Like anything you need to practice. You're not stupid, it's just more difficult for you to take in maths. But if you spend time going over course books, you will pass.
Not everyone finds maths easy. Don't kick yourself too hard.
You've now done the test obviously so my advice is practise, practise, practise.
Go online and google 'level 2 test practise papers' and use them regularly as a practise till your retake.
Excels not too difficult. Look on youtube, there are plenty of people putting lessons up on how to use it.
You need to say you're having trouble, maybe you can be given more help.
They only have that one lady for the area. She has other roles to do as well.
I was thinking of asking if I could give up the course if I don't pass the next exam. It has been 3 months and I revise and revise but it's a waste of time.
Everything depends on how its presented to you, some people like a bare bones question such as 3x+4y=20 and 2y+6x=30 (made up numbers so unless i'm brilliant they wont be solvable ) where as other like the "fred brought 33 type a batteries.......etc"
and i'm on my 3rd year of trying to get the mrs through GCSE maths...it aint fun when she can't see basic fractions no matter how i try etc as it just doesn't seem to mesh but show her a foreign language and within hours she's starting to get it
They only have that one lady for the area. She has other roles to do as well.
I was thinking of asking if I could give up the course if I don't pass the next exam. It has been 3 months and I revise and revise but it's a waste of time.
For someone who is taking a Functional Skills course, the standard of your English is excellent, so I would urge you to persevere with the maths element.
For someone who is taking a Functional Skills course, the standard of your English is excellent, so I would urge you to persevere with the maths element.
When I studied circuit theory at degree level it wasn't an easy subject at all. The lecturer had been teaching it for umpteen years, all very easy for him but he didn't make it easy for the students to understand and I just didn't follow it that well and inevitably I failed the exam.
But I found a really good text book and learnt everything from it that I needed, a lot of work but the book was easier to understand than the lecturer. I sat the exam again and passed with one of the best grades.
They only have that one lady for the area. She has other roles to do as well.
I was thinking of asking if I could give up the course if I don't pass the next exam. It has been 3 months and I revise and revise but it's a waste of time.
You need to look at what you're failing on. Then look it up online, or get a study book. You must be able to see what questions you're getting wrong.
Everything depends on how its presented to you, some people like a bare bones question such as 3x+4y=20 and 2y+6x=30 (made up numbers so unless i'm brilliant they wont be solvable ) where as other like the "fred brought 33 type a batteries.......etc"
and i'm on my 3rd year of trying to get the mrs through GCSE maths...it aint fun when she can't see basic fractions no matter how i try etc as it just doesn't seem to mesh but show her a foreign language and within hours she's starting to get it
Q1: x = 4, y = 2
Q2: x = 4, y = 3
Fractions caused me a major headache at school, as well as anything involving me having to draw lines at x degrees. It always used to panic me as to whether there was a certain margin of error that was allowed. Give me physics or anything science based and I could easily get my head around numbers. I remember my mock GCSE physics exam asking for carbon dating estimates for certain things, and I got marked down on it because I did it in my head. I had to show my working out, and when I had a similar question in my real exam, I found it difficult to show my working out.
I think with maths, it's down to how a person "learns". One of my friends kids had issues with maths and English at primary school and was more or less written off. He went to senior school last year and got presented with an outstanding achievement award in both subjects just before the summer holidays. The school have taken the time to work out how he learns, and then developed a plan for him that works. I thought colleges would have provided some sort of learner assessment if there were clear problems with a given subject.
I can't even pass a basic level 2 maths test... I can't pass my whole course until I pass it!
My prospects for the future are very thin on the ground. I'm in my early 20's... pathetic!
Don't worry maths was never my strong point. Never found it a barrier in life, well maybe if you want to be an accountant it'll probaby hamper your prospects but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.
Even the maths teacher at the school I overheard doesn't have a maths degree.... hers is in fashion(!). She said if theres something she doesn't get she sets it as homework and said "let google be their teacher(!)" You heard it here first.
