Ah, no, it's not easy!
I got an a* in maths at gcse and a in further maths, but I find a level difficult, in my maths mocks I have had d,c,b but I doubt I will get that in my actual exam. I hate maths and I always have, so I regret taking it, I took it because I thought I was quite good at it and it would look good but I wish I hadn't

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Reply 69

Cinna21

Original post by _Xenon_

Sorry for the title...

I need to make a serious decision whether or not A level maths is for me. If you have done/are currently doing AS maths / A Level please tell me about what your maths GCSE grade was and how you find A level maths now. What grade are you working at/were working at in AS Maths and when did you start learning/revising the content yourself? How hard did you have to work to get to where you're at - How many hours for example every day or week?

Any advice for me (a year 11 student who has almost completed GCSEs and is around a grade C/B student)?

Many thanks.

Hi I got a B for GCSE and I took the horrible step of taking it for A-level. It really helps with the sciences however I am really struggling in Maths. If you do decide to take it take 3 a levels not 4 because you sound like me because I was B/C and it is incredibly hard. Just to say I'm not that stupid lol like I get good grades in science ( I do physics and chemo at A-level). However if you want to pass maths and your gcse is around b/c I would take 3 alevels. I took Physics Chemistry Maths Graphics and Graphics wasted so much time and I have struggled to balance 4 a levels but it is possible. However if your anything like me with your maths ability at GCSE push hard to get 3 Alevels because honestly maths is very hard. I know I can do it but I need so much more time then other students and I couldn't give maths enough time because of graphics.

Anyway that's my view on A-level maths. It is possible to do it but be prepared to put a lot of hours in because I didn't and I may need to retake the year because I want to get a good AS grade in maths as my other a-levels are good and I want to continue with Physics Chemistry and Maths. I hope this helps also if you can ask your parents to put your in some maths tuition as it would really help. I only live with my mum and she can not pay for it otherwise we'd end up homeless ahaha. But yeh in all seriousness it is possible you just have to apply yourself properly its really hard getting started.

I really hope this helps :smile:

Good luck

Reply 70

_Xenon_

Original post by Cinna21

Good luck

Hi thank you so much! I picked Maths , Chemistry & Physics for next year (3 A Levels) :smile:

Yeah that's a good idea. I might get tuition in September if possible eventhough it's costly. I'll try to find someone with good reviews though so it is worth it if I do well. Thanks again and best of luck to you! :smile:

Reply 71

username2640413

It depends on the person 😂 I am doing as math and find it so much easier the igcse math

Reply 72

NoahMal

A* GCSE Maths
A Gcse Statistics

Alevel maths is easy but I started working summer did 2-3 hours of c1 per day

Stayed after school till 6 3x per week Did nothing the other days when I got home did about 2 hours of revision

Ps I do maths furthermths physics and BTEC CT

I would recommend having a "Chill subject" hence I took BTEC ICT

Reply 73

smartalan73

Really depends on the person. I got A* in gcse maths, then did all of A levels maths in one year and came out with an A* without too much effort. However I have a friend who got an A in gcse, did A level all in one year like me and got a D so is resitting a lot of stuff. I have another friend who got a B at gcse, did as maths last year and got a U and she (seems to) spend loads of time revising.

I think A level really test your ability to actual understand a subject rather than just remember stuff or be good at answering exam questions. Like i got A* in gcse physics but then only a B in as physics and I've come to realise I was only good at gcse cos i was good at answering the exam questions and I don't actually understand physics that well. So I think you need to analyse why you're getting the grades you're getting and if it's cos you actually understand the subject before you choose to do it at A level.

Reply 74

Arsey2.0

Original post by _Xenon_

If you want to do maths A level, you just need to do some work over the summer holiday because B/C grade at GCSE is kind of low to be honest. You need to be aiming for A/A* standard so that you won't struggle to keep up when starting the course

Reply 75

_Xenon_

Original post by Arsey2.0

Thanks man. I might get an A, hopefully! :smile:

I'll teach myself the AS course over the summer :-)

Reply 76

Arsey2.0

Original post by _Xenon_

Thanks man. I might get an A, hopefully! :smile:

I'll teach myself the AS course over the summer :-)

I self learnt C2 in 2 weeks so it's definitely possible if you're motivated (and have some moda :colone:

). All you need to do is just a few of the first C1 chapters which are just solving quadratics, simultaneous equations, inequalities, sine/cosine rule and line equations (which are all GCSE topics you should know anyway). You don't need a teacher to explain it if you're doing the edexcel modular maths course because the textbooks have such clear worked through examples you can read through yourself and just complete all the exercises. I am self learning extra modules outside of the classroom but it's tough to find the motivation to do so in the summer so don't be overambitious

Reply 77

fefssdf

Stop panicking, anyone with a bit of self-motivation is capable of getting an A/A* in A-level maths

Just follow the steps :smile:

1) Do every example in the book
2) Do every question in the book, including the review exercises
3) Do every past paper from the last few years including ones from other exam boards so you can deal with different styled questions
4) If you don't understand how to do a question go on youtube and find a video of something telling you how to do it
5) Use exam solutions if you're struggling

Reply 78

meloj

Original post by _Xenon_

I'm currently just coming to the end of year 13 so therefore A2 maths. I was similar to you in that it was a big decision as I'm anything but naturally good at the subject, quite the opposite.

