I'm worried about my Maths GCSE

I'm really bad at Maths, and I think I probably need a 9 in my GCSE to apply for Oxford or Cambridge. Whenever I knuckle down and revise hard, it all goes into my head and within hours has completely gone. I normally get less than 50% in any Maths assessments. What if I don't even pass Maths at all and have to resit? This is really worrying me.

I'm really bad at Maths, and I think I probably need a 9 in my GCSE to apply for Oxford or Cambridge. Whenever I knuckle down and revise hard, it all goes into my head and within hours has completely gone. I normally get less than 50% in any Maths assessments. What if I don't even pass Maths at all and have to resit? This is really worrying me.

No you don't! Guessing you're wanting to do history - I know of someone who got a 5 or 6 in GCSE maths (forgot which) and got a Cambridge interview for history. At Oxford, GCSEs (can) form a larger part of the admissions process.

If you're struggling to retain information, you probably haven't found a way that works for you. Some people like using flashcards or writing notes, but at the level of GCSE most people do it via repetition and by practising past papers/textbook questions unless it sinks in. (since the emphasis is more on knowing how to do a type of question rather than understanding many underlying concepts, though the latter leads naturally to the former) The questions in your actual GCSE will then probably be similar to what you've seen before. Also make sure you're taking regular breaks and working in an environment that suits how you work.

100% agree with everything already said and no one needs a 9 in GCSE Maths to go anywhere unless you want to do Further Maths as part of a 3 A level study. What I found worked the best when I was helping my friends out with their maths is practice papers. The exam boards always recycle exam questions and more likely than not a majority of the questions of your paper will be similar to questions you've encountered before. You can find tons of exam papers online, on the exam boards website and from your teachers. I would start doing sections of foundation papers untimed, for instance the first 10 questions. Then gradually build up, do them timed, then add more questions, then do the whole paper and so on. Always mark the paper yourself later using a different coloured pen to see where you've gone wrong. Look at the topics you did worse on, and try to look for questions on those at websites like Corbett Maths or in your textbook. Has your school by any chance registered with DrFrostMaths? It's an amazing resource and it's completely free!

Who told you that? Cambridge barely look at gcses when considering applications and you can certainly get round having one lower grade for Oxford providing the rest are A*/A and you aren’t applying for a maths related course. I got an 8 in maths and I’m applying for Oxford, but they don’t distinguish between 9 and 8, they’re both counted as A*

Thanks, I was planning on going through and completing some exams papers from previous years on Monday to try and see what to expect. My school hasn't registered with DrFrostMaths, but I can always suggest it to my Head of Year.

Thanks for the tips, really appreciated. It's been eating me whole for the past few days.

good luck, got a while yet!

I think you definitely should! It's super easy for teachers to interact with, and they can even generate homeworks and assignments as well as get data on what students are good or not good at. It's an amazing tool. There's also leaderboards and all that jazz, so some healthy competition in the classroom is always a good motivator