Unfortunately you do need your level 2 for pretty much any job these days.
Level 2 functional skills roughly translates in to a foundation grade C GCSE.
I passed my level 2 - got my results in August, and am now doing maths GCSE.
I feel your pain - the level 2 paper was brutal and I only fully completed one section. The other sections I just kept plugging and plugging until the exam ended.
I was totally convinced that I had failed it was that hard.
The things to remember is that on Functional Skills papers the marking is sympathetic. If you answer the first question wrong but, complete the whole section accurately based on that first answer, even if it was wrong, your accurate answers still count. They can only penalise you once for one mistake. So don't give up on a whole section just because you think you've fluffed one bit.
Look at the marking number at the bottom of each bit. If it's a 1 they are looking for one answer. If it's 2 they are looking for two answers, if it's 8 they are looking for an 8 step answer etc. Doing a ton of work for a one point question is a waste of time and will still only get you one mark - give a one answer reply on an 8 point question and you will probably fail.
Don't forget to answer Yes or No or She's right/wrong or He's right/wrong. That's usually 1 point in itself.
Read!!! And then read again!! Sometimes they will put a question on the exam sheet in an entire paragraph of information when the actual equation is simple. Take in a highlighting pen with you and highlight the actual info you need. It's based on 'real' stuff so some of the questions will bog you down on purpose - the highlighting pen is your friend.
Read!! And then read again!! The supporting information booklet. Everything you need to perform the equation they want you to do IS in there. What you need to do is find the info that you actually do need. For example, if they give an entire page of tabled data use your highlighting pen to identify what you need. It's easy to locate the info you need and then lose it and start answering wrongly because you've accidentally used the info above or below the one you need.
One mistake I made on level one was to not read the supporting booklet properly and I answered an entire section without it. At the end of the exam I flicked back through it and saw that all the info I had guessed at was all there in black and white. My only saving grace was that I had guessed right so only needed to amend a bit.
This is functional skills and that is what you need to learn - functional skills.
I don't know what course you are doing but, I bet you are using maths already and don't even know it. So if - for example - you're doing hairdressing you already know to use 1 part peroxide to 3 parts dye (no I'm not a hairdresser and I don't know what I'm talking about), well, that's ratio - 1:3 so to dye two heads the ratio would need to be 2:6 etc.
Bring things down to what you already know - fractions and percentage can be worked out in pies or pizzas I'm sure I'm making the maths heads here laugh at me but...
I have to visualise something to make it make sense. Don't get bogged down in science - put a picture in your head.
And finally, learn how to convert things (values will always be given) and learn the fluff out of circles and all you need to know about circles. My final question was on finding out how much gold I would need to cover a ring. I had to come up with the surface area of the ring and then convert pure gold in to carats and then convert that in to grams.
Circles seem to be 'the thing' in a level 2 paper.
Good luck, I hope I've helped - you can do this, just simplify it
Very easily solvable as are just about any simultaneous equations of that ilk. You don't need any great maths skills, just the ability follow basic instructions - the key is to understand what algebra is.
I have been thinking over maths teaching for a while. I am lucky in that I don't have any problems but I can see that others do. I believe that the solution depends on how children are taught the first principles. You need to understand what numbers, angles, fractions and algebra REALLY are before you start building on them. If you don't then it is like building a house on poor foundations. Teachers need to identify children without the foundation and resolve the issues before going on to the next levels.
Have you been assessed for Dyscalculia and Dyslexia - yes, Dyslexia, my daughter is borderline Dyslexic and it was picked up because of her Maths. Her English skills are average, not obviously Dyslexic at all.
It is perfectly possible to be intelligent, even Mensa intelligent, and yet find Maths a nightmare. Maths does not make immediate sense to me at all. I was at least in my thirties before I realised why numbers were divided by 100 as part of the process for working out percentages. Yes really. It was quite a light bulb moment - and yet, here I am, typing quite intelligible sentences, LOL.
