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Secondary education

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Original poster

Early maths Gcse

31 replies

Phoenix4725 · 27/02/2010 16:13

Ds is academic and he is starting new school next week after move and they talked about him doing his maths in Y9 anyone any experiance of this ,his last working towards was 7.6 end Y7

OP posts:
goinggetstough · 27/02/2010 19:09

No problem taking the exam early but never sure personally whether it is a good idea unless the student is definitely going to get an A* as many universities look closely at GCSE grades. Plus what Maths do they then do in yr 10/11. Do they do additional maths GCSE and/or start AS maths early? If not then it might be difficult to start again AS maths in the sixth form if your son wanted to continue it.

MmeBlueberry · 27/02/2010 19:36

Is the maths course a modular one? If so, then it may be a case of doing some of the modules in Year 9 and finishing the course in Year 10.

I wouldn't recommend it unless they were guaranteed an A. They need to have at least 7A at GCSE to get into a top course at a top university.

However, if the school is putting all their top set in for the exam early, then there is little you can do but go along with this. I think they are thinking about their own marketing rather than the needs of their students though.

mnistooaddictive · 27/02/2010 19:45

It iv one of ,those, issued in Maths Education. More and more school are going for early entry but unless they get an A* it can be a mistake. They may mean start the modules in year 9 which can be successful. I would ring the school and ask for the head of Maths and ask for more info. If it is early entry you don't have to agree. He could be put in another set as long as it won't be too much of a compromise.

Original poster
Phoenix4725 · 28/02/2010 05:11

thank you will ask .yes in maths ds is pretty much figured to get A* even sat early , he just finds can manuiplate numbers very easy.But will talk to the head of maths asap

Intresting becuase know ds school they are starting modules in year 9 chossing rest of options now in y8 mind not that ds is complaing becuase means he can drop French and art becuase in that at least takes after his mum
and know plan is for fair few take the exams Y10 so not sure what they do year11

OP posts:
bloss · 28/02/2010 07:00

Message withdrawn

chocices · 28/02/2010 09:28

My dn took her gcse maths exam a year early expecting to get A and the early class all got A. The school then made them retake the maths exam this November when to ensure they got A.

I personally felt this was too much pressure, and meant they were worrying about this exam, when it should of been behind them enabling them to focus on any weaker subjects.

wolfbrother · 28/02/2010 17:59

This was offered to my child. I personally didn't want him doing it two years early, as I wanted him to do more interesting maths (eg Maths olympiad stuff)to extend him laterally instead of accelerating him.
However, I didn't win that one with the school, so he did the GCSE in year 9 and the FSMQ (Additional maths) in year 10 and got top grades, so it did work out OK.

Still think I was right though.

Original poster
Phoenix4725 · 01/03/2010 06:02

thank you

am going speak to head of maths have had talk with ds and he wants to do it as has found maths in class pretty dull .So going let him try and told him if he does not get what he wants its not iportant can resit

OP posts:
bloss · 01/03/2010 07:08

Message withdrawn

ShrinkingViolet · 01/03/2010 13:17

DD1 did GCSE Maths in Y10, then FMQ in Y11, which provided a good base for A level in Y12 (she'll go on to do FM in Y13) - we were happy becasue it stretched her, without moving too far ahead of her peer group (advice re university entrance was that the top places like to see that you've sat the bulk of your GCSEs at the same time, so can cope with the pressure, rather than spreading them out over several years in order to get the A*s ifswim).

FWIW, the FMQ was regarded as the hardest Maths exam an ex-pupil, now studying Pure Maths at Imperial, reckoned he'd ever sat, and was definately challenging.

Flightattendant · 01/03/2010 13:46

Yes we had a special set for early maths gcse, this was, goodness, almost 20 years ago so may be irrelevant. but I am sure we all passed, it was very formulaic. As evidenced by the fact I have forgotten ALL of it now I got a B, started further maths and gave up within a week - big big jump!
but it enabled me to do an extra subject which was nice, as maths was done with.

