School wants me to do maths gcse again even though i got an A*

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Hi
Same situation here, having done the GCSE last year I'm repeating it but with the new course this year.
However, as far as my knowledge goes, it doesn't actually benefit the school if you do the exam again, as only the first grade counts for them. Therefore, I think what they mean about it 'looking good on your CV' is that if you can get a 9 next year, it will be regarded as a better grade. I've seen sixth-forms wanting point totals based on GCSE grades with A*s getting 8.5 points, and 9s getting, you guessed it, 9 points!

Essentially, if you think it's worth it to try and get a 9, then do the exam. If you've already done it and got an A*, there's not really that much more content to learn. Good Luck!

Well, actually it does benefit the school as this year is the first year of the new specs so this will be counted as the first grade. What didn't benefit them was wasting time and money last year entering students for a qualification which needs to be repeated - I just can't believe they didn't know. I would be very interested to hear the reasons they give when asked the question..........

Reply 61

dannie.12

Original post by A.J.Rimmer

What revision resources are you using for the new maths spec? Also, are you paying equal attention on the new spec as your other GCSEs?

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 62

A.J.Rimmer

Original post by dannie.12

What revision resources are you using for the new maths spec? Also, are you paying equal attention on the new spec as your other GCSEs?

I've got an CGP 1-9 revision guide (AQA), which I'll check after we've done specimen papers at school to see how to do the questions I'd never seen before. However, I'm not really doing much work for it at the moment- my teacher just tells me if the stuff we're doing in the lesson that day is new spec or old spec, and I listen/ do some maths problems that interest me etc. accordingly. There probably will be some hard grafting come Easter time though...

Reply 63

jamesthehustler

Original post by dannie.12

I wrote my maths GCSE in year 10 and got an A*. The school said if we are able to get an A* we don't have to do the harder one next year so I worked really hard to get an A* so that I could concentrate on other subjects. But now we were told we still have to do the new GCSE so that we have two maths GCSE qualifications which will 'look good on our CV'. Do you think I should still pay equal attention on the maths despite having done it already and got an A*?

you know why they are doing this right
it to boost their overall percentage of success so they look more impressive
so people will apply to got there rather than another school and make them more money

Reply 64

PawanAviator

Original post by dannie.12

I wrote my maths GCSE in year 10 and got an A*. The school said if we are able to get an A* we dont have to do the harder one next year so I worked really hard to get an A* so that I could concentrate on other subjects. But now we were told we still have to do the new GCSE so that we have two maths GCSE qualifications which will 'look good on our CV'. Do you think I should still pay equal attention on the maths despite having done it already and got an A*?

nah mate whats the point of doing it again.. just restrain yourself. Why would you have to do it again anyways , It doesn't make sense in my opinion.

Reply 65

Punkrockfan

Don't. It's an unnecessary risk. If your school persists, tell your parents. You don't need a new math exam on top of your other subjects.

Reply 66

Arima

lmfaoo "itll look good on your CV!" GCSEs will barely mean anything if/when you pass your A levels

Reply 67

dannie.12

Original post by jamesthehustler

Original post by PawanAviator

nah mate whats the point of doing it again.. just restrain yourself. Why would you have to do it again anyways , It doesn't make sense in my opinion.

Original post by Punkrockfan

Don't. It's an unnecessary risk. If your school persists, tell your parents. You don't need a new math exam on top of your other subjects.

Original post by Arima

lmfaoo "itll look good on your CV!" GCSEs will barely mean anything if/when you pass your A levels

My parents said I should do the new spec as everyone else is doing it and they are not complaining and also that it will give me a higher chance of getting into a grammar school sixth form. Is this true?

Yes.

Original post by dannie.12

nah i doubt...when one looks at entry requirements to sixth forms, high ranking sixth forms usually want a B at maths/english going higher depending on the school. They won't consider both the maths GCSEs i reckon, just the highest grades. If the syllabus on the two maths GCSEs are similar (as in most topics are generally the same instead of like, one gcse being statistics maths and the other mechanics) then it's a waste of time tbh.

Reply 70

Mr M

Study Forum Helper

Original post by dannie.12

Yes. I very much doubt a grammar school sixth form will offer a resit GCSE class and this will be what you will need if you don't take this qualification in Year 11.

Reply 71

PawanAviator

Original post by dannie.12

Well i mean doing GCSE maths in year 10 ( 1 year earlier ) sounds better than saying you done it in year 11 again and achieving the same grade again. I mean im sure you can still get into 'grammar school sixth form' if you done it in year 10 , because it really shows your potential in mathematics. You could ask the school to do a gcse/igcse in further/additional maths (FSMQ's) instead of wasting time on a gcse that you dont need to redo( Only if you want that btw). They might not even bother consider such a qualification but i mean its worth a try to ask them.

Reply 72

Abbie131

You could do it, I guess, but if you don't want to, you shouldn't have to. I'm not sure how much of the stuff is new to the new GCSE maths, but if there isn't much content, I would say it's worth learning the new, revising the old and then doing the exam paper. It is pretty hard though, a lot of the new stuff is from a-level maths...

Reply 73

dannie.12

Original post by Clemm101

If you want to study A-Levels you don't have a choice. However Maths is Maths - you already know it and are obviously very capable. You got an A* in year 10, have another (almost) year of lessons and will walk it without further revision. Your school messed up by entering you in year 10 and while it's annoying it'll work for you in the end. Sit the exams and even without much revision you'll get a good grade to add to your already excellent one.

So say I get a B (which is a 6) on the new spec, will I be unable to do Maths at A-level? I've got so much subjects to revise for and I just feel so stressed with having to do the Maths again.

Reply 74

username2471155

In a way, that makes no sense. You got the highest grade you can't get any better. How did you revise for GCSE Maths?

Reply 75

MathMoFarah

Don't do it

Spoiler

Reply 76

dannie.12

Original post by MathMoFarah

Don't do it

Spoiler

My parents wanted to complain but they said since they are the only people who seem concerned, the school wouldn't listen. They need more parents to complain which unfortunately isn't happening

Reply 77

MathMoFarah

Original post by dannie.12

My parents wanted to complain but they said since they are the only people who seem concerned, the school wouldn't listen. They need more parents to complain which unfortunately isn't happening

Just don't let them enter you in

Reply 78

dannie.12

Original post by MathMoFarah

Just don't let them enter you in

How do I do that?

Reply 79

MathMoFarah

Original post by dannie.12

How do I do that?

Tell them you don't want to. They legally can't make you.

If they say they'll do it anyway then this is the sort of story your local paper would be interested in.