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should i continue to A2 maths? or is it IMPOSSIBLE

i am debating whether to drop maths at AS level. pls can someone with knowledge and experience answer my Qs.

for AS this year, 2016, on AQA exam board i got;

Core 1: 73ums = B
Core 2: 99ums = A
Statistics 1: 100 ums = A

got an A overall :smile: and i revised as hard as i could. i never really deeply understood the mathematical processes (although i tried) i more just learnt how to do the processes and did p much every single past paper since 2008.

I am worried that the core 3, core 4, and mechanics 1 modules i have to take for A2 will be too hard for me to ever understand, and I want an A grade overall.

i don't want to pursue maths further than a level study, i enjoy it, but i want to do a history with French degree at uni.

my main questions/concerns are;

1 - some people say the jump from AS to A2 is worse than that from gcse to AS - is this true?

2- will i struggle with mechanics seeing as i don't do any sciences at A level? most maths students at my college do physics (i also do eng lit, history, French). i got an A* in triple science physics gcse tho lol

3 - if i am applying for history, will my application be weakened by having A2s in French, hist, and maths rather than in French, hist, and eng lit, since eng lit is more relevant to hist than maths?

4 - overall; if i try really hard and do loads of past papers and maybe get a maths tutor, will it be possible to maintain an A grade for overall A2?

Thanks anyone X
Reply 1
It really does depend on you, but with the same effort and attainment there will be no problem achieving atleast an A at A2. I recieved my A2 grade last week with an A* and I didn't do aswell as you did at AS.

I got
Core 1: 91
Core 2: 84
Statistics 1: 84

You may struggle more in mechanics and may have to put slightly more effort than the other modules to achieve the same grade. But overall you only need 480/600. To get an A you need 208/300 available UMS, with your grades this year I would suggest this is easily attainable.
I found the jump from AS to A2 much bigger than from GCSE to AS, but I think it depends on the person.

I didn't do physics and got 95ums in M1 in year 13, you'll be fine if you work at it :smile: it's kinda an AS unit, so should be as hard as S1 as some year 12s do it
Reply 3
Personally, as to a2 was easier since I knew the level of work needed so I went from getting CUC at AS to getting AAABBE (after retaking c1,c2 and S1)

Plus maths provides a release from essays (I did English lit, Econ and history). I wouldn't have gotten into Oxford without the break from essays maths gave me.
Also 99 in C2 and 100 in S1 is amazing!!! you'll be absolutely fine with A2 if you want to do it :smile:
You'll do fine at A2 maths, don't doubt yourself I did worse than you at AS (far worse) and ended up doing pretty well at A2.


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Original post by jbunce12
It really does depend on you, but with the same effort and attainment there will be no problem achieving atleast an A at A2. I recieved my A2 grade last week with an A* and I didn't do aswell as you did at AS.

I got
Core 1: 91
Core 2: 84
Statistics 1: 84

You may struggle more in mechanics and may have to put slightly more effort than the other modules to achieve the same grade. But overall you only need 480/600. To get an A you need 208/300 available UMS, with your grades this year I would suggest this is easily attainable.



Yes I'm prepared to put more effort in for mechanics...

Thanks v much for the ums breakdown that's really helpful, I think I'm gonna go for A2 maths.

Congrats on your A* by the way!
Original post by itsConnor_
I found the jump from AS to A2 much bigger than from GCSE to AS, but I think it depends on the person.

I didn't do physics and got 95ums in M1 in year 13, you'll be fine if you work at it :smile: it's kinda an AS unit, so should be as hard as S1 as some year 12s do it



Okay thank you, that gives me hope about the dreaded mechanics module 🙌🏼
Original post by itsConnor_
Also 99 in C2 and 100 in S1 is amazing!!! you'll be absolutely fine with A2 if you want to do it :smile:



Thank you!! I was shocked, wasn't expecting to do that well haha
Original post by MHI
Personally, as to a2 was easier since I knew the level of work needed so I went from getting CUC at AS to getting AAABBE (after retaking c1,c2 and S1)

Plus maths provides a release from essays (I did English lit, Econ and history). I wouldn't have gotten into Oxford without the break from essays maths gave me.



Yeah that's a good point about the essays, especially since I'll be doing coursework and an EPQ this year.

I think maths is the best choice for me, thanks.
Reply 10
Original post by visionofdivision
Yeah that's a good point about the essays, especially since I'll be doing coursework and an EPQ this year.

I think maths is the best choice for me, thanks.


Its cool, what are you plans for after sixth form?
Honestly, you did well and if you were to continue it it'd form part of your offer for uni, could bep redicted an A or even an A*.

I don't like mechanics much either but I did M1 in Year 13 (with Edexcel, mind) and it was difficult at first but with enough practice you get used to it - you're clearly capable if you got near full marks in 2 units.
It's honestly fine, just use examsolutions if you get stuck and do loads of questions from the book. By the end you'll likely find that it'll be a banker for a good grade compared to subjective essay subjects etc
Original post by visionofdivision
i am debating whether to drop maths at AS level. pls can someone with knowledge and experience answer my Qs.

for AS this year, 2016, on AQA exam board i got;

Core 1: 73ums = B
Core 2: 99ums = A
Statistics 1: 100 ums = A

got an A overall :smile: and i revised as hard as i could. i never really deeply understood the mathematical processes (although i tried) i more just learnt how to do the processes and did p much every single past paper since 2008.

I am worried that the core 3, core 4, and mechanics 1 modules i have to take for A2 will be too hard for me to ever understand, and I want an A grade overall.

i don't want to pursue maths further than a level study, i enjoy it, but i want to do a history with French degree at uni.

my main questions/concerns are;

1 - some people say the jump from AS to A2 is worse than that from gcse to AS - is this true?

2- will i struggle with mechanics seeing as i don't do any sciences at A level? most maths students at my college do physics (i also do eng lit, history, French). i got an A* in triple science physics gcse tho lol

3 - if i am applying for history, will my application be weakened by having A2s in French, hist, and maths rather than in French, hist, and eng lit, since eng lit is more relevant to hist than maths?

4 - overall; if i try really hard and do loads of past papers and maybe get a maths tutor, will it be possible to maintain an A grade for overall A2?

Thanks anyone X
I'm in a similar position to you:
Edexcel: C1 - 90 - A, C2 - 75 - B, S1 - 97 - A.
Doing C3,4 and M1 next year. We had already started C3+4 after our exams last year. I've spent a couple of days over the summer watching videos on the first half of M1 and it seems alright. There are some vectors (remember them) and a lot of stuff like GCSE Physics/Science like Acceleration, distance-time graphs, velocity-time graphs etc. (posh word = kinematics).
NOTE: This is for Edexcel, AQA may be different but probably not by much.
So have a little research and see what you think. It may be difficult, but I don't think it'll be too hard for you given those results.

Re Uni: you may be interested in economic History, in which case Maths would be useful (particularly stats).
(edited 7 years ago)
I did AQA too and I'm in a similar position.
C1 - 63. I was getting 90+ in every single past paper so I think it was my nerves so I will be retaking.
C2 - 76
M1 - 100

So that's 239/300. Not sure whether to drop this or physics, I need AAA. I feel like I can resit core 1 and get 90+ to bring up my UMS, but how hard is C3 and C4? Also don't worry about M1 it's easy.

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