What books should I buy for A Level Chemistry, Physics, Further Maths and Maths?

Hi,
I wanted to ask ex-A level students what books I should buy for the following subjects to get an A/A* for my A level results:
Maths
Further Maths
Physics
Chemistry

I would totally appreciate your response and advice on what I should buy for books, and if anyone has any advice on how to do the best possible at A level, please do reveal your secrets to success :smile:

Thanks so much

(edited 7 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

solC

Original post by Amanii25

Thanks soon much

For maths and further maths, the Edexcel textbooks were good enough for me, if you need extra resources there are plenty of sites for it :smile:

Reply 2

Amanii25

Original post by solC

For maths and further maths, the Edexcel textbooks were good enough for me, if you need extra resources there are plenty of sites for it :smile:

Do you know any specific sites, if you don't mind? And thanks :smile:

Reply 3

solC

Original post by Amanii25

Do you know any specific sites, if you don't mind? And thanks :smile:

Examsolutions.net has a bunch of videos for each topic so is quite useful for quickly going over things.
(his voice is so boring tho, 1.5x speed still makes me sleepy...)

Madasmaths.com has booklets for every topic as well as papers for each unit (no papers for further maths though :frown:

)

Physicsandmathstutor.com has all the past papers for every maths and also has revision materials for the sciences.

No worries :smile:

Reply 4

alow

For the FP modules of further maths, Bostock & Chandler's "Further Pure Mathematics" is amazing. It was all I used.

Reply 5

Amanii25

Original post by solC

)

Physicsandmathstutor.com has all the past papers for every maths and also has revision materials for the sciences.

No worries :smile:

Thanks soon much, I really appreciate it!!!

Reply 6

Amanii25

Original post by alow

For the FP modules of further maths, Bostock & Chandler's "Further Pure Mathematics" is amazing. It was all I used.

I'll look it up, thanks so much :smile:

Reply 7

solC

Original post by alow

For the FP modules of further maths, Bostock & Chandler's "Further Pure Mathematics" is amazing. It was all I used.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention I also had the book "Core Maths for Advanced Level" by the same authors which was really good too, covers the whole A level course so it's worth the money.

Reply 8

alow

Original post by solC

Oh yeah I forgot to mention I also had the book "Core Maths for Advanced Level" by the same authors which was really good too, covers the whole A level course so it's worth the money.

Yeah their writing style really worked for me. Straight to the point with ample examples and great exercises.

Reply 9

solC

Original post by alow

Yeah their writing style really worked for me. Straight to the point with ample examples and great exercises.

It's a shame I don't hear enough people recommending them that much considering how good they are :frown:

. I even have the pure mathematics book from the 70's lol. I like the older ones cos the question are harder :colone:

Shows how much A level maths has changed over the years...

Reply 10

Amanii25

Original post by alow

Yeah their writing style really worked for me. Straight to the point with ample examples and great exercises.

Ok, I'll look into these books, I really appreciate everything :smile:

Thanks again

Reply 11

Muttley79

Original post by Amanii25

I'll look it up, thanks so much :smile:

You should not need to buy any books. Your school will issue textbooks and the ones mentioned should be in the school/maths library.

Reply 12

Amanii25

Original post by Muttley79

You should not need to buy any books. Your school will issue textbooks and the ones mentioned should be in the school/maths library.

Our school library is terrible, and is mainly for the secondary school, not for the sixth form and we aren't getting chemistry books- for some reason. We've got the maths ones, FM ones and physics ones, though

Reply 13

Muttley79

Original post by Amanii25

Ask your maths teachers if they have books in a department library - we have one in our staff area and loan out texts like Bostock and Chandler [our personal copies] to keen students.

Reply 14

alow

Original post by solC

It's a shame I don't hear enough people recommending them that much considering how good they are :frown:

. I even have the pure mathematics book from the 70's lol. I like the older ones cos the question are harder :colone:

Shows how much A level maths has changed over the years...

Yeah I have the really old further mechanics one and it's way harder than anything I ever had to do at A Level, but at least it made M3 seem easy.

Reply 15

solC

Original post by alow

Yeah I have the really old further mechanics one and it's way harder than anything I ever had to do at A Level, but at least it made M3 seem easy.

You just reminded me I actually have that one too haha, I think I had a look at it last year and just thought it was too hard so abandoned it. I'm probably gonna use it this year to self study m3 so hopefully everything from it is in there :smile:

Reply 16

Amanii25

Original post by Muttley79

Ask your maths teachers if they have books in a department library - we have one in our staff area and loan out texts like Bostock and Chandler [our personal copies] to keen students.

Ok, I'll do that, thanks :smile:

Reply 17

Amanii25

Original post by solC

It's a shame I don't hear enough people recommending them that much considering how good they are :frown:

. I even have the pure mathematics book from the 70's lol. I like the older ones cos the question are harder :colone:

Shows how much A level maths has changed over the years...

Hey, sorry to bother you AGAIN, but is this the further maths book you were referring to?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0859501035/sr=8-1/qid=1473535530/ref=olp_product_details?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1473535530&sr=8-1

If so, would you recommend me ordering it?
Thanks again :smile:

Reply 18

solC

Original post by Amanii25

I was referring to this one
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Core-Maths-Advanced-Level-Bostock/dp/0748755098/ref=pd_sim_14_18?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VT5C6YCSP194D8W839S8
I'd definitely recommend this one :smile:

(BTW i think there is a newer edition for the book, but i'm not sure if its the same stuff so i'd just say get this one)

I haven't used the one you linked but it looks like Alow has said it's very good, so perhaps it might also be worth getting.

Reply 19

username2057011

Anyone know of edexcel Maths books (c1-4, s1, m1) with hard and challenging questions whether they are exam style or not so much but useful questions. the ones in books that are most commonly used like this which is the most popular: https://www.biochemtuition.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/131310607-Edexcel-Maths-C1-2.pdf just don't cut it they are too straight forward and don't seem like enough.