Further Maths GCSE: What exam board should I do?

Hi, I'm part of a small group of people in Year 11 who are doing a further maths GCSE. And we get to decide what exam board we want to do it with.

What exam board is the easiest?
And what exam board is the most respected?

Thank-you

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Reply 1

OwlOfFire

I don't know about 'easiest'. However I did AQA further maths last year and my class found than the exam board was quite good.

Reply 2

Retsek

Original post by OwlOfFire

I don't know about 'easiest'. However I did AQA further maths last year and my class found than the exam board was quite good.

What was the specification like? What topics were the hardest and did anything catch you out? Thanks for replying

Reply 3

sunshine774

Original post by Retsek

Whatever you do, do NOT do edexcel for FM! :smile:

I would recommend AQA for FM. I didn't actually do FM at gcse, however I had a few friends who did it with AQA and they said it was very good! :wink:

Reply 4

Retsek

Original post by sunshine774

Whatever you do, do NOT do edexcel for FM! :smile:

I would recommend AQA for FM. I didn't actually do FM at gcse, however I had a few friends who did it with AQA and they said it was very good! :wink:

Thanks for replying! Do you know why I shouldn't do edexcel?

Reply 5

k1234j

I did AQA for FM and it was quite good

Reply 6

sunshine774

Original post by Retsek

Thanks for replying! Do you know why I shouldn't do edexcel?

You're welcome! I've just heard some really bad things about the type of questions edexcel tend to ask (I guess they can screw you over sometimes!)... But I did gcse edexcel maths and I guess they were OK. But I still recommend AQA! Also, AQA is good for other subjects too. At gcse I did AQA triple science and AQA spanish, and I just feel like they are the 'nicest' exam board...

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 7

Muttley79

Original post by Retsek

I would not advise this qualification at all - go for the GCSE grade 9 as that will be a better option.

It has a strange collection of topics and many schools reject it on those grounds. If you want to study maths at uni then doing well in UKMT challenges or reading maths books would be more more beneficial. [btw I teach maths]

Reply 8

username2471155

Original post by Muttley79

Did you do GCSE Further Maths?

Reply 9

Muttley79

Original post by Oxidation

Did you do GCSE Further Maths?

It did not exist at GCSE when I was at school.

It's more important to get the top GCSE grade and read around the subject.

Reply 10

username2471155

Original post by Muttley79

It did not exist at GCSE when I was at school.

It's more important to get the top GCSE grade and read around the subject.

Oh ok. How do I revise for GCSE Maths?

Reply 11

sunshine774

Original post by Muttley79

Do you have any tips on how to revise efficently for a level maths? I am finding the step up from gcse quite hard... :frown:

Reply 12

sunshine774

Original post by Oxidation

Oh ok. How do I revise for GCSE Maths?

PAST PAPERS! Please, just do every single past paper! :smile:

They help immensely with maths- alll you need to do is practise the questions (they tend to be repetitive!) Or at least written in the same style...

AQA.

Original post by sunshine774

PAST PAPERS! Please, just do every single past paper! :smile:

They help immensely with maths- alll you need to do is practise the questions (they tend to be repetitive!) Or at least written in the same style...

Alright thanks! If you don't mind me asking, what did you get in GCSE Maths?

Reply 15

sunshine774

Original post by Oxidation

Alright thanks! If you don't mind me asking, what did you get in GCSE Maths?

I got an A this year! :smile:

If I'd worked harder, I could've got an A*...oh well! What are you aiming for in maths? :smile:

Reply 16

username2471155

Original post by sunshine774

I got an A this year! :smile:

If I'd worked harder, I could've got an A*...oh well! What are you aiming for in maths? :smile:

Oh nice! I'm aiming for an A* but I'm around a B grade. How can I boost this? As in should I do past papers then practice the questions that I don't know?

Reply 17

Muttley79

Original post by sunshine774

Do you have any tips on how to revise efficently for a level maths? I am finding the step up from gcse quite hard... :frown:

Do all the questions in the texbook before you tackle past papers - it's too early for them now.

Make sure you are on top of the A* GCSE material e.g. manipulating surds, equations, indices ...

Reply 18

Compost

I am fairly certain that the only GCSE level Further Maths option is the AQA Level 2 certificate so you haven't actually got a choice.

Reply 19

M451

I did OCR Additional Maths but it's a Level 3 FSMQ qualification, not a GCSE, so you have to spend half an hour explaining its worth to anywhere you ever apply to. It does give UCAS points and is technically ranked higher than GCSE FM courses but the fact that it's so uncommon makes it harder to use for applications.