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lower set in gcse subjects

Hi all!

I am a mother of a Year 10 student, new to British System. I am writing under this nickname as I do not have one. I need some help if you have time to read my post.

So, my child is in Year 10, studying GCSEs. He was put by his school in set 2 and set 3 out of 6 for Maths, English, Science because there is no room in set 1 where he should be, as he is an excellent student.

My question is how this will affect his performances, what tier he will take for exams (foundation or higher), any other disadvantage that might result from here. How these sets work?
Sorry for my lack of understanding of the system, hope you can help me.

Thank you all.
(edited 7 years ago)
Being in a lower set doesn't mean lower grades. Generally, sets close to each other are doing practically the same work, and if I was dropped a set for each subject I don't think it would have changed my grades, as long as I still put the effort in

Also which tier he takes depends on himself and not the set, if he is good enough then he will be taking higher
Reply 2
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the_queen
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Original post by jordanshelley97
Being in a lower set doesn't mean lower grades. Generally, sets close to each other are doing practically the same work, and if I was dropped a set for each subject I don't think it would have changed my grades, as long as I still put the effort in

Also which tier he takes depends on himself and not the set, if he is good enough then he will be taking higher


Thank you so much.
He is a very good student. So he can take higher tier exams even if he is in a lower set, right? I have read somewhere that if he is in a low set he can sit for foundation tier only. These sets might be changed during the school year?
Original post by the_queen
Hi all!

I am a mother of a Year 10 student, new to British System. I am writing under this nickname as I do not have one. I need some help if you have time to read my post.

So, my child is in Year 10, studying GCSEs. He was put by his school in set 2 and set 3 out of 6 for Maths, English, Science because there is no room in set 1 where he should be, as he is an excellent student.

My question is how this will affect his performances, what tier he will take for exams (foundation or higher), any other disadvantage that might result from here. How these sets work?
Sorry for my lack of understanding of the system, hope you can help me.

Thank you all.


Being in lower sets does affect grades in a negative way. I was in "Support Set" for Maths, English Literature and English Language but I attained AAB respectively, higher than some people in the sets above!
Reply 4
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the_queen
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The text I put in bold does not sound very encouraging. I have to ask the school about this. Thank you!
Original post by the_queen
The text I put in bold does not sound very encouraging. I have to ask the school about this. Thank you!


Check with the school on exam entry policy and how the students can move up a set.

It really is down to the school how the teaching content varies between sets.
Reply 6
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the_queen
OP
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good to know! I will check. Thanks again!
Original post by the_queen
Hi all!

I am a mother of a Year 10 student, new to British System. I am writing under this nickname as I do not have one. I need some help if you have time to read my post.

So, my child is in Year 10, studying GCSEs. He was put by his school in set 2 and set 3 out of 6 for Maths, English, Science because there is no room in set 1 where he should be, as he is an excellent student.

My question is how this will affect his performances, what tier he will take for exams (foundation or higher), any other disadvantage that might result from here. How these sets work?
Sorry for my lack of understanding of the system, hope you can help me.

Thank you all.

Don't worry- he will still be put in the right tier because they decide that according to how an individual works not the whole class, however, as the speed is likely to be slower, make sure he has a tutor to get through everything quickly so he isn't at a disadvantage :smile:
i am in set 5 in maths and it is way better than set 4 because now i can understand the work better as i have special needs and its very confusing to understand the work in set 4 so im glad about that, and i won't survive on set 1 and 2 lol.
They base whether you go to higher or foundation on your grades and if he does better than most of the people in set 1 he will be able to to move higher and he will do higher anyway because set 1 and 2 both do higher.
my son got set 1 for every lesson
Original post by joshua marsden
my son got set 1 for every lesson

Nice, I am in Set 2 for everything! I love it! I've got a great Geography and R.E Teacher! (I don't take history by the way.)

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