Help with GCSEs outside of school

[GCSEase]

Hello all

DS is in Y9 at the local comp. It tries hard but they have so many disruptive kids, that those who want to study are compromised. I have gotten to the stage of feeling like I need to outsource some tutor type help for him to get him through the subjects, but can't afford private tuition, so a looking at group programs, such as Elephant Learning or Ucademy, etc. The latter only offers English, Maths and Science, the former I think is just maths. He does look at Corbett Maths on YouTube which he finds useful.

Can anyone please recommend any resources that would cover all the subjects my son will be taking.

I am looking at past papers too, but they aren't especially user-friendly - I can't yet find a resource that lets him fill in past papers and easily gives him his results, without him having to download the mark schemes and go through everything that way.

Thanks in advance.

Ex teacher here who also home educated 2 DS through GCSEs.

Mark schemes are your best friends. Once my DS had learnt how to mark their own papers with them, it made GCSE preparation much easier.

The mark schemes also give a great idea of the types of answers that are required to achieve marks.

Both DS went on to 6th form after doing GCSEs home educated and found they were better equipped for A level exam preparation than their peers who had done GCSEs at school.

I think the numerous exam papers of their own that they had marked themselves helped hugely.

Thanks so much for your reply, appreciated.

Is there an easy online version of mark schemes, or are they all PDFs that are a little bit unwieldy/may need printing out?

Did you not use any of the online group tutor clubs (such as the ones I mentioned, also looking at BrightTeach)? I am not a teacher and am feeling a little bit overwhelmed, I already don't know the stuff he's learning, despite getting decent grades back in the day (long time ago). I also think he needs a bit of a push, which is why I am considering a group tutor type thing, as otherwise he gets a bit distracted.

I've used my tutor.co.uk with great success for my dc.
But obviously the more experienced the tutor absolutely the number of subjects could be £££££

The obvious (free) resource is Oak Academy.

Yes, nearly all mark schemes are pdf's - so they can't readily be changed by folk other than the exam board.

Are you sure printing gcse papers and mark schemes in Y9 is the right way to go? I mean, my y9 has been told they will sit a gcse paper "for fun" in maths next week - but they are the top set. I wouldnt expect many y9 to be able to do full exam papers in many other subjects.

You could probably get a tutor to mark the exam papers?

Or companies like CGP do work books and text books for each subject. Do check if you are buying a work book with or without answers tho!

Thank you. I was not really looking at private tutors due to the costs. I just had a look, and it's hard to get availability to match ours.

In the run up to exams a lot of schools will do study sessions after school. Have you let his teachers know he is keen, and you're worried about his progress? Even if they're just aware of this it is likely to increase his support in class.

The school will have told your child how the mark scheme works so let them make their own papers.
Or buy the workbooks from the exam board for each subject and get them to work through them. This really helped my DS.

Thanks - checking out Oak now.

No, I am not re GCSE mark papers, but if it was a way to learn, then that seems reasonable.

I do have some CGP workbooks, but I think he may benefit from a human (even if online) pushing him a bit.

I have not - teacher/parent meeting last month they all did identify him as keen and capable. But there is just so much noise from some of the other children, that teaching is half about crowd control.

Thanks. Good advice.

It depends, DS2 did his first GCSE (home educated) when he was 13 and started learning how to use Mark Schemes at that age.

You can just read the PDF online. Or get a very cheap to run printer like the Epson Ecotank where the ink costs virtually nothing, then you can print papers and mark schemes as much as you like.

With 2 DS doing all GCSEs while home educated and then 4 A levels each at 6th form, as well as DS2 currently doing practice STEP papers as he has an offer for Maths at Cambridge, our printer has been very well used and well worth the initial cost.

Wow, amazing - well done him!

How do you 'use' mark schemes - do you just mean looking at the answers? I have only looked at maths so far, so they are either right or wrong!

@Netcam that was very lazy typing from me. I was thinking about kids who have been folllowing a school curriculum wouldnt be ready for many gcse papers. Those that have learnt material to the right level are ready - but a child following the national curriculum is unlikely to have covered the content.

If your child can learn to mark their own it’s great for narrowing down tricky areas. In the meantime MarkMyPapers will do it for you. As a home ed mum, I’ve not used them yet but have heard good things.

No they aren't.

That's why the scheme will tell the marker what they can give credit for. Eg if you use the correct equation but miss a decimal point or something you still get marks.

Onmaths have self marking papers

thanks, looks good. I just tried to answer a few questions, my goodness, it's hard!

I think the maths ones are good to start with, right or wrong answers are definitely easier to mark.

It's useful to see how different marks are allocated for different parts of the question. The marking scheme has an explanation at the beginning which describes how it works. It might seem a bit complicated at first, but once you learn how it works, it can be really useful.

Once you know how to mark your own papers, it is useful to go through and identify why marks were lost and exactly what mistakes were made to improve for the next paper.

In Maths the marking scheme explanations of the different methods of answering a question are also helpful to look at, particularly if the student didn't know how to answer it.

You can also find You Tube videos of teachers who go through GCSE Maths papers and explain the methods used. You might not want to watch the whole video, but if a particular question has been difficult, the explanation can be helpful.

I also really recommend Maths Genie for exam practice. They have a huge number of exam style questions for each topic with sets of model answers that can be used for marking, which are easier to read than the marking scheme. These questions are also ordered by grades up to 9, so you can start with the easier ones and move up. Maths Genie is my favourite maths GCSE resource and it's free. It also has really good videos for each topic.

