Failing at A Level Maths!!!
Hi all;
I am a desparate parent here.
My son chose A level maths after getting a 8 in his GCSE.
He failed his mocks and after a lot of studying over the holidays he re-sat his maths exam and failed again. For some reason, maths is just not landing with him.
We are now urgently trying to find him a university and a course for him for next year. My poor boy has now found himself in a position that due to a poor choise and his school not flagging this issue earlier, his future in regards to university is now limited.
Has anyone else ever had this situation and could offer some advice?
He is predicted to get a B in English and a C in economics.
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
I am a desparate parent here.
My son chose A level maths after getting a 8 in his GCSE.
He failed his mocks and after a lot of studying over the holidays he re-sat his maths exam and failed again. For some reason, maths is just not landing with him.
We are now urgently trying to find him a university and a course for him for next year. My poor boy has now found himself in a position that due to a poor choise and his school not flagging this issue earlier, his future in regards to university is now limited.
Has anyone else ever had this situation and could offer some advice?
He is predicted to get a B in English and a C in economics.
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Original post by adade
Hi all;
I am a desparate parent here.
My son chose A level maths after getting a 8 in his GCSE.
He failed his mocks and after a lot of studying over the holidays he re-sat his maths exam and failed again. For some reason, maths is just not landing with him.
We are now urgently trying to find him a university and a course for him for next year. My poor boy has now found himself in a position that due to a poor choise and his school not flagging this issue earlier, his future in regards to university is now limited.
Has anyone else ever had this situation and could offer some advice?
He is predicted to get a B in English and a C in economics.
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
I am a desparate parent here.
My son chose A level maths after getting a 8 in his GCSE.
He failed his mocks and after a lot of studying over the holidays he re-sat his maths exam and failed again. For some reason, maths is just not landing with him.
We are now urgently trying to find him a university and a course for him for next year. My poor boy has now found himself in a position that due to a poor choise and his school not flagging this issue earlier, his future in regards to university is now limited.
Has anyone else ever had this situation and could offer some advice?
He is predicted to get a B in English and a C in economics.
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
You've used the word "failing" in the thread title and "failed" in the post itself. Do you mean "a bad grade" or do you literally mean a U? What A level grade has his school predict for him in Maths.
Original post by DataVenia
You've used the word "failing" in the thread title and "failed" in the post itself. Do you mean "a bad grade" or do you literally mean a U? What A level grade has his school predict for him in Maths.
He got a U, both in the mock and resit, even though he revisec over over the holidays.
Alevel maths is just not 'landing' with him. He literally got no marks even though his father sat with him everyday and he went to a summer camp!
Original post by adade
He got a U, both in the mock and resit, even though he revisec over over the holidays.
Alevel maths is just not 'landing' with him. He literally got no marks even though his father sat with him everyday and he went to a summer camp!
Alevel maths is just not 'landing' with him. He literally got no marks even though his father sat with him everyday and he went to a summer camp!
Which board?
Original post by Muttley79
Which board?
OCR i think
Original post by adade
Hi all;
I am a desparate parent here.
My son chose A level maths after getting a 8 in his GCSE.
He failed his mocks and after a lot of studying over the holidays he re-sat his maths exam and failed again. For some reason, maths is just not landing with him.
We are now urgently trying to find him a university and a course for him for next year. My poor boy has now found himself in a position that due to a poor choise and his school not flagging this issue earlier, his future in regards to university is now limited.
Has anyone else ever had this situation and could offer some advice?
He is predicted to get a B in English and a C in economics.
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
I am a desparate parent here.
My son chose A level maths after getting a 8 in his GCSE.
He failed his mocks and after a lot of studying over the holidays he re-sat his maths exam and failed again. For some reason, maths is just not landing with him.
We are now urgently trying to find him a university and a course for him for next year. My poor boy has now found himself in a position that due to a poor choise and his school not flagging this issue earlier, his future in regards to university is now limited.
Has anyone else ever had this situation and could offer some advice?
He is predicted to get a B in English and a C in economics.
Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Sounds like maths A-level is not for him. Has he considered restarting A-level with different subjects, or at least swapping Maths and probably also Economics for something else. He is predicted a B in English, which might suggest that he is better suited to essay subjects, maybe a humanity, or a social science. It would mean pushing back uni by 1 year, but that might be better than him failing maths in June, or getting grades that don't enable him to get into anywhere that he is keen to go to. He would need to swap now though, without delay, in order to avoid missing too much of the new courses.
(edited 7 months ago)
Original post by adade
OCR i think
OK - do check and I can link good resources. What help are school giving him?
We are currently in discussions with the school to try and find out his options.
