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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Should dd retake Maths GCSE?

43 replies

Lunificent · 03/03/2022 11:03

She is in year 11 and has taken Foundation Maths early. She found out today that she got a 4 (the lower pass). If she had attained a 5, she would definitely have been able to give up Maths and use her Maths lessons to revise for other subjects. If she had got a 3 she would have continued with Maths and resat it in June.
With a 4, she has the option of giving up or retaking. She would prefer to give up Maths now as she has a pass and would like to revise for other subjects. Also, her A levels choices are not at all Maths based.
However, I think continuing to studying Maths is a good thing, makes you more knowledgable and well rounded and she could get a higher grade. If she progresses well, she might even have the option to take the higher paper.
What would you recommend she does in her situation. Thanks.

OP posts:

Hawkins001 · 03/03/2022 23:20

@Lunificent

She is in year 11 and has taken Foundation Maths early. She found out today that she got a 4 (the lower pass). If she had attained a 5, she would definitely have been able to give up Maths and use her Maths lessons to revise for other subjects. If she had got a 3 she would have continued with Maths and resat it in June. With a 4, she has the option of giving up or retaking. She would prefer to give up Maths now as she has a pass and would like to revise for other subjects. Also, her A levels choices are not at all Maths based. However, I think continuing to studying Maths is a good thing, makes you more knowledgable and well rounded and she could get a higher grade. If she progresses well, she might even have the option to take the higher paper. What would you recommend she does in her situation. Thanks.

If she has uni plans, then I'd retake it when possible

RampantIvy · 03/03/2022 23:25

Why on earth would a school make a child who was borderline in maths and doing a foundation paper take maths GCSE early?

It's madness. If she had had another 6 months she might have achieved a higher grade.

When DD was in year 11 her school only put the strongest students in the top set forward for the January sitting. All but one student achieved an A*, the other one achieved an A. This was in 2016 before the new GCSE gradings.

Original poster

Lunificent · 03/03/2022 23:43

I think the school’s rationale was to give the bottom set the opportunity to get Maths out of the way and focus on other things.

OP posts:

MyDcAreMarvel · 04/03/2022 01:36

@vipersnest1 Unless things have changed very recently, she will be required to retake her maths (and English if relevant to her), up until the age of 18. It's best for her to get it out of the way asap.
No thing has changed it’s a 3 that needs a resit not a 4. A four is a low C.

3WildOnes · 04/03/2022 08:16

@EmpressCixi that doesn’t sound very selective. My child’s sixth form requires a minimum of four grade 7s and a minimum of 6 in English and maths. If you want to study maths a level you need an 8 and for further maths a 9.

Personally I would retake, I think a 4 could hold her back from more competitive universities.

OldNeo · 04/03/2022 08:21

Surely it should be the other way round. If someone gets a 3 in maths then it’s really clear they need to carry on with their maths learning, not give it up!!

LIZS · 04/03/2022 08:22

Has she only been taught Foundation level material? If so there is not much point retaking it to get a 5 as she has passed. If not and she can take higher level the possibility to improve the grade is greater

Troublesometooth · 04/03/2022 08:25

I would speak to the school and ask what they feel her potential is.

I’m guessing they don’t think it’s high as you’ve mentioned bottom set. If a 4 is a good result for her then I would stick with it.

If she has the potential to do better then there is nothing to be lost by having another try.

Bare in mind the highest she can get on foundation is a 5. Aiming for a 6 and so taking higher paper would be unrealistic given that she hasn’t studied any of the content.

ukborn · 04/03/2022 11:53

According to theuniguide.co.uk, unless your child is going into medicine, engineering, accounting or similar a 4 for math is fine, as long as the other GCSEs are higher. As she won't have actually sat her A levels by the time she applies, they look at her predicted grades and her GCSEs as a guide. But having one anomaly is not a problem, as long as that is not necessary for her subject. It would possibly only affect applications to top top universities, but there are plenty that accept a 4. And never heard of having to declare what actual grade you got at GCSE (especially if you've gone on to do A levels, in a job application.
Unless she herself has a burning desire to continue with it I'd drop it.

LadyLazarus40 · 04/03/2022 12:06

@Lunificent

She plans to do History, Politics and Art for A Level and maybe History at university. In her humanities and Art, she’ll probably get between. 7s and 9s. So no Sciences, Economics or Psychology - probably very little Maths involved in her choices.

My dc is doing Politics and Philosophy at Uni - I think all he applied for asked for at least a 6 at gcse in English and Maths so a 4 could well limit her options.

Notcontent · 04/03/2022 12:50

It sounds crazy that someone thought it was a good idea for her to do it early. GCSE maths is hard but with a bit of work I am sure she could have got at least a 5 or a 6.

RedskyThisNight · 04/03/2022 12:55

@Notcontent

It sounds crazy that someone thought it was a good idea for her to do it early. GCSE maths is hard but with a bit of work I am sure she could have got at least a 5 or a 6.

I assume the school felt that getting a pass was all that OP's DD was likely to achieve. And I guess the whole point of this thread is whether a 5 or a 6 opens any doors that a 4 doesn't. I'm not very sure that it does. Well, it precludes further study in maths/science but assuming that is not of interest. And, I guess some very selective sixth forms.

The whole thing is odd though - most schools wouldn't sit their bottom set for GCSE early, as they would need all the time they could get to have any chance of a 4 (actually most schools' bottom set are in line not to get a 4), so OP's DD must be going to at least a mildly selective school - in which case I'm not sure why they wanted it "out of the way" rather than allowing the students to get the highest grade possible.

HSHorror · 04/03/2022 13:41

What were her ks2 maths sat results like? Im wondering if the school think she has made enough progress

CornishGem1975 · 04/03/2022 14:39

We need a minimum of 5 to get into A levels here and some uni courses we have looked at (science-based) ask for a 6 or above if no maths A level. So I guess it depends on what she wants to do, if the subjects she plans to take don't require it, I'd leave it as a 4 is a pass but I'd just be aware that it could be a barrier.

smartiecake · 04/03/2022 15:02

As long as a grade 4 means that she meets the entry requirements for A levels at her chosen 6th/college then I would not bother resitting. If she is bottom set she will only be doing the foundation paper. A 4 is a low C, a 5 is a high C. The highest she can get on foundation paper is a 5. From her A level choices she isn't going to be pursuing a degree that would need Maths or Physics A level and she would have to be doing higher paper and usually achieving at least a 6 to get onto these A levels.
As long as a 4 gets her onto her A levels then leave it, its not much difference between a 4 and a 5.

CornishGem1975 · 04/03/2022 15:06

You could always look at different options for A levels too - our school is a minimum of a 5 but the next closest school accepts a 4..

Original poster

Lunificent · 04/03/2022 18:42

Thanks for all replies, they’re very helpful.

OP posts:

EmpressCixi · 04/03/2022 20:22

[quote 3WildOnes]@EmpressCixi that doesn’t sound very selective. My child’s sixth form requires a minimum of four grade 7s and a minimum of 6 in English and maths. If you want to study maths a level you need an 8 and for further maths a 9.

Personally I would retake, I think a 4 could hold her back from more competitive universities.[/quote]
Whatever. Don’t agree. I’d say more but it would be outing as to where I live, yours may be more selective, but doubt it’s actually better sixth form in terms of results for Oxbridge.

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