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N5 Maths Courses

Discussion in 'Scotland - education news' started by halfajack, Feb 22, 2016.

  1. halfajack

    halfajack Occasional commenter

    I have a friend who needs to get a N5 or equivalent in Maths and only has an Int 1 A from school. I'm trying to help look into things and I've come across N5 Lifeskills Maths, which is an acceptable equivalent. I've looked at some past papers and it looks more doable to me but can any experts give it their thoughts. According to the SQA, this is NOT easier than N5 Maths but I wondered what kind of pupils a Maths department would encourage to take Lifeskills Maths.
  2. subman68

    subman68 Occasional commenter

    Great bit of work by SQA. Life skills maths, sounds like the answer to our issues. Kids have hit the peak in maths, lets do a course that would be "real" nope lets **** it up and make it to hard for this client group.

    My school 80% failed, I think this was a mix of poor teaching and the exam to hard for the group. which was a group that found maths hard and were not over keen on doing any study.
  3. bigjimmy2

    bigjimmy2 Lead commenter

    Why don't they just go the whole hog and, like the book series, call it "Maths for Dummies". People respect honesty.
    Marisha likes this.
  4. braemar

    braemar New commenter

    N5 Lifeskills Maths also demands a high level of literacy on the pupils' part to read the information given as well as answering the question fully which may involve comparing one value over another. Pupils struggled to explain their answers and in that way they lost marks in the assessments. N5 Maths I would say is a bit more accessible in terms of language but some of the maths requires practice and consolidation in the key topics of algebra, trigonometry and quadratics.
    Marisha likes this.
  5. Marisha

    Marisha Established commenter

    N5 Maths just looks like the old 'O' Grade Arithmetic to me.
    bigjimmy2 likes this.
  6. bigjimmy2

    bigjimmy2 Lead commenter

    You're giving your age away, M . . .
  7. halfajack

    halfajack Occasional commenter

    OK, I think I should give a bit more context. This is for an English Lit graduate who hasn't looked at a Maths textbook for over ten years and it was an Int 1 one. He needs an SCQF level 5 Maths qualification and is going to try and cram it himself and sit it in May at a private college. My presumption is that Lifeskills Maths would be the safer of the two but can anyone advise otherwise? Literacy levels are not an issue!
  8. BillyBobJoe

    BillyBobJoe Lead commenter

    I think the Lifeskills track is probably useful for those whose literacy skills substantially exceed their numeracy skills. It's not really much good for those who are just scraping N5 level across the board.
    halfajack likes this.
  9. bigjimmy2

    bigjimmy2 Lead commenter

    Perhaps a tutor for your friend would be the safest route.

    Moderation in Moderation.
  10. halfajack

    halfajack Occasional commenter

    Thanks for the tip. Hoping for an answer to my question as how the result will be achieved is down to him after he decides which course to sit.
    bigjimmy2 likes this.
  11. M1Maths

    M1Maths New commenter

    Hi @halfjack,

    In old money, the N5 Lifeskills course is a tweaked Int2 Apps and the N5 Maths course is a tweaked Int2 123. We tend to recommend that pupils not intending on doing Higher maths- or Nat 5 physics - do N5 Lifeskills.
    It is not an easy option and people do fail.
    Hope this helps.
    halfajack likes this.

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