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First set of 9-1 GCSE maths grade boundaries published

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Original post by _gcx
Double maths? Do they mean doing maths in year 12, and further maths in year 13? (bit of an odd way to put it but I've heard it used in that sense)


Yup.

It is for those who want to do 4-5 a levels, (fm and maths + 2-3 subjects).

I haven't choosen the course since I am not confident enough whether I can cope with the fast-paced learning.
Reply 61
Original post by stoyfan
Yup.

It is for those who want to do 4-5 a levels, (fm and maths + 2-3 subjects).

I haven't choosen the course since I am not confident enough whether I can cope with the fast-paced learning.

But the other option is to learn maths and further maths at the same time. So you'll still be doing the same amount of maths per year whether you learn them in parallel or separately.

I find it strange how your school has separate entry requirements for the two methods of learning maths/FM.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by stoyfan
Yup.

It is for those who want to do 4-5 a levels, (fm and maths + 2-3 subjects).

I haven't choosen the course since I am not confident enough whether I can cope with the fast-paced learning.


That would not really be "more fast paced" in my view, it's just learning the content in a different order. Similarly to notnek, I'm not sure why the entry requirements would be different.
Original post by the_nshoesmith
Mine says you need a 6 just to get in sixth form


It used to be a 6 for maths and 7 for maths+fm but it seems that the school has just changed the grade requirements since they made a new website.

Many colleges say you need an average of a B to get accepted.
Original post by _gcx
That would not really be "more fast paced" in my view, it's just learning the content in a different order. Similarly to notnek, I'm not sure why the entry requirements would be different.


Idk, I didn't want to take any chances and anyways, the only A levels I want to study is Physics, maths and FM.
Original post by Notnek
But the other option is to learn maths and further maths at the same time. So you'll still be doing the same amount of maths per year whether you learn them in parallel or separately.

I find it strange how your school has separate entry requirements for the two methods of learning maths/FM.


The point is that with double maths, you get less lessons. With Maths and FM you get more lessons as you have seperate classes for them.
Reply 66
Original post by stoyfan
The point is that with double maths, you get less lessons. With Maths and FM you get more lessons as you have seperate classes for them.

Ah right that makes more sense.

Usually schools only offer one way of learning maths/FM. For schools that offer maths in Y12 and FM in Y13, their FM students will usually have more lessons per week than the single maths students.

One advantage of doing maths A Level in Y12 is that you can retake it in Y13 if it doesn't go so well :smile:
Original post by Notnek
Ah right that makes more sense.

Usually schools only offer one way of learning maths/FM. For schools that offer maths in Y12 and FM in Y13, their FM students will usually have more lessons per week than the single maths students.

One advantage of doing maths A Level in Y12 is that you can retake it in Y13 if it doesn't go so well :smile:


aha. Ok .

For some reason, this option (maths and FM seperate) is widely offered accross my county.
Original post by Einsteinium*
Mathematically speaking, these grade boundaries are more or less accurate. According to this set of grade boundaries, only 3% of all candidates who took this course got 191 or above. If this course was taken by all 700,000 or so GCSE candidates, then that would mean around 19,000 people would get a grade 9.


I'm a little lost here... 3% of 700,000 is 21,000, so wouldn't 21,000 get a 9 rather than 19, 000?

Besides, I think we may get more grade 9s than 21,000 - I think the figure is likely to be around 3.4% (23,800)
Original post by Gabzinc
I'm a little lost here... 3% of 700,000 is 21,000, so wouldn't 21,000 get a 9 rather than 19, 000?

Besides, I think we may get more grade 9s than 21,000 - I think the figure is likely to be around 3.4% (23,800)


Yeah you're right, I think I used something like 660,000 students sitting GCSEs based on when it was 5% getting A*... Hopefully you see my point though, and that it won't just be random statistics used to determine the boundaries at least :tongue:

I'm not sure if they can go above the limited number of candidates getting a grade 9 (3% in maths, 2% in English). Where do you get 3.4% from?
I have a question that may be off-topic: is it better achieving all 9s at GCSE or some 9s and some 7s but take some A levels with it?
Original post by thekidwhogames
I have a question that may be off-topic: is it better achieving all 9s at GCSE or some 9s and some 7s but take some A levels with it?


