New GCSEs in English and maths

New GCSEs
in English and Maths.

If your child is in year 9 now, they’ll be starting their
new GCSEs in maths, English language and English in Sept 15. It will be
assessed by external exams at the end of the 2 year course in the summer of 2017,
featuring the new 9 to 1 (high to low) grading system.
The other exams will be added in Sept 16, for examination
in Summer 2018, so the current year 8s will be the first to experience the new
exams for the majority of the subjects.

What’s happening to maths?


The new maths GCSE will be more ‘challenging’ with more emphasis
on problem solving. There will be new topics, such as ratio and proportion and
students will be expected to learn mathematical formulas by heart.


The
syllabus will feature around a third more content and will require pupils to
answer “real world problems”, including financial mathematics, to ensure the
area is covered in greater depth.

And English?


Twenty per cent of marks for written exams will be allocated to
accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar in the new English language GCSE
and, while there will be no set texts, students will be expected to read
widely.


English
literature, which will no longer be compulsory, will see students having to
tackle an unseen text and will require pupils to study at least one Shakespeare
play, a Victorian novel and modern British fiction or drama since 1914.
Poetry is also set to become a bigger
part of the GCSE
 syllabus from 2015, with pupils required to study at
least 15 poems by at least five different poets.
The link below
shows comparison of new to old grades.