Maths & English (GCSE)
Develop your knowledge and understanding throughout with the support of our expert GCSE maths and English department.
If you are coming to NSCG having missed out on your Grade 4 in maths and English at school, you will automatically be enrolled onto our maths and English programme when joining your chosen course pathway. Our focus us in helping you make progress in these important subjects, regardless of level, to help you progress onto additional education and ultimately your future career. You'll attend your GCSE maths and/or English lessons alongside your main course pathway.
Teachers skilfully increase the levels of complexity over time to ensure learners 'get it', they use questioning adeptly and a variety of revision activities to check and challenge learners' understanding.
Useful information and contact details
GCSE Maths
SUMMER WORK - MATHS
To help you transition into college life we've set a number of tasks for you to complete over the summer. Below are a number of keeping warm activities, designed to help you keep maths active during your break.
INITIAL ASSESSMENT SUPPORT
The packs below will help you with the initial assessment that takes place when you start college.
MATHS ACTIVITIES
If you have any questions about the course you can get in touch by emailing sc.gcse.ac.maths@nscg.ac.uk
GCSE English
SUMMER WORK - ENGLISH
To help you transition into college life we've set a number of tasks for you to complete over the summer.
Task 1a An English Summer 1 Reading
Task 1b An English Summer 2 Writing
Task 2a inference with short text
Task 2b language and structure short task
Task 2c language and structure short task creating a paragraph
Task 2f persuasive language short task
PREPARATION FOR INITIAL ASSESSMENT
INTERACTIVE QUESTIONS
If you have any questions about the course you can get in touch by emailing sc.gcse.ac.english@nscg.ac.uk
FAQs
We've pulled together some useful FAQs to hopefully help answer any queries you may have around studying GCSE English and/or Maths at NSCG.
I did not achieve a grade 4 or above in English and/or maths, will I have to study them at college?
Yes, the government have made Maths and English mandatory for any learner who does not achieve a grade 4 or above. Please do not worry, once you enrol at college you will be automatically allocated an appropriate maths and/or English class that best represents your achievement grade.
I had extra time for my exams at school, will this continue at college?
It is important you tell your tutor at the start of your first class. Our teachers really want to help, they will refer you to our specialists in college who check which type of support is best for you. Once complete we will ensure everything is in place for you.
How long are the English and maths lessons?
Each subject is a minimum of 3 hours per week (1 x 2 hour lessons and 1 x 1 hour lesson). Some vocational courses will have an additional 1 hour lesson of English (4 hours in total) per week in order to help them achieve.
If you are an adult learner, your lessons will be in the evening for 3 hours.
Do I need to complete English and maths work over the summer?
.
To ensure you have the best start in September, we are asking all students to complete the English and maths keeping warm resources, you can find them in the links above, they are based around real life maths and study skills English, both of which are really important to help you get ready for your new vocational study programme.
If I am not happy with my grade, can I retake my English and/or maths in the Autumn exam series?
Students may be entered for the Autumn exam series if both they and their tutor agree that they are ready. Your initial assessment will be used to make this decision. There are resources above to help you prepare for the initial assessment.
If I sit an exam before the summer, can I leave the course?
No, the college will need to receive confirmation of your pass grade before you can stop attending class.
Will my teacher tell me what progress I am making?
Yes, you will receive individual feedback in your exercise books and after each half-termly assessment. Your feedback will include what you are good at and areas you need to brush up. In addition, you will receive regular targets for you to work towards and your teacher will help you track your achievement.
Will I have to complete English and maths homework at college?
Yes, you will have a small amount of homework each week to help you with the fundamental skills you may have forgotten from school or an activity to help you prepare for your next lesson. Students who make progress in English and maths complete additional work outside class time and have a good revision timetable.
Will I receive a college report on my progress?
Yes, a report is issued termly and will include the whole of your study programme, including English and/or maths. The report will be emailed or posted home.
If I have a grade 4 in English Literature do I have to attend English classes?
If you have not yet achieved a grade 4 in English Language, but achieved a grade 4 or above in English Literature you do not have to study GCSE English Language while at college. However, we believe GCSE English Language is really important to your future career progression and will automatically enrol on to a GCSE English Language course.
If you wish to withdraw, you will need to ask your parent, carer or ward to sign a permission slip that can be obtained from your teacher at the start of the academic year.
Do I need maths?
Maths is a crucial element in any workplace environment, from dealing with money, to building work, to cutting and styling hair, to entering those important digits online that pay for our online shopping, it makes all those nice things around us work, computers, phones, TV’s, fridges, washers, chances are if it needs power to make it work then there is maths in it somewhere. Maths is all-around us, so we need a certain level of maths to work effectively and budget our incomings and outgoings.
Your brain is like a muscle, it needs exercising to get the most out of it, how you exercise it is important, and there are some tasks you can do contained in the following links that will help you keep maths active over the following weeks leading up to your September start;
There are some Level 1 keeping warm activities and answers.
There is some GCSE maths to help you with completing the baseline in September.
Alongside all of this there is some maths activities to test and flex your maths Brain.
Do I need English?
English is a main element in our day to day lives, we use it primarily for communication with each other as a spoken language. But it is so much more we use it send and receive email, texts and letters, we use it to post to our social media sites, some of us main even read a book, when it comes to college you will have to read texts and submit assignments, so being able to use English really is a good idea.
Your brain is like a muscle, it needs exercising to get the most out of it, how you exercise it is important, and there are some tasks you can do contained in the following links that will help you keep maths active over the following weeks leading up to your September start;
There are a variety of tasks to do
There is some keeping warm activities to do, to help keep that brain active over the summer.
There are tasks to help you get the most out of the baseline assessment in September.
Alongside this there are some other English activities to help flex those brains.
NEW STARTERS FACEBOOK GROUP
Take some time to get to know us really well. You will find our latest news, events and updates by following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you are on Facebook please be sure to join our new Facebook groups ‘NSCG Stafford College Starters 2022’ where you can virtually join a community of learners who will also be joining NSCG in September, some of whom may be on the same course as you.
Get in touch
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