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Help: I'm not getting Study Leave?

Alright, so as I'm sure you can imagine, I'm quite literally raging at this news. It's more so annoying when it's, in my opinion, a specific attack on me ... :angry:

Firstly, let me tell you the grades I'm expecting/teachers are expecting me to receive on my upcoming GCSE's:

English Lang: A*
English Lit: A*
Citizenship: A*
Media Studies: A*
ICT: A*
History: A
Business: A
Core Science: B (Already banked)
Additional Science: B
RE: B (Already banked. Sat exam in Year 9)

Everything is going alright. The expectations are, admittedly, rather high and maybe overly ambitious - but nevertheless, it's what people think I'm capable of. I'm not really sure if I am capable of such grades, but all I can do is try, I guess.

You may have noticed I didn't state my maths grade. I'm embarrassed to admit this on here, considering you're all so intelligent, but my current maths grade is an E. Awful, I know.

I try so hard in this subject, but I'm not getting anywhere. To go from getting A*'s to an E in a core subject is horrible. I just don't understand maths, at all.

I was told today that I (along with others who have at least ONE E grade) will not be getting study leave. I'm furious. I won't be able to revise and consolidate my B/A/A* grades, as I'll be in school. I have to continue with my same time table also. For example, I'll be attending English lessons (despite being an A* grade) and revising for that subject, purely because of the low maths grade.

I cannot revise in school. The distractions are too hard to block out, and I fear that these so called 'revision sessions' turn into social sessions. I work well at home alone, in my room, focusing with maybe a bit of music or something.

The fact that I won't be able to do this for my subjects all because of one low grade really upsets me. The head of maths has actually told me, and I quote, 'I want your A* grades down to a C, if it means, as we do that, we get your Maths grade also up to a C'.

Basically... My good subjects are going to be jeopardised for maths, a subject that I have NO chance in getting a C grade in.

What do I do? Should I just not attend school and complete revision at home, as I wish? Note: I will be revising for maths at home too, of course. It's not a subject I ignore. I work hard for it, but never get anywhere. I just think it's grossly unfair that my entire set of GCSE qualifications look to be potentially destroyed, for what? A D grade in maths? Woohoo.

What would you do?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
Anyone? This is really stressing me out.
Reply 2
I didn't have study leave (no one in my school did, it's fairly normal) and we all did perfectly fine. I think saying its 'jeopardising' your other subjects is a bit of an over exaggeration...

What exactly is it you don't understand about maths anyway?
Original post by EddyEagal
X


What you definitely should not do is bunk off school if they're telling you not to. That's illegal and since you have no 'right' to study leave, it could land you in a massive amount of trouble.

Regardless whether or not you have faith in your teachers, it is in your school's best interest for you to do well. Now, I can absolutely understand why they would refuse to allow you to have study leave in your situation. The fact of the matter is that most people at GCSE are not able to revise effectively at home, which is why more and more schools are actually scrapping study leave for GCSEs. The second issue is that if you're currently at an E grade in Mathematics and you just don't understand it, you're not going to get better by revising it. Revision is about refreshing things you've already learnt. If you never understood it in the first place, revision will get you nowhere.

So we've got two issues. One, you're not being given study leave when you think you would perform better with it and two, you're not performing as well as you/your school would like in Mathematics.

To solve these, you need to talk to your school. I don't mean mentioning it on the fly to a teacher, I mean arranging a proper meeting. From what you've said, it appears that your Head of Maths is not being particularly helpful, so arrange to speak to a teacher you trust, maybe your Form Tutor or Head of Year - anyone really, as long as you trust that they'll listen to you. You need to explain your problems clearly.

Your school should have support structures for students struggling in Mathematics, so if you've got any Maths help clubs after school or if your school offers mentoring, use this. Alternatively, ask your Maths teacher if they can go through areas you're particularly struggling with and I'm sure they'll be happy to help. A tutor should be an absolute last resort. I wouldn't recommend a tutor unless your school is literally absolutely appallingly bad, which seems unlikely given the context you've given us. Whilst you probably don't want to hear this, getting a pass in Mathematics is very important. A lot of Universities have a requirement for a C pass in Mathematics GCSE which will cause problems regardless of how brilliant your other grades are. Additionally, thanks to new government policy, you'll have to continue
taking Mathematics next year if you fail to achieve a C. So whilst I wouldn't take your Head of Maths' advice literally, she does have a point to a certain extent.

