There are a few clearly defined differences between GCSE Foundation and Higher tier.
Maturity, self-confidence, knowledge, skill, and motivation are all elements that you have to take into account when deciding the right tier for your child. If a student takes a foundation tier GCSE course, the highest grade they can obtain is a grade 5. A student who takes a higher tier GCSE course can obtain up to a grade 9 and a minimum of a 4. (According to Ofqual, there is a ‘safety net’ grade 3 for students who score a small number of marks below a grade 4).
In the exam papers there are differences in topics and are weighted between Higher and Foundation. For example, there is a higher weighting towards algebra and geometry and measurements in the higher tier paper. In the foundation paper, there is a higher weighting towards number, ratio, proportion, and rates of change.
Students can achieve grades 3 to 5 on either paper and some of the questions on the exam papers will be the same.
Cross-over questions are designed to help exam boards ensure that the difficulty of achieving the same grade on each paper is the same ie. it’s as easy/difficult to get a 4 on the higher paper as it is on the foundation.
Ideally, a tier is chosen for a pupil in year 9, in readiness for the next two years of teaching and learning. For most pupils, this will be the tier they take at the end of the two years.
However, it’s always possible that some students perform unexpectedly in their mock or are showing signs of either potential, or lacking in self-confidence in lessons.
You can move students to a different tier at any point - even on the day of the exam (for which the school will be charged a fee). Moving a student from one tier to another is a serious decision that has to be well thought through because, either way, the student has missed content for the exam.
For the most part, choosing a tier for each student comes pretty easily. But there are often a handful of students whom the decision is a little more complex. On the one hand, you want to provide students with the best possible opportunity to achieve in the exam. However, at the same time, the risk of a ‘fail’ on the higher paper can be too great. Past papers are a great place to start. Mock exams and practice papers help demonstrate the ability of the student in the moment.
The cross-over questions are particularly helpful for finding out if students have the ability to access content on the higher paper. Equally, if a student appears to be struggling to access the higher paper content, and you’re considering moving them to the foundation tier, their ability to access the cross over questions is a clear indicator of their potential.
Moving a student from higher to foundation can be a really smart decision for some pupils. If a student performs particularly badly on a mock, demonstrates a lack of confidence in class with key topics that appear on the higher paper, or has acute exam fear, a move to foundation could ease the pressure but do not do this prior/without giving EMC-square tuitions, we have come across brilliant students who consulted us very late and we couldn’t help them though they were brilliantly poised for higher levels.
One last thing to consider when choosing tiers for your students is what they want to do in the future. If they intend to continue their studies in maths, it might be more appropriate to enter the student into the higher tier. If they have no intention of studying maths or related subjects in the future, foundation could be the way to go.
Moving a student from Higher tier to Foundation Tier is very convenient psychologically but for the reverse you’re on a much stricter time frame, It is perhaps the rarer move of the two, although not impossible. This move needs to be done within a few months of year 10. Any later than that and the student is going to have too much to catch up on to be able to achieve in the exam.
Is there a good way to make a decision about higher or foundation maths GCSE?
EMC-SQUARE Team strongly believes every student should attempt higher level in grade 9 and 10, depending upon two years of evaluation a switch can be thought over in grade 11.
With highly brilliant professors and tons of experience in coaching IIT curriculum of India and AP curriculum of Harvard, both considered the toughest in academic sphere, we are perfectly suited to mould your child and direct their trajectory in a defined and focused path. Confidence can definitely affect pupil performance in exams, if student lacks self-belief it will be catastrophic on the higher level paper. Our professors are in the zenith of intellectual and experiential ladder with a min of 25 years of teaching experience there is none better intellectually and experientially suited for the Higher International Level STEM curriculum for your child.