCSE papers yet. He needs to work on and be fluent with foundation level material first. If he can get himself to a grade 4/5 on foundation by September then he stands a chance, but that is an incredibly tall order, unless he is actually quite good at maths but been messing about. Which maths set is he in?

There are many roads to get to where you want to go.

Does he want to take an Engineering degree at a top performing university, or does he like figuring out how things work, and likes the idea of designing things?
If the second is the case, then there are many careers that use those skills/ qualities.

What are his strengths?
If he's more creative, then perhaps product design, landscape architecture, architecture etc...

Does he LIKE math? If not then the whole thing may make him completely miserable AND it may detract from getting better grades in his stronger subjects.

Also, there are extended diplomas in Engineering.

There are lots of ways of getting where you want to go......

Maths Genie has topics broken roughly into Grades here: www.mathsgenie.co.uk/gcse.html

Has he covered any of the higher level stuff? My dc in year 9 has, this year done surds, trig, 3D pythagaros and iteration amongst other things. She is a competent mathematician but certainly no genius so I would imagine these are the topics covered at this stage by those looking to achieve a 7+ grade.

thanks all. Some great ideas and balanced opinions !
I'm checking out maths genie too.

What set is he in for maths now?