I can't promise that the school will give you your study leave back because as I've said, there is a lot of reason to believe that study-leave is counterproductive. But what I can say is that there's nothing to lose by having a proper discussion with the relevant people.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 4
No-one at my school got study leave, both at GCSE and A-level. It sucks, but didn't stop me from getting 6A*s, 3As, 2.5Bs and a C at GCSE and AAAA at AS.
Passing Maths GCSE is very important, for university and employment, it is a requirement for many courses, so I understand why they're doing this. Study during half terms, after school, weekends, etc. It's very possible to still do well, you have a lot of time left and GCSEs don't need that much revision anyway.
Reply 5
As the above poster said, I think it'd be a good idea for you to have a formal meeting with your head of year or maths or whoever. Go with your parents, perhaps you could arrange for you to attend all your maths lessons and any maths revision sessions but nothing else. I'd certainly advise you to try your hardest in the next few months to try and improve your maths grade.
Original post by EddyEagal
Alright, so as I'm sure you can imagine, I'm quite literally raging at this news. It's more so annoying when it's, in my opinion, a specific attack on me ... :angry:

Firstly, let me tell you the grades I'm expecting/teachers are expecting me to receive on my upcoming GCSE's:

English Lang: A*
English Lit: A*
Citizenship: A*
Media Studies: A*
ICT: A*
History: A
Business: A
Core Science: B (Already banked)
Additional Science: B
RE: B (Already banked. Sat exam in Year 9)

Everything is going alright. The expectations are, admittedly, rather high and maybe overly ambitious - but nevertheless, it's what people think I'm capable of. I'm not really sure if I am capable of such grades, but all I can do is try, I guess.

You may have noticed I didn't state my maths grade. I'm embarrassed to admit this on here, considering you're all so intelligent, but my current maths grade is an E. Awful, I know.

I try so hard in this subject, but I'm not getting anywhere. To go from getting A*'s to an E in a core subject is horrible. I just don't understand maths, at all.

I was told today that I (along with others who have at least ONE E grade) will not be getting study leave. I'm furious. I won't be able to revise and consolidate my B/A/A* grades, as I'll be in school. I have to continue with my same time table also. For example, I'll be attending English lessons (despite being an A* grade) and revising for that subject, purely because of the low maths grade.

I cannot revise in school. The distractions are too hard to block out, and I fear that these so called 'revision sessions' turn into social sessions. I work well at home alone, in my room, focusing with maybe a bit of music or something.

The fact that I won't be able to do this for my subjects all because of one low grade really upsets me. The head of maths has actually told me, and I quote, 'I want your A* grades down to a C, if it means, as we do that, we get your Maths grade also up to a C'.

Basically... My good subjects are going to be jeopardised for maths, a subject that I have NO chance in getting a C grade in.

What do I do? Should I just not attend school and complete revision at home, as I wish? Note: I will be revising for maths at home too, of course. It's not a subject I ignore. I work hard for it, but never get anywhere. I just think it's grossly unfair that my entire set of GCSE qualifications look to be potentially destroyed, for what? A D grade in maths? Woohoo.

What would you do?


This sounds absolutely ridiculous, on the school’s part, of course. Have you discussed the matter with your parents? I’d personally see if you could arrange for them to meet with your Head of Year to discuss the matter, and perhaps ask some of your subject teachers in those high-attaining subjects for their input on the matter too.

Don’t be embarrassed about your Maths grade at all. I was in exactly the same situation as you’re in when I sat my GCSEs two years ago. Websites like this attract the types of students who do achieve high grades, but there’s a few users on here who no doubt exaggerate their achievements because, for the most part, it’s an anonymous website.

I solved my Maths issue by going to morning revision sessions. See if there’s a teacher who’s around to help you out, most are in school from around 8am anyway. Even if it’s just sitting in a room with a revision book and a practice paper, the help will be there and available when you need it. Alternatively, you could potentially see if there’s a sixth former willing to help? Sometimes they’re more sympathetic towards things like this.

Good luck with all of this, it does sound silly. Maths is a core subject and an A*-C grade will be required as a standard entry requirement (along with A*-C in English) if you want to go to university, but I definitely don’t think your grades in your other subjects should be compromised.

