Foundation GCSE maths

[Socrossrightnow]

Ds goes to a grammar school. He has always struggled with maths. His gained a 4 in his recent mocks results.He then had to do a foundation paper in lesson and got a 5. The school has now decided he will sit the foundation paper. In lessons this week he worked with 2 other students doing worksheets on work already covered as the rest of class are being taught syllabus for the higher paper. I’m a little disappointed that we haven’t been involved in the discussion but not sure if this normal practice. He will be starting extra paid tutoring in January to help him so wanted to wait a bit longer to see if this could bring his grade up a bit. Just wanted to know really if others think it would be best to stick to foundation paper.

Does he need any higher than a grade 5? A secure pass on Foundation is far better than just failing on higher.

I agree with @titchy

I used to work in a school and where parents pushed for their children to sit the higher paper, it was normally misguided because the school know the child's ability better than the parent. They see how they perform in class as well as tests.

You acknowledge that he has always struggled at maths and as titchy says, a secure pass on Foundation is far better than just failing on higher.

It's not really worth taking the higher paper unless the student is likely to get a 6 or above (too much danger they may get no grade).

Getting a 4 in mocks (presumably recently) and struggling with maths is indicative of the foundation being a better fit. It will also take the pressure off and give him more time to focus on other subjects. Yes, it's normal for teachers to make the decision about which tier of paper a student will sit.

As titchy says, the main decider would be if he "needs" a higher grade for whatever he's planning to do next.

In most schools students who are borderline between higher and foundation will do both papers in a mock. Then it’s really clear which one they are suited for.

he’s done much better on foundation.

it is the school’s decision. They’ll take parental input (sometimes, and if it’s sensible) but it’s worth being aware that students can fall “off the bottom” of the higher paper and get a U.

Only worth doing higher if a good chance of a 6.
If he only needs a 4 or 5 then foundation would be safer. Doing higher he could end up with a 3.
If you get a tutor and they make a big impact you could discuss changing up tier later. Assume they will be doing second mocks?

Ps It doesn't say on the certificate which tier was sat.

Thanks so much for everyone’s input. He needs a 5 to stay on for sixth form and at the end of the day we would be happy with a 5. Just was wondering if it was the normal for schools to make this decision but will see he how he gets on with his tutor next term.

Naturally it is the school who decides which tier the pupils sit. And they do have their best interests at heart so will decide foundation tier is best when there is a very real possibility that if the pupil sits the higher paper, they may not get a pass.

The higher paper is much harder (though you don't need to get as many questions right).

In my experience always the school which makes the decision. They are far better equipped to decide than the parents or students.

He then had to do a foundation paper in lesson and got a 5.

If we had someone sitting foundation who got a grade 5 at this point in Y11 we would give them the opportunity to study higher content and try the higher paper, to see if they can push to a 6, otherwise what is the point of the rest of Y11? We have a second set of mocks in March after which we would make the final decision.

However, was it a foundation paper from the same set of mocks he sat the higher paper in, in which case he had already sat a quarter of the paper before as the same questions appear on both papers. This could account for the higher grade. Also he didn't sit the full set of papers in exam conditions.

Was the 4 he got on the higher paper in proper test conditions a high 4 or a low 4?

Agree with @noblegiraffe – a 5 at this point in year 11 might lead to a possible H paper as a 6 would seem reasonable. But yes, if this was the F paper when he had done the H version in the mock, the 5 is a bit of a misleading grade, perhaps.

I am sure you understand @Socrossrightnow but just in case, the H paper includes much harder questions designed to test those who will gain grade 8 and 9. So if you are working at a grade 4-5 then a lot of it is just inaccessible. That can be very dispiriting. Whereas with the F paper the questions are aimed at those who will achieve a grade 1-5; some will seem very easy and overall the confidence thus gained by a strong F candidate like your DS IME (of MFL tbf but the principle is the same) can lead them to do better than they do with the H paper.

As @TeenToTwenties says, the certificate just lists the grade, not which paper was sat. If he needs a 5 for sixth form, on present showing he is more likely to get that on F than H. What are his sixth form choices? Anything where maths is needed (think sciences or psych)? If not then I would say F paper all day.

And yes it is usually the school that makes this decision, maybe in consultation with the student; I knew a very pragmatic and practical YP who took F German bc they knew they would not need it post-16 (sitting science and tech A levels), they had looked at the paper and realised they could do well, and it took the pressure off. They were probably capable of a 6 but tbh I admired their ability to assess and judge the situation.

DS dropped down and got a comfortable B (we’re in Wales). He’d regained his confidence in maths after the decision was made and was relaxed taking the exams. I’m not sure that he’d have passed the higher paper.

A B grade was more than enough for his next steps at college.

We were in the position last year of having to decide whether to do Higher or Foundation for Maths.

DD was working at an 8 in class but getting 3s in mocks. Brought in tutor, maths teacher fully involved and very helpful. Got to the point where she was getting high 5s on Foundation and a mix of 5s and 6s on the Higher.

The final decision was to put her in for the Higher and hope she pulled off the 6 or even a 7.

The Higher papers were horrible. The Foundation papers were nice.

DD ended up with a solid 4.

Her entire class were oddballs who should have been getting higher grades than they were, and teacher trying to suss the issue. They were fairly equally divided between Higher and Foundation on the day.

The kids sitting Foundation in that class all came out with 5s, the kids sitting Higher mainly came out with 4s or 5s.

If I could turn back the clock, she'd be sitting the Foundation papers. Certificates don't indicate which paper was sat.

ETA: At DD's school the decision was made with considerable input from teacher, student and parents as to the best paper to sit. They ran multiple extra mock exams with both tiers of papers before making final choice.