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I am a 5 time resit GCSE maths student - AMA :)

I passed on my 5th exam, thanks to the super support my teacher gave me but I've probably been through every emotion. In light of November resits, I thought I'd offer any advice to anyone who is worrying.

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Lol I failed my 4th time so... only have one more chance to pass this damn GCSE ... ;(
Reply 2
Don't wish to be rude but how is it possible to not pass 4 times.I didnt think the maths GCSE was that hard.
Original post by _ap12
Don't wish to be rude but how is it possible to not pass 4 times.I didnt think the maths GCSE was that hard.


It’s the fact that when you keep getting D’s each exam, you accept this mindset that you are rubbish and will not pass maths whatsoever. So it makes it hard to motivate yourself and believe that you will pass it, as you have more of a negative mindset.

For my last exam, a lot depended upon it. I have never been great at maths, and I am good at everything else academically. I revised and completed past papers but I am always 9 marks off passing. It’s just a subject I struggle with
Reply 4
Original post by Username752
Lol I failed my 4th time so... only have one more chance to pass this damn GCSE ... ;(

Been there. :frown: My advice would be to do as many past papers as you possibly can. Learn the mark scheme to see what they're looking for. [Super cliche] but double-check your answers when you do the actual exam. Go to your teacher with the topics you're struggling with and ask for one-to-one time in the lesson or during breaks. I am not sure if you can use Seneca Learning just from a student perspective but give it a go. I used to stick flashcards around the house and whenever I had a snack, there was a flashcard in the fridge I had to answer before I could eat, etc.

My other advice is to believe in yourself. I know that's a lot easier to say than do. But as soon as I started believing I could do GCSE maths and ignored everyone who told me I couldn't, I started to see results.

I wish you all the luck in the world for the GCSE resits in May. Hopefully you won't need it as you'll believe in yourself and smash it.
My dude just get a private tutor and have done with it
Reply 6
Not everyone can afford a private tutor, lovely. Sound advice for someone who can though!
Original post by charlocat
Been there. :frown: My advice would be to do as many past papers as you possibly can. Learn the mark scheme to see what they're looking for. [Super cliche] but double-check your answers when you do the actual exam. Go to your teacher with the topics you're struggling with and ask for one-to-one time in the lesson or during breaks. I am not sure if you can use Seneca Learning just from a student perspective but give it a go. I used to stick flashcards around the house and whenever I had a snack, there was a flashcard in the fridge I had to answer before I could eat, etc.

My other advice is to believe in yourself. I know that's a lot easier to say than do. But as soon as I started believing I could do GCSE maths and ignored everyone who told me I couldn't, I started to see results.

I wish you all the luck in the world for the GCSE resits in May. Hopefully you won't need it as you'll believe in yourself and smash it.


Thank you for the advice :smile: and congratulations for passing it !
Reply 8
Original post by Username752
It’s the fact that when you keep getting D’s each exam, you accept this mindset that you are rubbish and will not pass maths whatsoever. So it makes it hard to motivate yourself and believe that you will pass it, as you have more of a negative mindset.

For my last exam, a lot depended upon it. I have never been great at maths, and I am good at everything else academically. I revised and completed past papers but I am always 9 marks off passing. It’s just a subject I struggle with

Yep - I constantly got D's and was marks away from getting the C grade. The negative mindset is the *biggest* thing - especially when there are people who say 'wow GCSE maths isn't that hard' :wink:.

I think you should speak to your teacher about getting specific help with the specific topics that you struggle with. They know their shizz and are paid to know, so use em and abuse em.
Reply 9
Original post by _ap12
Don't wish to be rude but how is it possible to not pass 4 times.I didnt think the maths GCSE was that hard.

My lovely, just because you can do it, doesn't mean everyone can! A lot of it is to do with the mindset. Imagine being told you have to pass something or you'll have no future - that's a lot of pressure, especially when you're relying on your friends and family to be supportive and they aren't. Doing something over and over again just grows the frustration and makes you feel more and more like you aren't able to do it.

I had terrible teachers who never supported me (up until my last one) and constantly told me to "give up" because there was no way I was ever going to pass it. I have now. I believed in myself and had a lot of support from someone who believed in me and never let me for a second think I couldn't do it.
Original post by charlocat
Not everyone can afford a private tutor, lovely. Sound advice for someone who can though!


You can’t afford to fail maths GCSE another time either; you need it for most careers these days. Decide what is more important to you, your money or your future

Edit: I've just read you passed fifth time; the same applies to anyone not yet passed
(edited 4 years ago)
Reply 11
Original post by Username752
It’s the fact that when you keep getting D’s each exam, you accept this mindset that you are rubbish and will not pass maths whatsoever. So it makes it hard to motivate yourself and believe that you will pass it, as you have more of a negative mindset.