Original poster
Phoenix4725 · 01/03/2010 18:56

thats what ds is hoping as he is taking triple science to might free up some time to concertrate on that

OP posts:
mnistooaddictive · 02/03/2010 09:18

bloss - to put the other side, you can do FSMQ alongside GCSE, taking each topic a bit further. You can then do both qualifications in year 11. The extra sytudy means GCSE seems much easier and helps them to be sure of getting A*. ervous students are also comforted by the fact that they are not doing it 'early'

inthesticks · 03/03/2010 17:29

My DS in year 9 has just sat part 1 of his Maths GCSE. The rest is taken in Y10 and in Year 11 the top set do GCSE statistics.

mnistooaddictive · 03/03/2010 22:03

GCSE stats is a lot of work and the most able children find it boring as it is more stuff but not challenging. The coursework is a complete nightmare.
Sorry to be so negative

wolfbrother · 04/03/2010 12:04

We spoke to the maths dept of the local 6th form college about the wisdom of the school doing GCSE in year 9 and FSMQ in year 10, and their advice was "Fine as long as the child is going to get top grades"(and I have to say that most of the group did NOT get the top grade in the FSMQ) "but in year 11 make sure the teacher does more pure maths with them, and not statistics GCSE, or they will have forgotten a lot of it when they come to do the A level."

inthesticks, is it worth talking to your school about doing FSMQ rather than stats? I suspect a lot of school do the stats GCSE as it's easy, but I've been told, as mnistooaddictive says, that it doesn't move the maths on at all.

snorkie · 04/03/2010 13:42

Depends what they are planning to do with him maths-wise in years 10 & 11 I'd say. Is there a path in the sixthform for mathematicians who have fast-tracked earlier stuff? All too often there isn't & then these good mathematicians get put off taking the subject further.

inthesticks · 05/03/2010 19:02

Oh this is so depressing. DS is really gifted at Maths and I've complained repeatedly that he is not challenged at school. DH and I recently approached the school to see whether any more could be done as he was so bored he was ready to drop the idea of Maths after GCSE.
We even suggested we would arrange for a tutor to do something with him.
His Maths teacher said he thought he would find the next part of the GCSE much more challenging , and we should not distract him with anything else now,and so far he is quite engaged with it. They said they would look at him doing some additional work in year 10. The sixth form were no help according to the maths teacher.
He loves doing tests and has been doing lots of GCSE practice papers.
There is no way his school will change the planned statistics for something else. I hope it won't put him off.

BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny · 05/03/2010 19:06

Ds's school were talking about him doing his maths GCSE next year (he's currently year 6). I'm against it, where will he go from here?? They should be adapting the work to stretch him sideways IYSWIM. I expect I'll have to see how it goes aswell

calamari · 06/03/2010 11:06

If he feels confident - let him. He'll be so proud. My child did a very early GCSE and came out A*. It will certainly give them and advantage in years to come. Aim for the early AS and A" a well, if he wants to go for it. No point in holding them back. Plus, if he gets one GCSE out of the way, all the more time to concentrate on getting good results for other subjects later on. Good luck !!

bloss · 06/03/2010 14:37

Message withdrawn

inthesticks · 06/03/2010 16:31

bloss what are the Maths Challenge papers?

hocuspontas · 06/03/2010 16:44

Ooh Phoenix - what school did ds get into? Was it H? They've always tried to get students to do early Maths. It used to look good in the local rag.

(Not stalking you honest!)

bloss · 06/03/2010 22:15

Message withdrawn

snorkie · 06/03/2010 23:29

If he finds intermediate level fairly easy, then try the Olympiads - they are much harder needing written answers rather than multi-choice & develop concept of proof. Also, whilst yr 9s usually do intermediate level maths challenges, some very able ones do senior level as well - Usually aimed at sixth formers, but there's no bar on younger students doing them (& the actual maths you need to know isn't out of reach for younger people). The maths challenges/olympiads only test rather specific mathematical fields - mostly geometry, number theory and combinatorics. If you do well enough there are some summer schools to go on as well that are very challenging.