Get tested if you can - not because a 'label' will instantly make Maths easy, but because you will be able to find a reason and strategies for learning in a way that suits you.
The best Maths teacher I ever knew had Dyscalculia.
I have been thinking over maths teaching for a while. I am lucky in that I don't have any problems but I can see that others do. I believe that the solution depends on how children are taught the first principles. You need to understand what numbers, angles, fractions and algebra REALLY are before you start building on them. If you don't then it is like building a house on poor foundations. Teachers need to identify children without the foundation and resolve the issues before going on to the next levels.
Agreed!! I am 37 and finally tackling maths. Due to family problems as a child I had chunks of time out of school. I would return to find the whole class had moved on and I would still be on the previous book. No one helped me catch up and I never recovered.
That's why I did functional level 1 and 2 maths before doing my GCSE now. I had so many gaps - the basics were missing.
Comments
What course are you doing anyway?
You've now done the test obviously so my advice is practise, practise, practise.
Go online and google 'level 2 test practise papers' and use them regularly as a practise till your retake.
Done all the coursework and oral and literacy tests but can't seem to pass this.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Functional-Skills-Maths-Level-Practice/dp/1847628729/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412622103&sr=8-1&keywords=maths+level+2
I have to do an excel level 2 as well. I am just as thick on that one to.
Pretty sure I can't just keep doing the test.
Excels not too difficult. Look on youtube, there are plenty of people putting lessons up on how to use it.
You need to say you're having trouble, maybe you can be given more help.
They only have that one lady for the area. She has other roles to do as well.
I was thinking of asking if I could give up the course if I don't pass the next exam. It has been 3 months and I revise and revise but it's a waste of time.
and i'm on my 3rd year of trying to get the mrs through GCSE maths...it aint fun when she can't see basic fractions no matter how i try etc as it just doesn't seem to mesh but show her a foreign language and within hours she's starting to get it
For someone who is taking a Functional Skills course, the standard of your English is excellent, so I would urge you to persevere with the maths element.
I promise I am not making it up.
I just know how to write sentences I guess.
They're not saying you are, just encouraging you. Stick at it a while longer. 3 months isn't that long. Just practise. Daily.
I didn't suggest that you were making it up, although it is unusual to have such a wide spread of abilities at FS level.
My point was that you are clearly not "stupid", so you shouldn't give up.
When I studied circuit theory at degree level it wasn't an easy subject at all. The lecturer had been teaching it for umpteen years, all very easy for him but he didn't make it easy for the students to understand and I just didn't follow it that well and inevitably I failed the exam.
But I found a really good text book and learnt everything from it that I needed, a lot of work but the book was easier to understand than the lecturer. I sat the exam again and passed with one of the best grades.
x=4.4444r
y=1.6666r
You need to look at what you're failing on. Then look it up online, or get a study book. You must be able to see what questions you're getting wrong.
Q2: x = 4, y = 3
Fractions caused me a major headache at school, as well as anything involving me having to draw lines at x degrees. It always used to panic me as to whether there was a certain margin of error that was allowed. Give me physics or anything science based and I could easily get my head around numbers. I remember my mock GCSE physics exam asking for carbon dating estimates for certain things, and I got marked down on it because I did it in my head. I had to show my working out, and when I had a similar question in my real exam, I found it difficult to show my working out.
I think with maths, it's down to how a person "learns". One of my friends kids had issues with maths and English at primary school and was more or less written off. He went to senior school last year and got presented with an outstanding achievement award in both subjects just before the summer holidays. The school have taken the time to work out how he learns, and then developed a plan for him that works. I thought colleges would have provided some sort of learner assessment if there were clear problems with a given subject.
Don't worry maths was never my strong point. Never found it a barrier in life, well maybe if you want to be an accountant it'll probaby hamper your prospects but otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.
Even the maths teacher at the school I overheard doesn't have a maths degree.... hers is in fashion(!). She said if theres something she doesn't get she sets it as homework and said "let google be their teacher(!)" You heard it here first.