Final GCSE grade: A (Just scraped an overall C after the individual modules in year 9/10 and then went on to get the A in both linear papers at the end of year 11)

AS maths: B
Core 1: B
Core 2: A
S1: C

During AS learning the new content was quite intimidating when it was first introduced, especially during core 2 but keeping up with the homework and doing extra questions each week keeps you more than ahead. Whilst learning new content I spent about 5 hours on maths each week including homework and made a point of seeing my teacher with anything I struggled with (pretty sure he was sick of me by the end of the year) which was super helpful. I bumped it up to about 7/8 hours a week during the build up to exams and worked through as many past papers as possible. A word of warning, I was completely laid back with s1 and didn't really work on understanding it mostly because I hated it so much which explains the C. The final grade really reflects on how much work you do.

A2 maths: C (predicted)
I've struggled immensely this year with A2 maths and felt the jump up was much more significant than GCSE to AS. I've fallen behind with work on multiple occasions and have really let things get on top of me which explains the C. It would be entirely possible with the extra work but you really have to be prepared to step it up and keep going. A2 I found is a lot more reliant on a solid understanding of previous knowledge from the C3/C4 content. Also, there's lots of trigonometry, especially trig identities which can't really be taught, it's all about practice and perseverance. Make sure you do enjoy the problem solving nature of maths as there's less memorisation of methods and more thinking, the questions of course are much more demanding.

Inevitably, the papers are getting more demanding each year. If you are going all out with revision and still getting B/C's at GCSE I'd think twice about maths. Only because there were a number of people with B's at GCSE last year in my class and only one is left now as they struggled so much. If you're prepared to work hard and genuinely enjoy maths though and aren't taking it because it looks good, give it a try. You should also talk to your teacher about this as they should know your capabilities better than anyone.

All the best :smile:

Feel free to ask if you have any further questions!

Reply 79

If I was going to give you advice from my own personal experience - never look up to those 'innate maths freaks' who seem to be born with a natural ability to do Maths. It is a common assumption to think that you have to be clever at Maths to become good at Maths. I strongly believe that no matter how weak somebody may be (and this specifically applies to Maths), if they work hard enough through the right means they will always have the potential to be very strong at the subject. Yes it's true it may take them a little longer to achieve their way but please understand that this always works IF you have the right time to work hard enough.

Remember sometimes you may feel as though you've reached your limit of hardwork, but still don't see any improvement. However please don't let this put you off - as the reason why you can't improve will always be due to some gaps that you're missing. It may be too late to significantly improve on your grade this year, however you definitely have plenty of time to brush up on the areas which let you down for next year.

There IS one condition to this however, and that is - the only way you'll be able to improve on an area is to genuinely enjoy and find interest in the subject. I can honestly tell you that if you don't TRULY enjoy Maths at this stage and you're technically only taking the subject because it is 'required' then please don't expect to acheive high grades.

Don't get me wrong though because there are in fact ways to train yourself to enjoy the subject even if you may struggle with it at this stage. Frustration maybe the key factor which contributes to 'hatred' in Maths which is why I say you will have to work very hard to most importantly understand the work and hence avoid anything which may decrease your motivation for the subject.

Indeed it is how much you love Maths that can set for high grades and not necessarily how much you can do the Maths initially. Therefore I would say if the case with you curently is where you enjoy Maths, definitely take it for AS because this will be enough motivation needed to improve your weaknesses. If it's vice versa but you still require Maths for your future course, make sure you go through training to enjoy the subject. And always remember if you understand the subject you will always enjoy it and feel a sense of satisfaction, hence achieving the highest possible grades through your hardwork. Just never give up and be patient because this takes time but with enough dedication it will ALWAYS work.

(P.S: it is also extremely important to have a very good teacher ESPECIALLY with Maths compared to any other subject. Trust me teachers make a VERY big difference to your extent of understanding in Maths. )

Please feel free to ask me any questions, and to further understand how you may want to improve certain aspects in Maths for both GCSE and AS level.

Wishing you the best of luck! :smile: