Tips to get DD to pass her GCSE

[EnglishbreakfastSunday]

DD going into year 11; doing a reduced number of GCSE. English, Maths, Science and 2 more subjects. She is doing Foundation maths and combined science.

Not much revision going on yet. Predicted grades are on the low passing end, but maths is a 3.

How do we encourage, motivate and support her? she is doing a vocational course and does not need much but needs to pass core subjects.

I don’t think I have the skills, patience or knowledge to teach her or revise with her.

I’m presuming the child has 12 months to work on this. I think she’s going into year 11 in September.

Most jobs require a basic passing maths and English these days. Her future will be very limited if she doesn’t work to pass these exams.

Yes, we still got a year.

I am getting a bit concerned now. We are going to have to throw all the money in tutors and time needed to get her to pass English and Maths.

My apologies

Good habits now will pay dividends later. Just a half an hour here and an hour there. I got DS a subscription for save my exams as well.

is that the case? You continue doing maths until you pass it?

Yes, all the time you are at college. The son of a friend of mine had to retake GCSE maths several times while he was at college. He has dyslexia and never passed it. He is now 20 and has never been able to secure a job.

I agree that doing past papers helps massively. DD did a past paper nearly every day for two weeks before her maths exam. It not only drummed in the exam technique and type of questions, it gave her loads of confidence. When she sat the exams she finished early both times.

I've used revisionmaths.com for Maths past papers and revisionworld.com for English papers - make sure you know the type of of exam board she'll be taking eg. AQQ, edexcel. Personally I've found savemyexams good for English poetry revision (you need to pay for it after a week so I just got what I needed from it before paying) and Bbc Bitesize (free) good for maths revision. We would go through the papers and if a topic was difficult we'd look at it on Bitesize. I made condensed notes for her regarding the texts she was doing (play, novel, poetry) for Literature and on writing techniques for English Language (you're testing on reading and writing). The young person I was helping has come a long way over the past year doing it this way. She is almost finished her exams and is feeling happy so far. Last maths paper next week. I think it's a good approach but obviously the young person needs to be motivated too. In my experience becoming really familiar with the exam papers is key, especially if someone has been trying to pass the exams over a number of years. That's just one approach but may be helpful in your scenario.

That is sad and strange about your friend’s son unable to get any jobs.

Surely there are lots of jobs which don't require qualifications. A friend’s child is doing deliveries with Pedalme, also catering with the High Society.

What about Supermarkets, teaching Assistants, coffee shops, shops, restaurants, etc. I know someone whose English isn’t great as not native English Speaker and is working as a Teacher Assistant,

Thank you. I have no idea about the exam board 😔 will ask

It seems like her future depends on passing these GCSEs.

I am seriously considering taking a few months off from work to support her next year. Even quitting my job and getting a new one after exams.

HI @EnglishbreakfastSunday so you have had some great advice on here from knowledgeable posters. Just to add a few thoughts from me:

• Yeh she needs to pass maths and Eng lang or she will have to keep retaking. Much the best thing I am pretty sure all here would agree is to get that crucial grade 4+ at school, where (and when) she can have the most focus on that and hopefully well-targeted teaching.
• If she is on a 3 or a 4 for all her subjects at the end of year 10 then that is very positive and more than possible to make them all 4+.
• Tutors - I cannot stress enough how crucial it is that anyone you engage as a tutor (or any extra classes you enrol her in) knows the GCSE spec she is doing. I mean they need to be knowledgeable about that specific spec (AQA, Edexcel, WJEC) as they differ and the exam technique and requirements will differ. I tutor and examine my subject and often come across YP who have been "tutored" but don't know what they need to do to get a good exam grade.
• The exams are very prescribed in how they are done (especially Eng lang IMHO) – it's not about being good at creative writing, it's about knowing which words you need to use to answer this question and what you need to say for that one. Hence the importance of the tutor's focused exam knowledge.

What other subjects is she doing? Is she taking foundation science as well as maths? Is she also taking English lit? And yes you need to find out the boards so you can access the right material online and via exam guides.

To answer your last qu – yes you need GCSEs in Eng and maths for many jobs. Including a TA role! and my DS works in a supermarket and had to show his qualifications for that role (maths at a C and English functional skills at level 2).

I think your idea of quitting your job to support her may not be needed. And if (as you say) you don't know the exam specs and what she needs to know, targeted support from tutors may be a better use of ££. Expect an hour's session with a tutor to cost from £20-25 (A level student) to maybe £50, depending on where you are.

The exams are very prescribed in how they are done (especially Eng lang IMHO) – it's not about being good at creative writing, it's about knowing which words you need to use to answer this question and what you need to say for that one. Hence the importance of the tutor's focused exam knowledge.

Biology is very specific as well, and the A level even more so.

Yes indeed.

Also to some extent MFL at GCSE – it can be less about how well you speak French and more about did you extend at least three of your answers to four questions?

And others too I am sure.

Not necessarily, I have seen students improve by a 2 grades or more between Year 10 and March mocks, with the right support and desire.

Some really great advice in here!
If you need any more recommendations for Maths tuition, please let me know as I have seen many disengaged students able to pass with the right support.
You should definitely do some trial sessions with tutors and see who your DD responds to the most,
I hope you and your DD can get through this together, stronger than ever!

SaveMyExams - is great! Has flashcards, all revision broken down in steps, plenty of past papers. Worth paying for. However - check the spec/board for every subject and ensure they cover your spec. Corbett Maths is also good and free.