Maths GCSE resit - how does it work?

[tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz]

Hope someone wise can shed some light as school are avoiding the question ...

DD hoping to stay on for 6th form and fingers crossed she will be ok for required grades EXCEPT there's a chance she won't get the 5 needed in maths. A levels she's look at are English Lit, History, Media and sociology.

How do resits work? Some sources I've found googling suggest she has to gain the required maths pass in November before even starting A's?

Do they have actual maths lessons or are they expected to study by themselves? Are they just limped on with Y11 until exam?

Also - worse case scenario I know but what happens if they fail resit? Does it mean game over for A's?

As I say school are avoiding the question but I don't want to leave it until end of August. Realise this all predicates on schools discretion to allow her on course without maths 6 which they judge on the old case by case basis.

Thanks all

It’s weird that the school aren’t telling you as it’s quite useful information to know!

Most schools will run a GCSE resit class just for 6th formers (staff permitting!) and will enter students for the November resit. Results come out in January and if they still haven’t passed would sit again in June.

With your DD’s choices I’m surprised she needs a 5 in maths. Most schools will want a 4 or above for general entry to sixth form. A 6 or above for science / maths related courses.

Thanks user, I know it would help to know wouldn't it?!! I tried asking the head recently and his useful reply before scuttling off was "we feel it's best to encourage them to be aspirational and sim higher than that 5"

yup, coz for some kids they just need to aspire more.

Anyway that's useful to know. I think from looking at other 6th forms 5 does seem to be the standard even for non maths pathways ,

The elephant in the room ponders what happens if they never get the elusive 5?!! This is a incredibly hard working student but sadly last x 2 mocks have been 2s. And whilst she's studying like a Trojan it's a bloody big leap.

I would not worry too much about what sixth form will do and instead focus on your DD’s maths GCSE and how she can gain a 4 at least – as doing so will make a big difference to her life.

If she is taking A levels she is clearly bright – what sorts if grades is she getting in English and history? If she is at about a 6 or 7, then in a general way a 4 in maths should be achievable. I mean in terms of general intelligence. I hope no one with a DC who has dyscalculia takes offence at this. You say she is working hard – but what is she doing as she works? How well is her work targeted? She must be hitting massive stumbling blocks if she is basically bright but achieving a 2 in maths.

(I am assuming you have looked into specific difficulties with numbers, such as dyscalculia mentioned above).

So what I would do is this:

Sit down with her and a foundation maths GCSE paper – get her to do the paper while you time her, under exam conditions. If you can, observe how she is – does she panic? Does she spend ages on one question? Does she skip about in the paper? Does she leave a lot unfinished?

The go through the paper with her and see what she would have scored and where she dropped marks. It seems unlikely to be a processing issue or poor timekeeping if she is doing OK in other subjects. Eng lang for example is very fast paced and demanding in those terms.

So where can she pick up marks? Are there gaps in terms of specific maths topics? Or is it about how she is tackling the questions in general? Does she need to practise the basics? Is she floored by the word questions and struggling to see what the sum is?

I realise you are not a maths expert (I assume) but I am sure you can tackle an F maths GCSE paper, especially as the mark scheme is online too.

I know this all sounds a bit helicopter and some DC (mine!) were not fans of this approach, but for targeted intervention it is valid She has two months to turn this around. That’s doable if she is bright and keen. Best of luck.

The govt requirement is that she needs a 4 not to have to resit. That the school says a 5 is down to their choice and it seems like it would be odd to restrict entry to those A-levels based on her maths result.

Generally a pupil resitting maths would do this alongside their A-levels, not before. Resits are in November but results aren’t till January. There are normally resit classes for sixth form, not with Y11. If she doesn’t get the grade she can resit again in June.

The school can, however, deny admission to sixth form completely if they have specified a 5 as the entry requirement.

Some schools will deny entry to those who haven't got at least a 4, so that they don't have to run a resit class.

"The go through the paper with her and see what she would have scored and where she dropped marks. It seems unlikely to be a processing issue or poor timekeeping if she is doing OK in other subjects. Eng lang for example is very fast paced and demanding in those terms.

So where can she pick up marks? Are there gaps in terms of specific maths topics? Or is it about how she is tackling the questions in general? Does she need to practise the basics? Is she floored by the word questions and struggling to see what the sum is?"

This, also look back at any previous paper she has sat including any year 10 ones and look at where she "lost" marks, actually you start every paper at zero and gain marks so where could she gain more marks? Hopefully they will have gone over the paper in class so she will have the correct full mark answer usually written in a different pen colour. Give her that same question again, can she now get full marks? Is she learning from it? Identifying what she is missing knowledge on is a great strategy. Best to nail that 5 than have to worry about resits.

So each school runs resits slightly differently but there are some things that are common.

If she does not get a 4 she has to keep taking it until either she does get a 4 or she stops studying or she ages out. I think it is 19 but I could be wrong.

Some sixth forms don't like running resit classes (they take up a whole teacher for very few students) so some sixth forms will not admit you if you have failed either maths or English. This is getting more and more common.

She can do resits alongside a levels but only at the colleges that will accept her.

From 2024 colleges and sixth forms have to provide 4 hours of in person lessons for maths resit students per week. This is expected to lead to more sixth forms refusing to admit resit students. (It'll be hideously expensive).

www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-maths-and-english-condition-of-funding#:~:text=To%20meet%20the%20condition%20of,rata%20for%20part%2Dtime%20students.

If she is currently getting a 2 then this is concerning.

It would be sensible to have a number of options lined up for her that you are sure will take a resit student as it is very rare for a student to go from a 2 to a 4.

