Maths as an A Level

Im currently in my final year in GCSEs and I am now choosing a levels to do. I had already picked my four, psychology, history, biology and IT applied. The sixth form im applying to has changed IT applied to a BTEC so i don't want to do it anymore. I am now considering maths but i don't know if I am good enough to do it. In my last two exams I got an A (low A) and an A*, leveling it out to a high A overall. Since it is such a big jump from GCSE to a level i'm unsure if I would be able to do it. If you have done maths at a level will you please let me know how it is if you got a similar grade or lower to me in GCSE :smile:

thank you

Reply 1

maleeha95

Hey,
Im doing Maths A level, its not that much of a big jump as such. You're doing well in your GCSE so you should be absolutely fine.
I'de advise you to take it :smile:

Reply 2

Jed_

Original post by Kitty.Cat

thank you

Picking A-levels is less about how good you were at the subject at GCSE and more about how you will adjust to the step up in difficulty. Of course you need to be good at the subject but if you are getting an A and can respond well to the change in difficulty there should be no reason why you shouldn't get an A at AS level. However there is only one way in which to see ho well you respond to the change and that is to do it, work had and you will be fine I'm sure.

Reply 3

CC202cc1

You certainly seem capable if you got an A or A* so you should be ok.
I take AS Maths and I got an A* at GCSE. In my first in class tests I got C,C,U, I had to retake the U and I managed to get an A grade.

You will need to put in a lot of work as I feel that it was a big step up but you do get used to it and it just requires you to remember a lot of methods of working stuff out and applying that to questions.

I take History,biology, psychology and maths and you need to be able to balance your time well and work really really hard!!!

Reply 4

123emily

I got a high A at GCSE and then I only got a D at AS level then dropped it :-( It would have helped if I had a better teacher but I still found it a lot harder. I would say just make sure it's something you really want to do first.

Reply 5

ummm

I'd say you'll be fine! You're doing well at GCSE, so I'd go for it. A level maths is more complex and does require you to think more about what you're doing, so yeah, it seems challenging when you first cover new topics, but after doing a bit of practice it just 'clicks' and you wonder why you ever found it hard. Also, I think it's just a really fun subject to do! You don't have to memorise anything (except from the odd formula, but you're given most of them anyway), and you don't have to do essays/memorise content, you just complete problems, which I find pretty fun! Plus it's rewarding when you manage to do a problem you're really stuck on. Also, past papers tend to have very similar questions year after year, so complete them and you should be fine!

However, make sure that you understand topics as you cover them, so make sure you actually revise for end-of-topic tests and stuff, and do practice. Lots of people in my class just don't put in the effort at home, and so come out with U's and E's in our topic tests.

(Also, if you do end up doing maths, then for future reference, use this website: www.examsolutions.co.uk - I can't recommend it enough! The tutorials make everything seem logical and straightforward; the guy who does them is a really good teacher!)

So yeah, go for it!

Reply 6

JordanS94

I got an A at GCSE and then got an A at AS and I'm now predicted A* :smile:

it is much more difficult when you get into A2 but if you get an A/A* in GCSE and work hard you could get a good grade :smile:

Reply 7

Kitty.Cat

Thanks for the comments! I'm going to discuss it with my maths teacher when i next have a lesson :smile:

the sixth form i'm going to is in the comprehensive school i go to at the minute so i already know most of the maths teachers :biggrin:

thanks for telling me your experiences!

Reply 8

patrickinator

definately do maths. the stuff you learn is of course harder but if you actually put in a little bit of effort after lessons i.e. doing practice questions on your own it becomes very easy and you can score very highly.

Reply 9

JakeyR

Go for it...I got an A* at GCSE (got a C in my mock though, so wasn't expecting close to an A). I'm in no way a 'gifted' student but I've found AS maths to just be a slight extension from GCSE, for me there was no visible jump, everything is sort of a bit harder and the topics are often combined, for example, differentiation with indices (looks complicated but surprisingly easy). Just go for it and I doubt you will regret it.
Good luck with your GCSEs.

Reply 10

yaboy

pick it but dont expect to be handed a result, when you find an exam paper impossible and you come out the exam thinking there gonna lower the grade boundries trust me they wont...

Reply 11

littleone271

I got A's in maths and statistics GCSEs and assumed I'd be able to both of them at AS level. I was right about statistics which I loved but maths was a totally different story. It seemed to require a whole different type of thinking that I just couldn't apply to the logic I'd developed throughout school and used at GCSE. I dedicated way too much time to it in a desperate attempt to keep up with the pace we were expected to work at and it meant I fell behind with other subjects and when I finally gave in and dropped it I no longer had any idea what I wanted to do for my career as I originally loved maths and wanted to be an actuary.

I'm not saying you'll be like me but be warned... If it feels like you can't do it in the first month then don't expect that to change and don't try to persevere like I did because it wasn't worth it and it didn't help. You might be very good at maths at GCSE level but I find that if you can't just follow instructions do it without asking questions or needing logic to back it up then you're probably like me and you don't have the brain for A-level maths.

So yeah... by all means choose it but as soon as you feel like you're falling behind and you can't do it then you should drop it because the reality is you just won't have time to catch up. So many people in my year either dropped it or failed it (despite working hard) it was ridiculous and a lot of them got A's and A*s at GCSE. If your school offers pure statistics A-levels (made up of 6 statistics modules) then I recommend that because it's a lot more doable and I really enjoyed it.