It seems to late to start a new A level and as such agreed that we will persevere until christmas to see if we
can at least get him to a D grade. My biggest query, I suppose, is it possible to get into a university with just 2 A levels?
It seems to late to start a new A level and as such agreed that we will persevere until christmas to see if we
can at least get him to a D grade. My biggest query, I suppose, is it possible to get into a university with just 2 A levels?
Original post by adade
We are currently in discussions with the school to try and find out his options.
It seems to late to start a new A level and as such agreed that we will persevere until christmas to see if we
can at least get him to a D grade. My biggest query, I suppose, is it possible to get into a university with just 2 A levels?
It seems to late to start a new A level and as such agreed that we will persevere until christmas to see if we
can at least get him to a D grade. My biggest query, I suppose, is it possible to get into a university with just 2 A levels?
Have your son tried using tlmaths yt channel? He should search up maths topics he doesn't understand on youtube.. could also see maths people on youtube covering ocr maths.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpfeQBf2A0U&list=PLg2tfDG3Ww4vrstKAZ0dajHx_hq85P0G-&ab_channel=TLMaths
(edited 7 months ago)
Original post by adade
We are currently in discussions with the school to try and find out his options.
It seems to late to start a new A level and as such agreed that we will persevere until christmas to see if we
can at least get him to a D grade. My biggest query, I suppose, is it possible to get into a university with just 2 A levels?
It seems to late to start a new A level and as such agreed that we will persevere until christmas to see if we
can at least get him to a D grade. My biggest query, I suppose, is it possible to get into a university with just 2 A levels?
I'm not saying that restarting A-levels is necessarily the best option, but do consider it with the school, as I don't think it is too late. You are only say 3 weeks in, which he should be able to catch up on, particularly as he would be repeating English lit, so would have more free time for the others.
Original post by adade
My biggest query, I suppose, is it possible to get into a university with just 2 A levels?
That's really the wrong question, as it suggests that "getting to any university, for any course, next year is better that taking an extra year to improve his grades, potentially in a different A level. It rarely is.
However, the answer to your question is yes. You haven't given us any clues as to what courses might interest him, so I've taken a punt. If he achieves a B in English and a C in Economics - i.e. his predicted grades - then he'd meet the requirements for Business and Management BA (Hons) at University of the Highlands and Islands. They want "2 A levels at grade C or above". There are others, but they're unlikely to be what or where he wants to study.
Hi, Sorry, think I need to clarify, my son is in his final year of A levels as such, it would be too late to swap to another course.
His want is to go to university but due to choosing the Maths, which he was previously getting good marks at GCSE, he is totally tanking, even with support.
This has now left us in a massive quandary as to his options and we are looking at all options available for him, since we are not getting very much advise from the school since they have supposedly never had this before.
His want is to go to university but due to choosing the Maths, which he was previously getting good marks at GCSE, he is totally tanking, even with support.
This has now left us in a massive quandary as to his options and we are looking at all options available for him, since we are not getting very much advise from the school since they have supposedly never had this before.
Original post by adade
Hi, Sorry, think I need to clarify, my son is in his final year of A levels as such, it would be too late to swap to another course.
His want is to go to university but due to choosing the Maths, which he was previously getting good marks at GCSE, he is totally tanking, even with support.
This has now left us in a massive quandary as to his options and we are looking at all options available for him, since we are not getting very much advise from the school since they have supposedly never had this before.
His want is to go to university but due to choosing the Maths, which he was previously getting good marks at GCSE, he is totally tanking, even with support.
This has now left us in a massive quandary as to his options and we are looking at all options available for him, since we are not getting very much advise from the school since they have supposedly never had this before.
His second year doesn't have to be his final year. Many A level students end-up with grades they're not happy with and re-take then by staying in sixth form (or moving to a sixth form college, if necessary) for an extra year.
Original post by adade
Hi, Sorry, think I need to clarify, my son is in his final year of A levels as such, it would be too late to swap to another course.
His want is to go to university but due to choosing the Maths, which he was previously getting good marks at GCSE, he is totally tanking, even with support.
This has now left us in a massive quandary as to his options and we are looking at all options available for him, since we are not getting very much advise from the school since they have supposedly never had this before.
His want is to go to university but due to choosing the Maths, which he was previously getting good marks at GCSE, he is totally tanking, even with support.
This has now left us in a massive quandary as to his options and we are looking at all options available for him, since we are not getting very much advise from the school since they have supposedly never had this before.
This is a bit puzzling and I think some people above were assuming that he'd only just started the A level course, in which case it is perfectly natural to struggle at first until things settle down and some of the concepts "click", and if not then it's feasible to change to another course.