The marking schemes for other subjects where an answer is not right or wrong are especially helpful for looking at examples of what is required for a question and how marks are allocated for particular points made. It can help the student structure answers to correspond with what the marking scheme is looking for.

Would these mark schemes or resources mentioned be a good idea for subjects like History and Geography?

My DS didn't do geography or history by choice. But they did Economics and Environmental Management which had structured written answers which were expected in a particular format and we found the marking schemes helpful for.

To be honest we used them for all the subjects they took, I think because we were home educating and some of the GCSEs my DS took were as new to me as they were to them, they were essential for our learning.

DS1 even did GCSE Chinese and got a grade 9 and none of us knew any Chinese before he started and he mainly self studied. It would have been impossible for us to mark practice papers without the mark schemes.

Thank you. Have I missed a link or website? Would they be found on the examining board site?

YouTube has lots of teachers walking through exam papers and providing excellent content but you need to stick to the correct exam boards because each one structures their questions differently, I am talking about other subjects.

I will list off the ones mine used.
Free Science Lessons, Primrose Kitten for science,
Mr Salles, Stacey Reay for English (Mr Salles books were the key to acing Eng Lit)
Gerard O'Toole History, a bit of a character but brilliant
Craig n Dave Computer Science

What also helped, watching films that take place at the same time as poems were written to get an understanding of Britain. Watching the play or film of the books they study for English lit. Plays are not meant to be read, they are meant to be watched. Audio books to play as you read along helps the words sink in better.

In all honesty you need to make time for this to help him. Read the entire mark scheme, not just the answers part. A massive part of GCSE success is knowing what gets marks and for things like English and History the Assessment Objectives shortened to AOs in the answers part.

We used MarkMyPapers as a one-off and thought it was great. IIRC it was about £30 for one English Language mock, where DC and I were very unconfident of applying the marking scheme correctly. The targeted suggestions for improvement were great. (Not that DC actually used those suggestions: having been reassured that they were easily on track for the mark they wanted, they stopped working altogether 😂and I had to bite my tongue and remind myself that it's their life and not mine!)

Here's the feedback my DC was given by MarkMyPapers. I thought it was well targeted.

Paper, Board, Ref: English Language Edexcel IGCSE Option B
Assessment notes:

Q1. 1 mark (out of 1)

Q2. 1 mark (out of 1)

Q3. 5 marks (out of 10) - You need to fully explain how your chosen evidence demonstrates the writer’s ideas and consider specific choices of language/structure. Questions focusing on ‘How does the writer?’ need you to also comment on writer techniques. Consider DAFOREST, direct address, alliteration, facts, opinion, repetition, emotive language, statistics and rule of three. All these technqiues can be used by a writer to convey meaning. For example, statistics give a sense of authority to a piece of writing, direct address makes a reader sit up and take notice, emotive language excites emotion – all these are skills a writer uses to manipulate his reader so ‘HOW?’ questions need to consider the techniques the writer has drawn upon. Also remember PETER – point, evidence, technique, explanation and effect it has on the reader – consider this when structuring your answer then you will fully develop each point you make.

Q4. 1 mark (out of 1)

Q5. 1 mark (out of 2) – you need to make it clear that the ‘high metal gates’ are locked.

Q6. 5 marks (out of 10) – you have picked out some examples of how they might feel such as ‘horrified’ and ‘dazed excitement’ but mostly you have listed evidence without really exploring how this creates an impression or suggests Ashok and Eketi’s feelings. You need more explanation to support and explain your evidence. Once again, think of the techniques a writer uses to control the reader’s reactions.

Q7. 7 marks (out of 15) - You have considered both language choices and structural elements of the two texts as a point of comparison, including identifying some use of rhetorical devices. Well done. You haven’t really stated what your evidence suggests about the writers’ different ideas and perspectives. For every piece of evidence you select consider why the writer has included this and what it suggests about their personal views. Again, when you quote evidence from the text you then need to support it with a developed explanation. Think PETER – it is not enough to think the evidence will support itself. You need to explain why. If you do this your answer will be more developed and improve your mark.

Q8. 7 marks for reading/understanding (out of 10); 8 marks for communication (out of 12) and 6 marks for SPaG (spelling and grammar) (out of 8). You have used devices such as rhetorical questions and direct address to the reader, as well as a variety of sentences and paragraphs. You have addressed all three bullet points integrating these throughout your writing. Include a wider range of persuasive techniques in order to convince your reader of the validity of your viewpoint. Try to include a wider range of vocabulary choices, particularly low frequency lexis (words used less often in speech and writing). I have given a link to a list here. You can’t be expected to know all these words but a few will improve the quality of your writing. Make sure you use them appropriately so try to learn their meanings.
https://www.vocabulary.com/lists/176046Q9.

Q9. 11 marks for communication (out of 20) and 8 marks for SPaG (out of 10). Watch that you don’t miss out small words when you are writing at speed – I know this is difficult but if you have time, check your work at the end of the exam and look out for missing words. You consider the implications of what ‘home’ actually represents giving a range of examples, with some nice points on the importance of family and community. Well done. To develop your response further, you should also consider possible counter arguments to the statement given i.e. when is a home simply bricks and mortar?

Total of 61 marks out of 100 i.e. 61% = Grade 7