AQA Science Foundation - max grade 5?

[PatDuffy]

I've twins, boy and a girl in Year 9.

The boy was in a low maths class, but at the top. Found everything far too easy. I demanded they moved him up, the school argued, I said he'd stay home on days with maths classes. He now has the highest marks in that new class. He's actually pretty capable but lazy - needs more of a challenge.

His sister is now the worry. In year 7 she came second in a race for the entire year (300 kids). They put her in the least capable PE class with kids that hate her. She's also in the least capable science classes. She started secondary with a great attitude, ambitions to go to a good university, she applied herself and, was always studying independently, but always scored low on the actual tests - now she's talking about working in Tescos....The other kids in her class disrupt, argue back to the teacher, and throw things at the her and call her names. Every lesson.

The school have now assigned her in the AQA GCSE Foundation path which basically means she can't achieve more than a grade 5. This seems like a failure of the school saying that "we can't educate her". This has almost destroyed her motivation completely.

So this week she got a Biology mark of 30/40. This was a higher mark than all the kids we know of who are on the Triple Science path....

What I guess I'm asking is, is it ethically correct to effectively tell students, "you must take a reduce content course restricting your grades and outcomes because we are not able to teach you."

Do I have any options to change this?

@xyzandabc With triple, because they are separate GCSEs, you can for example do Higher tier Physics & Biology but Foundation tier Chemistry.

Triple is more flexible in a lot of ways.
My DS was borderline Foundation/Higher as late as February of Year 11 and eventually opted for Foundation in Biology and Chemistry and Higher in Physics.

DD is taking Combined Science and would have liked the option to sit Foundation Physics but Higher in the other two, but it's all or nothing for Combined so she's sitting Higher Combined ie for all papers and hoping her Physics won't drag down her mark too much.

I agree triple is more flexible for tiers, but it is a lot of science! For DD's year the double science did 10hrs a fortnight and triple 14. There is masses of content for triple.

Science which isn't triple science isn't necessarily.foundation. they can sit higher double (combined) science and get two 9 grades.

We have wandered off somewhat from the OP, though hopefully it will provide useful background.

I am concerned about this statement:

The girl is self motivated and studies at least twice as hard as her friends, when they go out, she often chooses to study instead when a test is on the horizon, aside from a few "what's the point." moments. Her friends tend to do better in tests because she makes mistakes

This girl works hard but still does less well than her friends. It is possible she does less well in tests because she makes careless mistakes, or is it equally likely she does less well because despite her hard work she just isn't as able? Or she needs help working smarter not harder.

Same at DC's school - I agree triple is only for those who love science (DD found the 10 hours of combined science too much!)

Agree with what everting says about triple v double science and higher and foundation tiers. It is a bit confusing, but has been explained well. @TeenPlusCat is correct that triple could be taken as a mix of higher and foundation if a student were strong in one science. And Yy you can achieve different grades - ds2 got 7, 8, 9 in his, but in triple most get two identical grades (6-6) or more rarely one grade apart (7-8).

@PatDuffy i agree it is concerning that your dd is struggling even when she does lots of revision. I would look at whether she is revising in the best way, or is she in fact not as able in science as some of her friends?

Massive agree with @noblegiraffe that foundation tier is excellent for the right student. In MFL it can make the difference between “I can’t do this at all” and a grade 3, and “that was actually ok” and a grade 4 or 5.

Is it possible that OP is confusing foundation/higher with double and triple science?

Double Science is 2 GCSEs covering all 3 Sciences

Triple Science is 3 GCSEs covering all 3 sciences

You can be foundation double science or foundation triple science. Maximum grade is 5,5 or 5,5,5.

You can take higher double science or higher triple science. Maximum grade is 9,9 or 9,9,9.

At our school kids choose double science or triple science. Each class has kids who might end up doing higher or foundation but this isn't known until year 11 until child/teacher chooses.

Is it possible that your dd is in double science and comparing test scores with someone in another double science class or a triple science class rather than foundation /higher? It would make sense that all of the double science classes might have the same test.

Is it possible that your dd is predicted a low science grade based on year 6 SATS /year 7 CATS and mistakenly assuming that the computer target generated by that means she's a foundation student ?

I would try and get an appointment/call with her science teacher or the head of science. You need to know:

• Is she in a foundation-only class, or is it just a combined science class and the tier will be decided later?


• If it is a lower set, is there a possibility of moving set if she proves herself?


• What is holding her back? Is it understanding the test questions, doing the maths involved, enough detail in the longer questions? Sometimes reading the stuff isn't enough; you need to be able to explain it.


• What materials would they recommend for working on her science at home? Are there websites they'd recommend or that the school has subscriptions to? Can they make sure she knows which sections of the syllabus they are covering so she can find the relevant revision materials?

@PatDuffy that is a great list of questions from lanthsnum above.

No, I don't believe it's arbitrarily. I believe it's based on ability and interest. Unfortunately, this doesn't allow for students who have had some rough times, and bad luck. I should have clarified that these are not my biological kids. As a result they've had some emotional issues to deal with in the last few years, terrible bullying in school, and placed in classes with sub teachers and a large number of degenerate kids who don't want to learn and are disruptive.

I've a bsc in comp sci. A lot of my friends are physicists, engineers, I'm not blinded to what this girl is capable of, I've seen her work ethic and yes it is harder but I know she is capable. Practically speaking a grade 5 is useless to her in further education, she wants to do BioChemistry.

Some kids are better at science and math because they are more interested. Not because they are not capable. I've yet to meet anyone interested in a subject who is unable to learn it, even if it takes more effort. She wants to reach the moon, I want her to have the chance to do so. Do I think it's reasonable? Yes. What's the drawback here?

a) No chance of obtaining more than grade 5.
b) A chance of obtaining more than grade 5.

There are 300 kids in her year, all of them took an online biology test recently with 550,000 students worldwide. She was one of ten in her year who got a Silver award (two got gold) and this week received a personal handwritten note of congratulations from the headmaster and yet they've placed her in foundation?

Enforcing these restrictions on students who genuinely want to learn these subjects is frankly ridiculous and a failure in education.

Thank you for such a constructive response! That's a great way to clarify. I'm in the middle of doing some of this already but I was taking another approach - I'll adjust my direction in light of your reply. Thanks again.

I believe the struggle is do with with emotional issues she's had and concentration levels. The work she's put in has seems to have enabled her to catch up with what she's missed in class, and she's getting in to her stride in the last month. Verbally she tends to know more than her friends outside the cirriculum but studying for specific tests causes her stress.

Since she wants to do biochemistry at degree a grade 5 would seem to be useless for her and forced to this restriction would simply just destroy her motivation to study. Thanks for the reply. Appreciated.