Are you saying that all throughout Year 12 your son was operating at a decent level and getting "acceptable" grades in his classwork, and then the 'U' grade only manifested itself when he took end of year mocks? Wasn't he getting continuous feedback from teachers on his classwork, and/or didn't he tell you what progress he was making as he went along?
Hi, thanks for asking those questions.
We were only made aware of my sons failing after he sat his end of year Maths mock.
On Parents evening we raised this with his teachers and asked why this was'nt addressed before, naturally we did not receive a straight answer which has now left us in this predicament.
My sons mid term reports were not glowing but they did not show an all out fail.
This situation has left my son working over the summer holidays, going to a maths camp and putting in the effort but to no avail. I am desparatly worried about my sons mental well being since all the options available leave him in an 'embarassing' state in comparison to his peers.
My husband and I are furious that this was not raised before hand also considering he goes to a private school.
We are at a loss, since the school, although offering support, are naturally trying to cover their arse.
We were only made aware of my sons failing after he sat his end of year Maths mock.
On Parents evening we raised this with his teachers and asked why this was'nt addressed before, naturally we did not receive a straight answer which has now left us in this predicament.
My sons mid term reports were not glowing but they did not show an all out fail.
This situation has left my son working over the summer holidays, going to a maths camp and putting in the effort but to no avail. I am desparatly worried about my sons mental well being since all the options available leave him in an 'embarassing' state in comparison to his peers.
My husband and I are furious that this was not raised before hand also considering he goes to a private school.
We are at a loss, since the school, although offering support, are naturally trying to cover their arse.
Original post by adade
Hi, thanks for asking those questions.
We were only made aware of my sons failing after he sat his end of year Maths mock.
On Parents evening we raised this with his teachers and asked why this was'nt addressed before, naturally we did not receive a straight answer which has now left us in this predicament.
My sons mid term reports were not glowing but they did not show an all out fail.
This situation has left my son working over the summer holidays, going to a maths camp and putting in the effort but to no avail. I am desparatly worried about my sons mental well being since all the options available leave him in an 'embarassing' state in comparison to his peers.
My husband and I are furious that this was not raised before hand also considering he goes to a private school.
We are at a loss, since the school, although offering support, are naturally trying to cover their arse.
We were only made aware of my sons failing after he sat his end of year Maths mock.
On Parents evening we raised this with his teachers and asked why this was'nt addressed before, naturally we did not receive a straight answer which has now left us in this predicament.
My sons mid term reports were not glowing but they did not show an all out fail.
This situation has left my son working over the summer holidays, going to a maths camp and putting in the effort but to no avail. I am desparatly worried about my sons mental well being since all the options available leave him in an 'embarassing' state in comparison to his peers.
My husband and I are furious that this was not raised before hand also considering he goes to a private school.
We are at a loss, since the school, although offering support, are naturally trying to cover their arse.
Youve not said the course/uni/entry requirements he'd like to do?
It would be unusual to be failing after a summer of effort, even with problems in y12. Id get a meeting with the school and see his y12 grades for the assessment throughout the year. Y13 is typically more intense than y12 and if the reasons for him failing still exist this year, the outcome will be fairly obvious. His grades could improve, but there must be some reason for the current problems, and to rectify his learning would require a fair bit of effort across the board. As a couple of people are hinting at above, Id probably be planning for another year, possibly doing a different third a level in that year, depending on what grades/subjects he actually needs/what his problems actually are.
(edited 7 months ago)
Miracles do happen. A young friend of mine last year got BCD having never passed a single A level exam (i.e. mocks) in their life. Are there undiagnosed problems such as dyslexia?
You still haven't said what your son wants out of this, you said it was his choice to do Maths but what course is he interested in at uni, does HE want to persevere with the Maths or is this more about your fury that the school have let you down and you've wasted the school fees?
I don't know what the chances are of him starting again and getting onto a different course (A levels or BTEC) at college two weeks into term, but they'll be significantly less by Christmas.
You still haven't said what your son wants out of this, you said it was his choice to do Maths but what course is he interested in at uni, does HE want to persevere with the Maths or is this more about your fury that the school have let you down and you've wasted the school fees?
I don't know what the chances are of him starting again and getting onto a different course (A levels or BTEC) at college two weeks into term, but they'll be significantly less by Christmas.
Can he just drop down a year (you said he's at a private school so they can do that easily) and start Yr12 again? You'd have to pay an extra year of school fees but it would mean that now he's at the start of sixth form again, as if he'd only just received his GCSE results this summer. He could keep doing the English A Level and change the other 2, or see if Maths clicks better a second time around (personally I'd swap out both of Economics and Maths and choose something else to go with the English to maximise my chances of getting better results this second time around, but it depends on what he wants to do at uni).
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