I’d say yes to not attending school and revising at home. A lot of my friends stopped coming to school at the end of Year 11 when they found it was getting pointless, and went on to get good grades in their GCSEs. If the school threatens to remove your entries, perhaps have some sort of deposit system? I had to give my school £50 to guarantee I turned up to my exams on time.
Reply 7
Original post by EddyEagal
Anyone? This is really stressing me out.

To be fair, without a minimum 'C' grade in Maths, no university of the sort that warrants above a 'C' grade in any other subject would likely consider you; let alone the kind of employer that actively recruits from such institutions.

I manage temporary staff at Christmas and have long since lost count of the number of times I've had to re-structure an invoice, overhaul a quotation, or explain to someone with a 2.1 degree from a top-fifty school why the net figure isn't simply 'the gross, minus twenty-percent'. Cosin-rules and quadratic equations may well be largely esoteric, but practical numeracy is indispensable to just about any white-collar occupation, and it will be the lack of those credentials rather than having traded 'A*'s for 'B's that represents by far the most enduring obstacle to your professional development.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 8
It's important to get a C or above in both maths and english for jobs, college and university. What your teacher said is not unreasonable, turning 2 of those non english A*'s into a U for a C in maths would be beneficial in the long run. Maths is important.
Reply 9
Wow, we dont have study leave as well :s-smilie: sucks, i know, but bunking would make it even worse, i suggest talking to your parents to get them to call the school or something, by the way, what do you use to study? you seem to be getting quite good grades for most subjects, any tips? if you do give me some, thanks
Reply 10
I'm getting study leave but I'm coming in nearly every day over the exam period either for exams or revision. To be honest not having study leave is probably better as at school you have to actually revise and you have people to help you. You also will probably be able to access more textbooks etc, hence why I am planning on coming into school anyway. But if you find it difficult revising in school couldn't you ask to revise in your school library or a room on your own? They should let you if you explain.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 11
Original post by Gotzz
No-one at my school got study leave, both at GCSE and A-level. It sucks, but didn't stop me from getting 6A*s, 3As, 2.5Bs and a C at GCSE and AAAA at AS.
Passing Maths GCSE is very important, for university and employment, it is a requirement for many courses, so I understand why they're doing this. Study during half terms, after school, weekends, etc. It's very possible to still do well, you have a lot of time left and GCSEs don't need that much revision anyway.

I didn't get study leave for AS as well, then I just literally skipped about a month worth of school time and when they saw the grades I achieved the school said nothing :P.
Reply 12
Original post by Dilzo999
I didn't get study leave for AS as well, then I just literally skipped about a month worth of school time and when they saw the grades I achieved the school said nothing :P.

what did u get in the end???
We're not getting study leave either,
I'd recommend you negotiate your timetable with the head of curriculum so maybe say, instead of an English revision lesson, have a one-to-one with a maths teacher? Or, if you finish a subject early... like a course-work based subject, just ask if you can do something else int that slot. It'll boost your grade but for maths you really need to start revising now.
Same with me, we are not getting study leave either. To be honest, I don't really care that I am not receiving study leave. I can see why you are annoyed because it seems as though everyone else is getting it and you deem it to be unfair.
Reply 15
I don't know if I can help much with study leave, I see everyone here has that covered :') but with the Maths, I'm in year 10 and predicted an A* and am doing the Maths GCSE early (this year) and further maths next year, so if you need help feel free to talk to me and I'll see if I can help out, I mean why pay for a tutor when you have thousands on here?

Good luck :smile: xxx
Reply 16
Get your mum and dad to ring up and make a case for you. One suggestion is that you do not attend your lessons but instead come in to revise in your school's library/a quiet space so they know you're there and working, with the exception of your Maths lessons which you continue to attend.

I can understand their concern though, you do NEED a C in Maths. It's one of those subjects where colleges, Universities, employers, the government and co. all care deeply about it and it can get you excluded from all sorts of opportunities if you don't make that C minimum. It's weird when you're so capable in other subjects that you can't fish out an okay Maths grade. I always struggled really hard with Maths to the point where I honestly thought I might have some kind of number dyslexia - couldn't even reliably copy questions out! - but I packed the hours in and pulled a decent grade out of the hat. Just do loads of practice questions and if you're in the zone, you ought to be able to replicate enough on an exam paper to at least get a C!

