Higher or foundation tier: choosing well

Foundation tier caps a GCSE maths result at grade 5. Higher tier allows grades 4 to 9. The choice is usually made at the end of Year 9 or in Year 10, and it is hard to reverse.

The honest question

Is your child solidly secure on the foundation content — fractions, percentages, basic algebra, ratio — and comfortable with multi-step problems? If yes, higher tier is usually right.

Where children get stuck

Higher tier moves quickly. A child who scrapes through foundation content will find the higher paper relentless, and may end up with a lower grade than they would have achieved on foundation.

Points to weigh

• What does your child's school recommend, and why?
• Does their intended college course or sixth form require a grade 6 or above?
• Do they want to study maths beyond GCSE?

If the answer to the last one is yes, higher tier keeps that door open. If not, the best grade matters more than the tier.