GCSE tuitions or mock exams or practice exam techniques

[NoviceBuyer2022]

Hi all please can you advise how to prepare my son for GCSE . Now in year 9 . Getting confused on Which tutor to engage and if there are any mock tests available like 11+
in year 9 he got around 70% to 75% and school said this is the first time they were checked against GCSE criteria so really worried
please advise if any good and experienced tutors which you would personally have found to have helped around Coventry / Solihull/ Leamington spa / Stratford upon Avon etc in Warwickshire

You need all of the above. Practice, practice, practice.

He's in year 9, why are you so worried if he's already getting 70-75%. To be honest the % doesn't matter its what garde that would equate to so let's say. AQA higher papaer Maths 2023 grade boundaries (this is all revent) 77% would have been an 8, so he's already aiming at a 7. He's 2 years away from his GCSE'S and with lots of work and plenty of practice he could get higher.

Oh and that's maths 75% in some of the science subjects would already be a 9. Have school said he's not achieving? Is there a reason why you are so worried this early on?

You need to understand what the school grading scheme means before getting worried.

70-75% in actual GCSEs translates to a really good grade in lots of subjects. However, it's unikely that he was graded against GCSE criteria as in most subjects he simply won't have started/done enough of the syllabus. It's only subjects like maths and English where it makes much sense.

I would talk more to his teachers to understand if there is any real cause for concern and to understand what areas to focus on.

Have the school given any predicted grades yet? Which sets is he in? What kind of results does the school usually get?

The only subjects I would consider a tutor in now would be maths and English if you have reason to believe he is at risk of failing, eg a 4 (just pass) or below.

There are past papers online but zero point looking at them until syllabus mainly taught , so in y11.

If once we'll in to y10 there is a specific subject issue then consider a tutor for that.

Set up good habits in y10, revise for tests, make revision notes at the end of topics.

He will get plenty of mock exams at school.

Y9 is way too early to be stressing about any of this.
If he is really struggling with maths, then look into a tutor, but I wouldn't be worried about anything else at this stage.

Those marks are really decent at this stage.

Am struggling to understand what you are concerned about. He's only in Year 9 so presumably hasn't even started the GCSE syllabus yet.

They haven't covered the content they will be assessed on for GCSEs in year 9 so predicting off GCSE papers is unreliable. The only content DCs touched on in year 9 was some of the science syllabus and one topic in History.

The best advice is over the summer that he reads the English Literature books and looks over the poems they will study. DCs had a CGP book for the poems that broke down the form, structure, language etc and walked them through structuring a response. Also look at an English Language paper with the mark scheme to again see what they are looking for, what gets marks.

They will be taught this in school too. For History mine had WAGOLLs (What A Good One Looks Like) for each question as they are worth different marks. Ds2 got 100% in History because of this format in years 10 and 11 and a 9 at GCSE.

Thank you, I have been going in circles trying to figure out where to start and this set things out quite clearly.

So Year 9 exams are not mocks, really Year 10 or 11 that it starts to matter?