For my last exam, a lot depended upon it. I have never been great at maths, and I am good at everything else academically. I revised and completed past papers but I am always 9 marks off passing. It’s just a subject I struggle with

That makes a certain amount of sense however surely if u just get the easy ones right you will pass. Some of the questions is just applying stuff we did in year 9. I hope you can turn your mindset around in the near future . Good luck
I've also taken maths 3 times but never failed it, just wanted to get a higher grade. First time I took it,I got a 4 (straight out of year 11, ), second time I got a 5(missed most of my paper 3 because my taxi came 40 mins late) and the 3rd time I finally got a 6 which is what I was aiming for from the first attempt and am now doing A level maths lol. Literally, it doesn't matter how many times you retake, there are so many factors that can effect an exam. Such as your taxi coming 40 mins late.
Reply 13
Original post by charlocat
My lovely, just because you can do it, doesn't mean everyone can! A lot of it is to do with the mindset. Imagine being told you have to pass something or you'll have no future - that's a lot of pressure, especially when you're relying on your friends and family to be supportive and they aren't. Doing something over and over again just grows the frustration and makes you feel more and more like you aren't able to do it.

I had terrible teachers who never supported me (up until my last one) and constantly told me to "give up" because there was no way I was ever going to pass it. I have now. I believed in myself and had a lot of support from someone who believed in me and never let me for a second think I couldn't do it.

While I do understand pressure can negatively impact exam performance. I was under the impression the large majority of people will pass maths GCSE by turning up to lessons and the exams without any revision. Throw in some revision in to the mix (I assume people doing resits do revise ) I thought it would be virtually impossible to fail. It is disappointing that teachers didn't believe in you however the exams are easy enough to pass if you just give them the respect they deserve(imo). Fair enough teacher confidence can be the difference between a 6 or 7 but I just dont see how teacher morale can make that big of difference to make you fail. The teachers telling you that you have to pass are somewhat telling the truth arent they.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by charlocat
I passed on my 5th exam, thanks to the super support my teacher gave me but I've probably been through every emotion. In light of November resits, I thought I'd offer any advice to anyone who is worrying.


Just wanted to say well done and congrats :biggrin:

Did you have to change your learning style this time round to get the grade you wanted?
Reply 15
Some people don't have access to that sort of money! Your teacher should be willing to help you. You passing supports them as much as you.
Reply 16
Original post by Hazelly
Just wanted to say well done and congrats :biggrin:

Did you have to change your learning style this time round to get the grade you wanted?

Thank you!

No - my teacher discovered what my learning style was. Persistency, repetition and support. I always took home past papers but no-one ever marked them to know where I was going wrong. I ended up learning the mark scheme and marking my own papers. Then when I had my last teacher, he was genuinely interested in helping me pass because he knew I could. So I took the papers and the mark schemes and the topics I wasn't so good at and I asked for help - I gave up my breaks and worked super hard - but it was worth it because someone finally believed in me.
Reply 17
Original post by _ap12
While I do understand pressure can negatively impact exam performance. I was under the impression the large majority of people will pass maths GCSE by turning up to lessons and the exams without any revision. Throw in some revision in to the mix (I assume people doing resits do revise ) I thought it would be virtually impossible to fail. It is disappointing that teachers didn't believe in you however the exams are easy enough to pass if you just give them the respect they deserve(imo). Fair enough teacher confidence can be the difference between a 6 or 7 but I just dont see how teacher morale can make that big of difference to make you fail. The teachers telling you that you have to pass are somewhat telling the truth arent they.

Okay. You're right, but I turned up to every single maths lesson and revised every night. But I was doing it wrong - not that I knew that - and I didn't have anyone to tell me that! Unfortunately, whilst your opinion is valid, it's not factual and therefore, what might be easy to you, isn't easy to other people. Sure, I could do the first half of the paper, but I still had exam anxiety, so I still panicked and didn't get through the exam. I think teacher influence is incredibly important. If you're led to believe you're bad at something from the very beginning, you're going to start believing it. They are telling you you have to pass, but when they're telling you that you may as well quit now because you're only going to fail, or actively avoiding you and helping other students who are definitely going to pass, not getting the support from your teacher becomes the problem.
Reply 18
Original post by ibby68
I've also taken maths 3 times but never failed it, just wanted to get a higher grade. First time I took it,I got a 4 (straight out of year 11, ), second time I got a 5(missed most of my paper 3 because my taxi came 40 mins late) and the 3rd time I finally got a 6 which is what I was aiming for from the first attempt and am now doing A level maths lol. Literally, it doesn't matter how many times you retake, there are so many factors that can effect an exam. Such as your taxi coming 40 mins late.

Exactly. I work within further education now, and one of the biggest things I stress is it doesn't matter how long it takes you to get there, you will get there.
Reply 19
Original post by _ap12
That makes a certain amount of sense however surely if u just get the easy ones right you will pass. Some of the questions is just applying stuff we did in year 9. I hope you can turn your mindset around in the near future . Good luck

Not necessarily! Especially when exam anxiety comes into it. When you're forced to retake something you're not good at, you become more anxious. I have passed my exam now and support over 600 students with theirs so my mindset is positive and I am here to influence other people who were in the same position as me. Sometimes people do not remember what they did in year 9, and sometimes people did not learn from what they learnt in year 9. Everyone is different.

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