Given how her school is reacting I'd suggest it is likely that they don't want to run a resit class next year with the new funding conditions. So if you really want her to go there she'll need a very good tutor.

Once a student achieves a 4 at GCSE English or maths the sixth form will not be funded for a resit. At my sixth form students who arrive with a 4 and want a higher grade would normally be able to pay to resit with us no issue. If they needed a 5 or above to study certain subjects there would have to be a conversation around results/enrolment time as to whether they would be allowed to study that subject. Sometimes there would be the proviso that they have to resit - but this will vary case by case. But certainly some sixth forms would be less accommodating and if the criteria isn't met then unfortunately the student will need to look elsewhere. From the subjects you mention the only one that may require a higher maths grade would be sociology I suspect.

Oversubscribed sixth forms are in a position to be picky unfortunately

Thanks all, some very positive and constructive things here.

@clary thanks this is a very helpful post. In terms of maths yes - we are in the process (and have been since before Christmas) throwing everything at it, so many past papers! She sits down with DH every night religiously for about 30 mins (they call it maths club) and chip away but by bit. She's definitely getting better at working out what maths she needs and the last two papers at home, using last years grade boundaries as guidance she's well into 3s and close to 4s.

Other subjects including English she's doing ok (5/6 last mocks) and her options are ok too. So while she isn't academic she works very, very hard it's just maths has always been an uphill struggle.

I'm ashamed to say I'd not really heard of dyscalculia until recently. I'm a bit scared that it rings some bells but I've let myself be robbed off for years by school saying she's doing ok, don't worry she'll be fine. But it's too late in the day I think to follow this up so we are where we are.

But yes - good call on getting her last paper and seeing where she dropped marks and could she handle those questions now. We'll do that. Thanks 🙏

Thanks noble. That was my worry that they could deny admission. Her second choice is a college where they only need 4 for maths and I'm trying to tactfully keep this option in her head so if disaster (to her, short term at least) occurs she can go into that positively. Just makes me sad that school have not put any interventions in place until the second mock with a 2 despite me being like a dog with a bone that she has been struggling. And that will mean they will potentially not admit her even if all other grades are good.

Cheers String. Yes we're definitely as a team focused on upping that grade.

I'm just a bit of a secret catastrophe planner and like to get myself mentally prepared!

Thanks Octavia. This is helpful to know. And realistic too

Forgot to say she has had a tutor for 18 months now, once a week.

It's also worth learning how to use her calculator.

If she is using a Casio there are a lot of tips and tricks that will help her pick up marks as the calculator will solve it for her.

See

www.pgonline.co.uk/landing/top-5-calculator-hacks/

insights.gostudent.org/en/gcse-calculators

Thank you

I'm very glad we have a plan b option which asks for 4 and states if not achieved they would get her to resit.

Plan B isn't her preference but it's still a good one.

Everyone has been so helpful thanks. Slightly depressing reading it's fair to say but hey ho

Also

shows how to use a Casio to solve equations.

Doh

I'm sorry I didn't mean to use quote in all those replies

Oooh Octavia thanks, those are really helpful.

OP, there's still time but it will take real effort- my DD got a low 4 in her mocks but ideally needs a 6 to stay at her school sixth form.

We have:

Engaged a maths tutor once a week - will move to twice a week after Easter until beg. of June (paper 3 is about a month after paper 1 - all the points count).

We're using mathsgenie and cornet maths 5 a day. The Corbett maths revision cards are amazing.

The maths tutor on YouTube - talks through papers, questions and mark schemes.

Practice. Your DD sounds like mine- good with words. This isn't helpful in maths, you need to practice the logical steps to get to the answer (and get points for working out). The only way to learn this if you're not naturally numerate is to practice and create muscle memory that isn't there right now.

Getting a 5 on a foundation paper is actually quite difficult - the grade boundary is around 75%. A grade 2 is around 30%. By comparison you can get a 5 on a higher paper with around 33% and a 6 with 47% meanings more than half the paper is grade 7-9 material which can be demoralising/throw kids off.

Good luck OP, I know how stressful this is for parents let alone the kids!

I don’t have any further suggestions, you are doing everything I’d suggest but I wanted to show some solidarity. DS sat his GCSE’s last year, maths was always his nemesis, bottom set and 1’s in the November and February mocks. I arranged tutoring from Feb til May once a week for maths but also once a week for English, chemistry, physics and biology. This definitely helped overall.

He achieved a 4, and was further towards the grade boundary for a 5 than a 3.

He got a 2 and 3 in English lang mocks, despite achieving a 6 in English Lit in yr10, but went on to get a 6 in the actual exam.

He is now doing well with 3 A levels in his sixth form who had been saying they would need to ‘see’ how he did.

Wishing you all the luck, this time last year was hard!!!!

If she’s been having a tutor for 18 months, and doing 30mins a day with your DH, and still at the 2-3 grade, then my honest opinion is she is going to struggle to get up to a 5 now in the next couple of months. Whether it’s dyscalculia or something else, who knows. Sounds like the school haven’t been great, or honest with you.

You admit she’s not very academic but works very, very hard. Is she sure A-levels are right for her? English mocks at grade 5/6 would suggest she will struggle with English Lit A-level.

A-levels are such a jump from GCSE and I wonder whether gently suggesting alternative courses might be worthwhile?

Just remembered, I increased subject tutoring to twice a week in line with the exam schedule, I think he had 3 sessions of maths one week in half term before one paper. This definitely helped.

Cheers black bean yea she is definitely better with words!!

Great suggestions thanks and they have started Corbett and that maths tutus looks good on YouTube too.