DD Maths GCSE Grade 3 - yet again.

[chocolateface]

DD has just competed a BTEC with Triple Distinction Star and is about to start a degree in an arts subject. She's also retaken Maths GCSE and got another Grade 3 (she was one of the years that didn't take GCSE, was awarded a 3, took the exam on the Autumn of 2021, then again in the summer of 2022 and 2023. She's had three hours of maths a week at college, but I don't think a lot of learning went on and she's had a weekly tutor (who seemed very good) for an hour a week since January 2021.

I'm not sure what the best advice to give her now. Should she go to evening classes as the college local to her Uni -if so this year, or next year? Part of me thinks she should just crack on, but it could be too much on top of moving away, having a part time job (shes already secured it) starting a degree course and maybe she should wait a year. Is functional skills Maths respected in the real world, or is it a tick box qualification for employers to say all their employees are competent to a certain level?

Do I just leave it and think if she really wants a Maths qualification she'll do when she's ready.

Yesterday there were tears because she doesn't think she'll ever be employable. DH said in his line of work nobody cares about Maths GCSE, once you have a degree and a bit of experience. I'm not sure how true that is. All I could come up with yesterday is that not having Maths GCSE will save her from going into teaching.

Bless her ❤️

I also got a D (in those days) grade in Maths twice before giving up.

I have a degree, a post grad diploma and a masters now. I also work in psychology which can be sort of maths-ish, it’s never been an issue. I’ve never been asked about my GCSEs.

I don’t know how different it is now, but I imagine not especially.

I suppose it could be worth appearing, although maths is probably more straightforward to mark than other, wafflier subjects.

I have a degree and postgraduate stuff and no maths gcse (O level in my day). I regret very much not getting maths but don't think functional skills around in my day.
Due to applying for a TA job maths needed and so at nearly 50 did functional skills level 2. I so wish I had done it earlier. First maths qualification I passed.

A lot of jobs say maths gcse or equivalent. Level 2 functional skills seen generally as equivalent...

DD is same age. She only sat it 'properly' this year and got a 3.

From my looking, the Functional Skills maths has a slightly reduced syllabus, it takes out the more esoteric things like trig and angles of a polygon and algebra, but questions are quite wordy.

So for my dyslexic DD who struggles with units and time more than algebra I'm not convinced it is the best switch. But dependent on what your DD struggles with, it might be.

How far off was she? DD was 10 marks below a 4 but 28 above a 2. If she'd had stamina to stay in exams for more than an hour she might have been OK.

I think it is worth getting at some point, but maybe a break unless she is keen?

One of my nephews really struggled with maths GCSE, and while he was working at McDonalds part time, they offered him the chance to do functional maths through them. He passed it, and it hasn't held him back from getting a degree and very good, competitive jobs since.

@TeenDivided Hello! I recently looked for your thread on BTECs but couldn't find it (I've name changed back to an old name for this thread). It's blood brilliant that your DD got a 3. I think my DD was 13 marks off a 4. She can do maths that she's taught, but is very dyslexic so wordy questions aren't easy. It's the non calculator questions that seem to trip her up- the ones that I consider basic intelligence and you either know it or you don't, but it's not Maths you need to be taught to understand. She's not daft in RL, so I don't understand why she finds it so difficult. I'm also not convinced she'd find functional skills easier than GCSE. Oddly she's very good at things like timetables and learnt to tell the time easily. She's on a waiting list to be assessed for ADHD, so that possibly might be a factor. I think maybe she just can't do exams for some reason. She has a handful of decent GCSEs that do reflect where she was working in class, but we'll never know what she would have actually got if she'd had to sit down in an exam hall.

@JudyGemstone - what a lovely post, thank you. I will pass on your success story to DD.

@CMOTDibbler - that's interesting about your nephew- DD is also working at McDonalds, so I might ask her if she knows about functional skills being available through them. Although it's all very automated these days, so I don't think she would ever have to use much Maths!

If she already has a place at uni then it doesn't matter if she wants to wait a while? She could do it at any age and her course choice suggests it won't play a big part in her future? I failed my maths GCSE, I just miss it off my CV altogether and no one has mentioned it yet!

Thank you. Yes DD did well to sit the exams and get a 3, but of course it isn't a 4 yet. I am pondering asking the exams officer for a copy of the scripts (you can get them for free these days) to see where DD went wrong but I think it might just depress me when I find simple mistakes. DD struggles with the non calculator paper too but also times tables, and remembering how many seconds in a minute

A triple D-star is absolutely fabulous, you must be extremely proud.

@chocolateface I think they have opportunities for all employees to get qualifications free of charge, nothing to do with needing them at work

I didn't pass my maths GCSE until looooong after my degree. I was 28 in fact.

I didn't even sit a GCSE maths exam until that point as I point blank refused (and even when they made me take maths GCSE as part of my A-Levels I dropped it after a few months because I thought I was so bad at it (I'm not it just turns out I needed a good understanding teacher and sadly didn't get that until I was much older).

I would encourage her to work on her degree and revisit maths at a later date.

If it is the non-calculator paper that DD struggles with have you thought about IGCSE? Although it won’t work if, like Teen’s DD, DD struggles with stamina.

Have you thought of having it remarked to see if it bumps her into a 4

I think it’s worth looking into functional maths.
My DS is going into year 11 and has already passed level 1 in Maths and I’m hoping he passes level 2 this year. It takes the pressure of his maths GCSE as he will have an equivalent pass.

I'd suggest having a go at Functional Skills. I believe there's a lot more flexibility about when and where you can take it and how you study. It might boost her maths confidence and she could always have another go at GCSE after getting her Functional Skills if she wanted to.

I would have asked for a review if it had been 2 or 3 marks out. But the chances of marking errors on a maths GCSE is very low, as it isn't subjective like eg English.

I'm Scotland but I don’t have Higher maths. I was terrible at maths and didn't see the point in taking a subject I was doomed to fail. I have a degree and am looking at masters. Maths isn't everything.

Is it the foundation paper that she took?.
Does anyone think its easier to get a 4 in the higher than foundation? Can u choose if you have to resit? I know its a lot harder but this year 47 out of 240 gives you a 4.
My ds got 72 marks which was still a 4 however I think for him higher was still the best option.

My nephew got a 3, retook got a 2 . His tutor suggested swapping to igcse and it was the wordiness of the questions rather than the maths that was a problem , he took an igcse and got a 5.

Totally this. I’ve taught functional skills English and a level 2 is accepted as a pass (4) for access courses/uni courses etc. You can take it online, chunked into different sections and in English, can carry forwards the unit marks for the components you pass, even if you muck one section up. You can do it privately - google passmarks

iGCSE for a dyslexic student might well be a good idea if it is less wordy.
I'll have a look for DD at some point.

@TeenDivided if stamina is a problem for DD IGCSE may not be a good choice because of longer papers. Edexcel is 2 papers, both 2 hours and a calculator is allowed for both. CAIE is currently 2 papers for the core assessment. One paper is 1hr and the other 2hrs. Although, this is changing, not sure when maybe after next year.

As she’s dyslexic she can apply to have a reader in her exam - it can be read several times - she can also use a pen that reads for her or have pDF versions of the exam with a built in reader.

She needs to be taught to draw the questions out so she can confirm her understanding - a lot of those questions are practice. She needs visual learning.

Well she definitely couldn't do a 2hr exam right now, if ever. So that rules that out I think. Even with a reader which she gets.