They are parallel equations. If you solve them individually then there are infinite answers for each.
Level 2 functional skills roughly translates in to a foundation grade C GCSE.
I passed my level 2 - got my results in August, and am now doing maths GCSE.
I feel your pain - the level 2 paper was brutal and I only fully completed one section. The other sections I just kept plugging and plugging until the exam ended.
I was totally convinced that I had failed it was that hard.
The things to remember is that on Functional Skills papers the marking is sympathetic. If you answer the first question wrong but, complete the whole section accurately based on that first answer, even if it was wrong, your accurate answers still count. They can only penalise you once for one mistake. So don't give up on a whole section just because you think you've fluffed one bit.
Look at the marking number at the bottom of each bit. If it's a 1 they are looking for one answer. If it's 2 they are looking for two answers, if it's 8 they are looking for an 8 step answer etc. Doing a ton of work for a one point question is a waste of time and will still only get you one mark - give a one answer reply on an 8 point question and you will probably fail.
Don't forget to answer Yes or No or She's right/wrong or He's right/wrong. That's usually 1 point in itself.
Read!!! And then read again!! Sometimes they will put a question on the exam sheet in an entire paragraph of information when the actual equation is simple. Take in a highlighting pen with you and highlight the actual info you need. It's based on 'real' stuff so some of the questions will bog you down on purpose - the highlighting pen is your friend.
Read!! And then read again!! The supporting information booklet. Everything you need to perform the equation they want you to do IS in there. What you need to do is find the info that you actually do need. For example, if they give an entire page of tabled data use your highlighting pen to identify what you need. It's easy to locate the info you need and then lose it and start answering wrongly because you've accidentally used the info above or below the one you need.
One mistake I made on level one was to not read the supporting booklet properly and I answered an entire section without it. At the end of the exam I flicked back through it and saw that all the info I had guessed at was all there in black and white. My only saving grace was that I had guessed right so only needed to amend a bit.
This is functional skills and that is what you need to learn - functional skills.
I don't know what course you are doing but, I bet you are using maths already and don't even know it. So if - for example - you're doing hairdressing you already know to use 1 part peroxide to 3 parts dye (no I'm not a hairdresser and I don't know what I'm talking about), well, that's ratio - 1:3 so to dye two heads the ratio would need to be 2:6 etc.
Bring things down to what you already know - fractions and percentage can be worked out in pies or pizzas
I have to visualise something to make it make sense. Don't get bogged down in science - put a picture in your head.
And finally, learn how to convert things (values will always be given) and learn the fluff out of circles and all you need to know about circles. My final question was on finding out how much gold I would need to cover a ring. I had to come up with the surface area of the ring and then convert pure gold in to carats and then convert that in to grams.
Circles seem to be 'the thing' in a level 2 paper.
Good luck, I hope I've helped - you can do this, just simplify it
so it was solvable then
Very easily solvable as are just about any simultaneous equations of that ilk. You don't need any great maths skills, just the ability follow basic instructions - the key is to understand what algebra is.
It is perfectly possible to be intelligent, even Mensa intelligent, and yet find Maths a nightmare. Maths does not make immediate sense to me at all. I was at least in my thirties before I realised why numbers were divided by 100 as part of the process for working out percentages. Yes really. It was quite a light bulb moment - and yet, here I am, typing quite intelligible sentences, LOL.
Get tested if you can - not because a 'label' will instantly make Maths easy, but because you will be able to find a reason and strategies for learning in a way that suits you.
The best Maths teacher I ever knew had Dyscalculia.
Good luck.
Agreed!! I am 37 and finally tackling maths. Due to family problems as a child I had chunks of time out of school. I would return to find the whole class had moved on and I would still be on the previous book. No one helped me catch up and I never recovered.
That's why I did functional level 1 and 2 maths before doing my GCSE now. I had so many gaps - the basics were missing.