How much can GCSE grades improve in a year realistically?

[Morningcupoftea]

Something has clicked in this year and my previously unmotivated child seems to be working harder and more motivated. They have a private tutor for English and Maths.

How many grades can they improve in a year realistically from current 4s and 5s which they were achieving with minimum work,

year 11

Depends on so many factors, bu potentially a lot. My DD went from a 5 in mocks of Eng Lit to a 9 in the actual exam. She had a great private tutor, and was pretty academic generally.

That is great to hear. A good tutor, teacher makes the whole difference if the child is motivated

Maths does worry me a bit.can you move to foundation to higher maths?

@noblegiraffe is a good person to ask about all things maths.

The average at my school was about two thirds of a grade.

but that included kids who did fuck all work.

some kids went up two grades. It’s totally possible.

ex maths teacher

Final decisions on which paper do not need to be made until January and can be changed right up until very late (for a fee).

yes, many kids at my school who we were not sure about sat mocks in November of both papers to inform the choice

This. My daughter never got above a 5 in English Lit or Language (and was usually on a 4) throughout secondary school, but with the help of a tutor in Y11 got 9 in English Language and a very high 8 in English Literature in the real thing.

End of year 10 science was 33 final grade 87. End of year 10 RS 1. Mock year 11, 2. Final grade 8.

lots of hard work and a medicated ADHD diagnosis made the difference

Youd be surprised...
I got a low D in my AS levels and got As 12months later (resat all the AS modules too)

I did A LOT of work.

My son failed his a level mocks, got diagnosed and medicated for his ADHD and ended up with 3 As 4 months later

Amazing. Congratulations to your son

very positive. I think we the right support and if child put up the work they can improve a lot in 8 months

Wooww. It can be done then

My DS went from 6/5 for science to 9/8, and from 6 to 8 in maths, and 6/7 to 9 with 100% in English literature. He’s hard working and put his effort into weaker subjects. Some of his other subjects were already 9 predictions at end of year 10. The others 8s. They went up but not as much. Sciences and maths clicked around Easter. Eng lit he learnt how to deal with poetry.

I didnt use tutors for maths I used the Heinemann text books and literally just went through alllll of them. For every concept/topic I read it and did first 3 (easiest) and last 3 (hardest) if I got them all right I moved on.
If not.... I did every question (there were 30 or 36 iirc)

This was WAY more effective than tutoring for me.

Good luck!

Loads. DDs went up 2 or 3 grades in each subject.

My son went from a 4 to an 8 in French, a 5 to an 8 in history as two examples

Yes, but obviously foundation is capped at a 5 so if they have been following a foundation curriculum they won't have been exposed to any higher tier content which will make it a lot harder to go up from a 5 even if they switch to higher.

They would need to start working on higher tier content which might involve a change in maths groups?

I went from low Bs/high Cs in Maths grades to A within a year by working together with a friend who was getting Ds (final grade B). We revised side by side, quizzed each other, and tried to explain concepts to each other.

Yes, this is a worry.

DS moved from scraping a 5 in Maths in pre Christmas mocks to a good 7 at GCSE. He had 1.5 hours tutoring a week, and attended all the school booster sessions.

Any recommendations for best resources to help with science? Have bought workbooks but DC seems very unmotivated with them. @whereonthestair any tips from what your DS did?

FWIW my ds with autism, Adhd and low cognitive functioning ( according g to two assessments 10 years apart)went from predicted 4s and 5s to achieving 3 x 8s and the rest 6 and 7s. No private tutoring, but he is at an independent school with good SEN provision. He also went from foundation maths to higher at the very last possible moment and just scraped a 7. Although to be fair the school had flagged he might be moved to Higher and were setting him some higher work for a good few months before that.

what made the difference was his motivation. He worked his socks off.

We are so proud of him. He just worked. No extra tutoring at all, he wouldn’t even come to us, his parents, for assistance in our special subjects. ( his dad and I both have postgrad quals and I have a PhD)

What made the difference for my DD was ADHD meds and me cracking the whip in core subjects!

She went from 6,6,5,5-5 in Eng x 2, Maths and double award Science at the end of Y10 to 9,9,8,9-8 in the real thing. (Plus a range of 9-7 in her other 4 subjects). She was never doing Foundation though.

I didn't pay for tutoring but worked with her myself, using CGP books and past papers. I showed her how to mark her own past paper attempts, which really drove home the mark schemes and helped her to identify and work on weak areas.

A Levels went very well, and she is at a top uni now.

Yes it's possible. But you need to be in a Maths set where you have been taught Higher content so that you can achieve grade 6+.
For borderline candidates some schools will try mock tests on both tiers to see which best suits the student.