Not much point taking A levels with GCSEs (at the same time) if I'm honest. Why not just wait until you go to sixth form, like everyone else? :smile:

Some people do AS mathematics with GCSEs though, although not many. It's shares some common topics with Further maths GCSE.
Original post by Einsteinium*
Not much point taking A levels with GCSEs (at the same time) if I'm honest. Why not just wait until you go to sixth form, like everyone else? :smile:

Some people do AS mathematics with GCSEs though, although not many. It's shares some common topics with Further maths GCSE.


I really love certain subjects and would rather take more exams of them, like Maths instead of some subjects that I don't particularly like. Also, if I do that then I can spend sixth form studying problem solving and doing STEP, SMC, BMO, etc. Otherwise, I won't have enough time at sixth form to develop these skills and go through UKMT books. This considered - which would you say is better?
Reply 73
Original post by thekidwhogames
I really love certain subjects and would rather take more exams of them, like Maths instead of some subjects that I don't particularly like. Also, if I do that then I can spend sixth form studying problem solving and doing STEP, SMC, BMO, etc. Otherwise, I won't have enough time at sixth form to develop these skills and go through UKMT books. This considered - which would you say is better?

If doing this means it will negatively affect some of your other GCSEs then this sounds like a bad idea to me.
Original post by thekidwhogames
I really love certain subjects and would rather take more exams of them, like Maths instead of some subjects that I don't particularly like. Also, if I do that then I can spend sixth form studying problem solving and doing STEP, SMC, BMO, etc. Otherwise, I won't have enough time at sixth form to develop these skills and go through UKMT books. This considered - which would you say is better?


I still think it's better to do only GCSEs during the dedicated 2 years for them. There's just honestly no benefit for doing any A Level content during that time, and even if there was, it would probably be more valued to do extra GCSEs instead of them. Are you doing further maths GCSE?

Also, don't worry, you'll have a long, long time to do STEP, SMC, BMO and whatever else you take. Especially as all A Levels are now linear, meaning you'll only do the exams at the end of the 2 years of sixth form. Just focus on GCSEs, if I were you :smile: Still, if you want other opinions, you could always open a seperate thread :wink:
Original post by Einsteinium*
Yeah you're right, I think I used something like 660,000 students sitting GCSEs based on when it was 5% getting A*... Hopefully you see my point though, and that it won't just be random statistics used to determine the boundaries at least :tongue:

I'm not sure if they can go above the limited number of candidates getting a grade 9 (3% in maths, 2% in English). Where do you get 3.4% from?


The formula for how a grade 9 will be calculated + the estimated number of grade 7's (20% for maths)

Percentage of those achieving at least a grade 7 who will be awarded a grade 9 = 7% + 0.5 × (percentage of students awarded grade 7 and above)

0.07 + (0.5 x 0.2) = 17% of students that achieve a grade 7 will get a grade 9

17% of 20% = 3.4% (grade 9's in maths)

I think the 3% figure is just them rounding down to make it "look simple", although that's just a hunch. The figure should be around 3.4%, but I guess I won't be surprised with 3%.
Original post by Einsteinium*
I still think it's better to do only GCSEs during the dedicated 2 years for them. There's just honestly no benefit for doing any A Level content during that time, and even if there was, it would probably be more valued to do extra GCSEs instead of them. Are you doing further maths GCSE?

Also, don't worry, you'll have a long, long time to do STEP, SMC, BMO and whatever else you take. Especially as all A Levels are now linear, meaning you'll only do the exams at the end of the 2 years of sixth form. Just focus on GCSEs, if I were you :smile: Still, if you want other opinions, you could always open a seperate thread :wink:


Thanks for the advice, yeah that makes sense I may just do them in their dedicated times actually. I'll think about it when the time is nearer but thanks bro! :smile:
I wish I never stumbled upon this thread. It's making me anxious.
Original post by Mr M
Well done. What do you mean when does CIE publish its results? You know when as you got your result on results day?!


Oh, I was just confused because I got the email like two weeks before results day, but I subsequently discovered that this is normal, as CIE apparently publishes lots of its results early.
Original post by Treblebee
Oh, I was just confused because I got the email like two weeks before results day, but I subsequently discovered that this is normal, as CIE apparently publishes lots of its results early.


Yes, that is their normal results day.

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