The importance of passing my Maths GCSE?

Question

Hello,
I have an A* in English Language, an A in Literature and a predicted A - A* in Humanities, Business, Drama, Citizenship and Media for my GCSEs, while I also took an AS level this year too, aiming for an A. For the rest of my subjects I have Bs and Cs, apart from Maths, where I currently have a D and did rather badly this year in the exams. (Bizarre, I know...I'm not a fan of Maths)

My sixth form mention nothing which forces you to retake Maths if you do fail it, they merely for 5 above Cs in any subject, which would allow me to take the 4 A levels I wish to do, so that is not an issue. What I am interested in is what the future adverse affects of having this out of place D on my record would be, and whether it is worth taking an eye off my A levels in order to attempt to retake it.

I have looked on many sites, with views ranging from 'Don't worry, it won't matter in the long run, it's only one GCSE.' to 'If you don't get a C you will be thrown into the depths of hell for all eternity, unemployed and rejected by all future forms of education.' So my question would be, which one is closer to the truth?

Answer 1

Hmm..well think about uni's as well. A lot of them ask for a minimum of at least C in english and maths (dependent on the course you wanna do) But I would strongly recommend you to retake maths, as it does stand out as you said, and it is technically a fail so it could well affect your chances of being able to do the course you want at uni.

While yeah, it won't matter in the long run, in the short run it will matter a lot. And the short run is what affects the long run ;)

I see your concern about taking focus out of your A levels to retake a GCSE, but I reckon it's definitely worth it. Are you not very good at maths? Or was that just a one off where you did badly? If it was a one off then it would DEFINITELY be worth retaking, but if you aren't very good then it may be a waste of time that you could be spending on your A levels.

The second comment about the grade seems a bit sarcastic to me, but like I said, if it was a one off then go for it!

Hope I helped! :)

Answer 2

Hi Luke,

Whether or not your maths GCSE is important depends upon the sort of work you want to do in future. Sure, you can continue through A levels & get a good degree (I did), but the range of careers you will be able to do will be limited.

For example, I wanted to be an architect or an engineer, but both careers required me to demonstrate some ability in maths. Unfortunately I couldn't. I have dyscalcula, the numbers equivalent to dyslexia & I simply couldn't see numbers in their right place on paper, so getting a basic qualification in maths was beyond me. I ended up doing a degree in geography which I thoroughly enjoyed even though this meant handling mathematical formulae way beyond what you'd get at A level. It was no problem. I even turned out to be brilliant at devising mathematical formulae to resolve various problems, far better in fact than many maths specialists. Unfortunately though, I just couldn't get that qualification in maths.

So instead I trained as a teacher. Ironically I'm now qualified to teach maths up to GCSE and my teaching of maths to less able kids has been highly praised, but I taught primary instead. More recently I took early retirement & retrained as a psychotherapist. Once again, the absence of a qualification limited my choice of careers.

So while it is possible to get by & even do well without some sort of a qualification in maths, it will limit what you can do.

Quite possibly, you may do well to study maths independently during a gap year when all other academic pressure is off. It has worked for some. But if not, just enjoy the things you can do.

Answer 3

Maths is such a bummer. But seriously don't worry about and believe in yourself. I'm doing mine in June 2011 and i'm in middle set and i was like mum what if i fail and she said if you revise each topic once you've finished it and revise before the test and work hard in class you'll do fine and guess what she's right. If your really worried about it go and get a maths tutor or buy some revision guides (CGP, Letts) As i always say if you think positive the outcome will be positive and if you think negative the outcome will be negative and tell your self that you can do it and that your gonna pass. For me maths is my weakest subject so nearer the time i know i'm really gonna need to revise for it ALOT. If your stuck in class go see your teacher or ask for help at the time. Or if you have any nice enough friends who will help you. I'm sure you'll be fine just follow some of the things i've said like Believing in your self. Good Luck :)

Answer 4

All you can do is do your best and less on the negativity. As it is only GCSE it is still a building block of your personality and can prove to who ever that you are a trier and won't give up even tho it is a week subject.



Maths is one of the main subjects that people look at for employment. It is one of these things where you are expected to be tested on a number of subjects you are not the only one who had a mountain of study to get on top of.



Have a study plan where you equally spend time on everything. It is a bad attitude and a waste forgetting about your maths totally!!

Answer 5

It's pretty weird for a boy to fail maths , yet get an A in English literature. But generally, Maths is considered as one of the best GCSE's to have, be it c or A*.

Answer 6

It depends what career you want in the future.

Some courses or careers, like science degrees or teacher training, insist that you have a grade C or higher for maths. Whereas others, like media degrees, aren't bothered at all.

I would have a careful think about what careers or courses you want to do in the future, then go and ask specific advice from your careers service at school.

Answer 7

people at my school had to get a c in maths to pass, however some of them only had to resit one module so were sttill able to take four a levels.

Answer 8

depends what you want to do... no one really cares about your GCSEs once you have A levels etc....