Hey there.
Well, I'm in a bit of tough situation, and one that's really starting to make me anxious.
Bit of background, first. I'm from the UK, 18 years old (19 this June) and have been home-schooled for pretty much all of my primary and secondary school life, right up until I started college at 16. I use the term home-schooled liberally, because I wasn't really schooled anything. Long story short, here I am studying a BTEC in Creative Media at college with no GCSEs to my name except an English (which I'd say is my strongest subject - I was predicted an A-A* on it, though got a B because I ran out of time in the exam).
I'm now studying my Maths GCSE, and I've only just begun to realise that I'm halfway through it already and no closer to getting the grade that I want. I could give all sorts of drivel on why this is, but the short answer is that I've been wasting time. Maths is a subject that's always made me anxious, and coupled with the rest of the coursework on my course, in addition to the knowledge that I had just a year to work my way to a level that it takes most students my age years to, I haven't really done much of it.
The problem is, I want to not only pass, but achieve an A/A*. Given all that I've just posted, I understand this might be a laughable notion by now. The problem is, I wouldn't settle for anything else: I know I can do it, and I want to do it, so badly.
To be honest, I'm not crap at Maths - this year has taught me that, if nothing else. I consider myself fairly intelligent, and don't generally have trouble grasping concepts. What's really worrying me is the time that I've now got to put my head down, and start doing just that. So here's my question.
Based on other students' experiences with the content of the GCSE - and teachers' experience with teaching it - would it be realistic of me to build up to from what is effectively an E-grade level to an A* grade, in the four months or so that I have - for May?
Also, a separate, related question - what's the difference between the Foundation-tier level of the GCSE and the Higher-tier, as far as content goes? That is, once I've reached the highest grade on a Foundation-tier level, assuming I can, roughly how much more work is left to go from Foundation to Higher-tier? Is the content of the Higher Tier course equal to how much there is on Foundation, or is it a lot less - a little bit more built onto Foundation-tier knowledge?
PS. The course is an Edexcel one.
Thanks in advance. I would really really appreciate some honest, informative answers.
Hashim
Well, I'm in a bit of tough situation, and one that's really starting to make me anxious.
Bit of background, first. I'm from the UK, 18 years old (19 this June) and have been home-schooled for pretty much all of my primary and secondary school life, right up until I started college at 16. I use the term home-schooled liberally, because I wasn't really schooled anything. Long story short, here I am studying a BTEC in Creative Media at college with no GCSEs to my name except an English (which I'd say is my strongest subject - I was predicted an A-A* on it, though got a B because I ran out of time in the exam).
I'm now studying my Maths GCSE, and I've only just begun to realise that I'm halfway through it already and no closer to getting the grade that I want. I could give all sorts of drivel on why this is, but the short answer is that I've been wasting time. Maths is a subject that's always made me anxious, and coupled with the rest of the coursework on my course, in addition to the knowledge that I had just a year to work my way to a level that it takes most students my age years to, I haven't really done much of it.
The problem is, I want to not only pass, but achieve an A/A*. Given all that I've just posted, I understand this might be a laughable notion by now. The problem is, I wouldn't settle for anything else: I know I can do it, and I want to do it, so badly.
To be honest, I'm not crap at Maths - this year has taught me that, if nothing else. I consider myself fairly intelligent, and don't generally have trouble grasping concepts. What's really worrying me is the time that I've now got to put my head down, and start doing just that. So here's my question.
Based on other students' experiences with the content of the GCSE - and teachers' experience with teaching it - would it be realistic of me to build up to from what is effectively an E-grade level to an A* grade, in the four months or so that I have - for May?
Also, a separate, related question - what's the difference between the Foundation-tier level of the GCSE and the Higher-tier, as far as content goes? That is, once I've reached the highest grade on a Foundation-tier level, assuming I can, roughly how much more work is left to go from Foundation to Higher-tier? Is the content of the Higher Tier course equal to how much there is on Foundation, or is it a lot less - a little bit more built onto Foundation-tier knowledge?
PS. The course is an Edexcel one.
Thanks in advance. I would really really appreciate some honest, informative answers.
Hashim