The Linked Pair is so called because students need to be entered for both GCSEs to cover the statutory Key Stage 4 Programme of Study.
The Linked Pair were designed to encompass the entire skills and content of the single GCSE Maths as well as some new content, to allow study and assessment of key aspects in greater depth and to provide a solid grounding for further education.
Each GCSE consists of two units, each worth 50 per cent of the total mark. Although all students have to enter both GCSEs in the Linked Pair, they are certificated separately and equally weighted, so Grade A* to C in either meets the maths requirement for five A* to C grades in attainment tables.
Focuses on maths as a challenging and fulfilling discipline in its own right, allowing students to:
- enjoy the abstract
- develop mathematical thinking, reasoning and problem solving
- acquire sound basic techniques
- appreciate clear communication, justification and simple proof.
Concentrates on using maths as an essential tool for life and work, including:
- mathematical understanding of the world
- everyday situations, eg finance and science
- functional skills, ie representing, analysing, interpreting
- emphasizing relevance and purpose.
Full details of the course, including specifications, are in the Maths Resource Zone
- 100 centres and approximately 10 000 students
- Teaching from September 2010 to at least summer 2013
- First live series of examinations in January 2011
- Data and feedback independently evaluated by AlphaPlus for DfE
- If approved, specifications will be available nationally from September 2015
- Will replace or run alongside the single GCSE Maths
Throughout the pilot, we are continually consulting stakeholders, including teachers, students and other organisations in the maths community, to raise awareness, gather feedback and improve and refine our qualifications. Participating in our pilot gives teachers, schools and colleges a vital opportunity to influence national policy.
According to Jacinta Smith, our Senior Pilot Manager, ‘several Linked Pair teachers have been involved in designing the support we give and have even trained as examiners for these qualifications. This has given us invaluable feedback from those who are directly involved.’
Beth has already done some marking for the first exam series in January 2011: ‘I feel as though I have contributed quite a lot, because I've done the online questionnaires whenever I've been asked and then the written ones after the examinations-we have got good students here and their feedback is very structured.’
‘It's more structured, yet there's more flexibility within it. Beth Haslam’
As Beth discovered, the specifications of our GCSE Maths Linked Pair allow you to:
- teach them as separate, consecutive GCSEs or as a coherent course
- order the units and topics to suit your timetable
- enter students at Foundation or Higher Tiers for either GCSE
- spread assessments at six-monthly intervals in January and June of Years 10 and 11 or opt to enter the exams only in June.
Beth really liked the way Maths has been divided into two GCSEs, as well as the structure of topics within them. For her, Methods in Mathematics represents ‘the more traditional maths, if you like; it's what you'd expect maths to be’. She thinks Applications in Mathematics brings the subject ‘back down to real life’, and plans to explore a more interactive approach to learning with it.
She continues, ‘I didn't feel either as though I was as restricted, as a teacher, in what I could teach. There was a lot to cover and you could cover it in whatever order you wanted to-it's very, very clear and, as far as I can see, the kids are really enjoying it.’
Find full details of delivery options in the specifications
This style of GCSE enables students to feel more confident with the topic they prefer, as Robyn, a Year 11 student, explains:
‘It's just easier studying topics separately because a lot of things in Methods are quite similar and in Applications it's really different, so it is easier to get your head around the first bit.’ She adds, ‘It gives you a better chance of getting a higher grade..because you can excel in what you do better.’
Bayley, from Year 10, agrees. ‘Yes, it takes a lot of pressure off your shoulders, because if you don't do very well in the first one, you've still got a second chance to do well and revise more in the second one.’
Beth Haslam also used the promise of a second GCSE at Higher Tier to motivate her Foundation Tier Year 10s to aim for a Grade C and above, which worked particularly well with the middle-ability sets.
Being able to enter her gifted and talented group for suitably challenging Higher Tier GCSEs stretched them: ‘we've developed that competition of who's going to get a double A and they're working for that.’
We knew from the outset that we wanted to provide our pilot teachers with as comprehensive a range of support as we do for our established qualifications. As Beth points out: ‘there is not the funding from councils to do the heads of department meetings, which is where I think a lot of people got their support from. We're now looking to the exam boards a lot more, and this again is..why I did pick AQA.’
We have formed a Stakeholder Communications Group to make sure that we satisfy the needs of all stakeholders, including pilot teachers. Advice and resources have been made available through regular meetings and our extensive online facilities.
Pilot teachers are also able to contact our full time pilot support team (Senior Pilot Manager Jacinta Smith and Senior Pilot Administrator Steve Prior) directly by phone or e mail. Beth admits ‘I'm ringing [Jacinta] all the time. If I need an answer to a really quick question, I can pick up the phone and go, ‘What's the answer to this?’ All the team seem to be really helpful.’