The things you're bad at DO require the most revision, that is undeniable.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 17
Original post by EddyEagal
Alright, so as I'm sure you can imagine, I'm quite literally raging at this news. It's more so annoying when it's, in my opinion, a specific attack on me ... :angry:

Firstly, let me tell you the grades I'm expecting/teachers are expecting me to receive on my upcoming GCSE's:

English Lang: A*
English Lit: A*
Citizenship: A*
Media Studies: A*
ICT: A*
History: A
Business: A
Core Science: B (Already banked)
Additional Science: B
RE: B (Already banked. Sat exam in Year 9)

Everything is going alright. The expectations are, admittedly, rather high and maybe overly ambitious - but nevertheless, it's what people think I'm capable of. I'm not really sure if I am capable of such grades, but all I can do is try, I guess.

You may have noticed I didn't state my maths grade. I'm embarrassed to admit this on here, considering you're all so intelligent, but my current maths grade is an E. Awful, I know.

I try so hard in this subject, but I'm not getting anywhere. To go from getting A*'s to an E in a core subject is horrible. I just don't understand maths, at all.

I was told today that I (along with others who have at least ONE E grade) will not be getting study leave. I'm furious. I won't be able to revise and consolidate my B/A/A* grades, as I'll be in school. I have to continue with my same time table also. For example, I'll be attending English lessons (despite being an A* grade) and revising for that subject, purely because of the low maths grade.

I cannot revise in school. The distractions are too hard to block out, and I fear that these so called 'revision sessions' turn into social sessions. I work well at home alone, in my room, focusing with maybe a bit of music or something.

The fact that I won't be able to do this for my subjects all because of one low grade really upsets me. The head of maths has actually told me, and I quote, 'I want your A* grades down to a C, if it means, as we do that, we get your Maths grade also up to a C'.

Basically... My good subjects are going to be jeopardised for maths, a subject that I have NO chance in getting a C grade in.

What do I do? Should I just not attend school and complete revision at home, as I wish? Note: I will be revising for maths at home too, of course. It's not a subject I ignore. I work hard for it, but never get anywhere. I just think it's grossly unfair that my entire set of GCSE qualifications look to be potentially destroyed, for what? A D grade in maths? Woohoo.

What would you do?




2 months ago I was a grade U in Maths, my average score in test papers was under 10/100. My secret for Maths is formula! To ace Maths you have to remember all the formulas for topics, once you know the formulas you don't need anything else, I am now at a grade C/B and I am aiming for an A! You can do it trust me its not hard, its all about the formulas. For revision you can use mathswatchvle.com or search matshwatchvle on google. If you need an account pm me.
Reply 18
I'm overwhelmed by all these responses. Thank you all very much :smile: I really appreciate the help you've given, and for those of you have offered help over PM's - That means a lot. I don't think I'd be able to afford a tutor, and so it's comforting to know there are people out there who can offer support.

I know maths is of a high importance, I don't question that for a second. I am going to try and get that C grade.

A lot of people just assume that I'm lazy in the subject, considering my other grades in the other subjects. I really just don't comprehend anything at all. It all goes over my head.

I think it's unfair that I, as a hard working student who is achieving decently, could potentially be rejected from taking my A-Levels due to just one subject. I won't be studying anything that is even loosely linked to Maths. I hope I'll be able to take my A-Levels, I really do. What do you think my chances are of taking A-Levels with a low maths grade?
Original post by EddyEagal
I'm overwhelmed by all these responses. Thank you all very much :smile: I really appreciate the help you've given, and for those of you have offered help over PM's - That means a lot. I don't think I'd be able to afford a tutor, and so it's comforting to know there are people out there who can offer support.

I know maths is of a high importance, I don't question that for a second. I am going to try and get that C grade.

A lot of people just assume that I'm lazy in the subject, considering my other grades in the other subjects. I really just don't comprehend anything at all. It all goes over my head.

I think it's unfair that I, as a hard working student who is achieving decently, could potentially be rejected from taking my A-Levels due to just one subject. I won't be studying anything that is even loosely linked to Maths. I hope I'll be able to take my A-Levels, I really do. What do you think my chances are of taking A-Levels with a low maths grade?


Some colleges could reject you on the basis of not having a C grade in Maths, so really do try to get a C. The skills you learn can be applied to literally anything in the real world.

However, they may be more lenient due to the nature of you A-Level choices, but don't rely too heavily on this.

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