How much harder is M2 than M1?

I did pretty well on M1 this year (96 ums) but I still don't feel as tho I'm naturally good at mechanics, hence why I'm worried about taking a harder module. Compared to M1 what's different in M2 and is there a big step up in difficulty?
Any help is much appreciated

In terms of the module content, it isn't a lot harder.

However, I did both M1 and M2 for AS this year, and the M2 exam was massively harder than the M1 one and harder than pretty much every past paper.

If you're not doing further maths, I'd recommend you just do S1.

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I'm not doing FM, but ill consider S1 aswell

M2 is harder and is a bit annoying, the exams will be hit-and-miss with the questions, but there are plenty of past papers.
M3 on the other hand, is pure gold

Sorry for hijacking the thread but I also have a decision to make for A2 FM: M3 or D1? Obviously D1 is a lot easier but I really enjoy mechanics and did reasonably well on M1 and M2 (191/200).

How much harder would you say m3 is relative to M2 and also C4 (which I find very simple).


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M3 is initially harder than M2 and C4 definitely - because the content / concepts are difficult. You have SHM (simple harmonic motion), C4-style differential equations but with motion and displacement, acceleration, etc... you also have circular motion which uses energy considerations, springs/strings which are elastic.

The chapters are as so (for Edexcel at least):
1 - calculus without constant acceleration, this is basically C4 differential equations, not challenging really
2 - elastic springs/strings, this chapter is very very hard at first, but once you learn it all, its easy to master, and its hard to forget most of it, its basically one equation and then using logic and energy considerations to solve problems
3 - calculus with forces, this is like chapter 1, very each, but there is also simple harmonic motion which is a challenging concept at first, but once you 'click' with SHM, then you are ready to solve almost any problem
4 - circular motion, this is pretty easy apart from the last parts with vertical circles - but the exam questions are so similar each time, you should be fine
5 - finding the centre of mass / volume using calculus, this is a bit tricky at first, but again, its easily mastered and you get used to the types of questions very quickly

But once you learn them and become confident with it, you will not run into many problems. I did every single past paper and all of the exercises in the Edexcel book and I got 93 in M3 this year (73/75), and I got about 75 in D1 for AS. I much preferred M3, but it will be intimidating at first.

93 ums for 73/75? Wow. Grade boundaries must be super super high meaning there's no room for error.

How did you do on your other modules?

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I got 87 in M1, and it ened up being my lowest module lmao, but I got 100 in M2. This is coming from someting who doesn't really like mechanics and was taught M2 before M1 Then again I misread a 13 mark question in M1...
Anyway, ofc M2 is harder than M1, it's an A2 module after all, but you don't need to feel 'naturally good' at it to do well - I found the questions really repetitive and predictable (for my board anyway). Some people just don't get stats - do you have any experience with it? You've proven that you can do well in Mechanics, 96 is a very good score, so I'd probably go with M2 over S1. Seems to be the safer option for you imo.

In terms of content M2 really is not that much harder, I self-taught it in a month, however the exam questions can be much much harder and it takes a lot more practice to get good at it, and even after loads of practice I was still getting questions wrong the day before the exam. It can be very frustrating.

If you are doing just the maths A level (not FM) then there are definitely easier modules, I would highly recommend S1 as it is fairly straightforward and D1 can be tricky - in fact D1 was my worst maths module out of the 12 I did!