For the duration of the pilot, we will be adding to the wealth of information and resources, specifically on the Linked Pair pilot, that we provide on our website. Available already in the Maths Resource Zone are:
You can find even more materials, resources and guidance on our AQA All About Maths website, such as:
- past papers – all January and June 2011 sets
- practice papers and mark schemes (two full sets)
- full assessment guidance for every specification, with examples
- mock exams analyser
- submitted resources section – share your best resources with other pilot centres
- discussions area – online forum for AQA GCSE Maths teachers
- route maps – interactive schemes of work to help you deliver our specifications within your school timetable
- useful links.
Even though it's a new qualification, I don't feel as though I've been scrabbling around for exam papers. Beth Haslam
An important feature of our service to pilot centres is the regular e mail updates, which help to keep teachers informed. As Beth says, ‘It's very easy, when you're a teacher, to get quite nervous that perhaps you have missed something’, and she appreciates being able to rely on AQA keeping her in the loop. ‘It's really, really important because you're dealing with people's futures.’
Thanks to a tip in one of our e mail updates, some pilot teachers have joined the online forum for teachers of the Linked Pair pilot, hosted by the NCETM (The National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics).
I'd make a point of going to all the conferences...it has been really, really, really valuable. Beth Haslam
We like to give teachers an opportunity for face to face advice and consultation, so conducted two rounds of meetings last year: ‘Preparing to teach’ meetings in April 2010 and support meetings in October 2010. The meetings were well attended – 69 centres out of the 94 pilot centres were represented – and we discussed topics such as:
- the specifications
- specimen assessment materials, including a booklet of exemplar materials and a booklet of Quality of Written Communication (QWC) exemplars
- the latest practice papers
- further exemplars for Linked Pair specific topics
- further guidance on the Linked Pair specific topics
- guidance on AO3 within the Linked Pair.
Beth remarked that AQA events are definitely worth attending. For example, going through mark schemes in a meeting ‘is really beneficial for a new qualification, because it shows how the marks are going to be allocated, what are you looking for as an examiner. I think that's been really, really helpful.’
The meetings were all provided free of charge to pilot centres and we were pleased to see that they were enthusiastically received. More support meetings will be held for all pilot centres in autumn 2011.
I was really, really pleased with the M1 results, obviously; thrilled to bits. Beth Haslam
As this was the first exam series of the pilot, only four months into a two year course, we didn't expect all students to enter this series. Indeed, most schools and colleges have chosen to make entries at the end of the first year of teaching. Even so, over 3200 students entered the M1 (Algebra and Probability) examination and over 1800 the A1 (Finance and Statistics) exam, from 46 schools.
Beth viewed the opportunity for a January assessment, and early results, as a positive incentive. ‘We'd do a mock exam in October and then we'd do a mock in December as well. So, by the time they get to January, they know what they are doing, we know what they are going to get. It just fits in far better with the timescale of things, really.’
The school year in Beth's school runs from May to May, so she got an early start. Some teachers have also decided to begin teaching the first GCSE earlier and adjust their Year 9 Scheme of Work accordingly.
Of those who did enter for the January series, we were pleased to see that the feedback was generally positive. The majority of students agreed that:
- the style and content of the questions was familiar
- they understood the language used in the questions
- any diagrams were clear
- they had enough time to complete the questions (whether they could answer them or not).
Almost all the teachers who responded to our survey felt that the question papers were fair and of an appropriate length. Like Beth, most found our specimen papers very helpful in preparing students for the exams.
And the results? Beth thinks that her students in the pilot performed better than they would have done on the single linear GCSE; the results were ‘a really nice surprise’. So her school has entered more students for the second year of the pilot.
Our pilot management team are already reviewing the results and feedback from both the January and June 2011 assessments, and will continue to monitor and develop aspects of the qualification, such as accessibility of language in question papers, throughout the pilot.
Read more about assessments
In our second exam series, in June, many more centres entered students. This is the end of the first year of the pilot, but already 2055 students were certificating in Methods in Mathematics and 869 in Applications in Mathematics. In total, 4694 students sat the M1 and 2119 the M2 exams and 4223 students took the A1 and 1070 the A2 assessments. So it seems that most centres have decided to teach the Linked Pair as an integrated course.
Jacinta, our Senior Pilot Manager, is encouraged by the results so far. ‘We are delighted at the way in which teachers and students are engaging fully in the Linked Pair pilot. I look forward to continuing to work closely with our centres on this important pair of qualifications at a time when the future paths of GCSEs, including Mathematics, are being determined.’
