Foundation maths

Discussion and advice on GCSEs

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Foundation maths

Post by Tolstoy »

If a bright child has been entered for this exam (L5 KS1) is it too late to get the higher level. DC is already in Y11.
moved
Posts: 3826
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:42 pm
Location: Chelmsford and pleased

Re: Foundation maths

Post by moved »

You can change up to the day of the exam.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Foundation maths

Post by Tolstoy »

Thanks Moved,

When do they sit the exam or is it modular?
fm

Re: Foundation maths

Post by fm »

Some exams are modular and some are final exams.

Schools often mix and match. At our local comprehensive, they enter most children for Foundation maths in the November. If the children get the 'C' at that point, they are then entered for the Higher paper in the following summer. If they don't, they do the Foundation as a resit in the summer.

As far as AQA modular is concerned, there are 3 modules. You can enter children for either the Foundation or the Higher Paper in each of the 3 modules.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Foundation maths

Post by Tolstoy »

Can I pm you fm
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Foundation maths

Post by Amber »

If the child has just gone into Y11 then there is a chance to catch up; but the parents would need to get him/her moved into a higher tier set pretty quickly. There is a fair bit of extra content in higher tier - a foundation paper basically has one higher tier level question at the end which is aimed at the better candidates getting a C, which is the highest achievable on the foundation paper. There are so many boards and variations on the modular theme that it is not possible to say which papers any child is sitting - you would need to get chapter and verse from the school. I would suggest, tentatively, that if a school has taught a child at foundation level for the whole of Y10, and left them in that set in Y11, the school doesn't think they would manage higher tier. I would strongly recommend talking to the school; I assume as this is coming from you Tolstoy, that there are very good reasons for thinking the child could achieve a B or above.

I didn't know it was possible to get L5 at KS1, but that would be a very bright child indeed and it would be odd to be doing foundation GCSE. If you meant to say L5 at KS2 - as you know, this is not a great indicator with the teaching to the SATs which has tended to take place. Children's NC levels are often subject to some 'adjustment' over the course of Y7-8, suggesting that high achievement levels in Y6 might have been a tad inflated.

fm wrote:
Schools often mix and match. At our local comprehensive, they enter most children for Foundation maths in the November. If the children get the 'C' at that point, they are then entered for the Higher paper in the following summer. If they don't, they do the Foundation as a resit in the summer.
What a great idea! :)
fm

Re: Foundation maths

Post by fm »

What a great idea!
I would love to say the idea was born out of the children's best interests but I think it came from the fact they had an absolutely disastrous set of results the previous year so someone sat down and thought out how they could improve their results (rather than their teaching) and decided to switch from AQA to Edexcel and ensure no one was entered for an exam they weren't going to pass.

Yes, Tolstoy, you can pm me although I am not an expert on GCSE maths, only dabbling in it as light relief from 11 plus.
Tolstoy
Posts: 2755
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2008 5:25 pm

Re: Foundation maths

Post by Tolstoy »

:oops: Mean't to type KS2.

I am pretty certain it was an honest assessment though in this case. Have to go out but thanks for the info as it has cleared something up for me. I also need to get some more info and then will be back.

Tolstoy.
Post Reply