Should I do Further Maths/is it hard?

If you enjoy maths, and get an A or A* in stats (note you will possibly be a bit rusty on algebra and things by the start of A-level if you don't keep your 'pure maths' up to scratch while you're doing stats), then FM is totally worth it, regardless of what you want to do at uni. It's a fantastic A-level, the pure maths modules in particular introduce you to some very cool areas of maths.

Ok thanks, btw do you live in Stoke On Trent?

It tends to be the other way round usually. I mean FM is useless for Geography pretty much, but useful for Economics.

The reason I ask, is because some courses, such as Medicine, state that if you offer both Maths and Further Maths only one of them will be considered as part of an offer, rendering the other useless. But I'm not too sure what other courses, if any, have this rule.

Comp Sci? Really? I thought that was just programming code? I could do a joint degree with Geog/Comp Sci?

Same! What college did you go to?

Fenton 6th form...when it was actually at Fenton
Where are you thinking of going?

St Josephs or Newcastle College, what A levels did you take?

Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Philosophy A-levels, Chemistry, English and Critical Thinking AS levels.

FYI, who do you think makes all the algorithms that traders use?

Nerds are taking over Wall Street.

All hail the revolution! .

If you want to do finance, then a degree in Maths and Economics and related courses is usually a must and a benefit.

Further Maths is quite hard, don't let anyone tell you any differently. There's a reason why it has a reputation for being one if not the hardest A-Level around. Only do this if you think you can get an A in it. Otherwise I'd say there's no point.

Here's my advice. See how you find A2 Maths, if you find that rather taxing, and don't get say an A*/very high A. I'd say leave FM out. If you do other solid A-Levels like Maths, Chemistry, Economics and say another Science, then you'll have a pretty good set of A-levels to show (providing you get A's/A*s) if you put work into it .

thats loads lol... Did you do Triple Science?

I know UCL considers both as one A-level for Medicine only, but I don't believe this is the case for all Medical Schools. Very much Oxbridge actually like it, and other universities don't put an exclusion in like UCL does, but it's just expected you do Chemistry and Biology for A-level, and since 3 are part of the offer, Further Maths would obviously be a 4th option thereby hardly any universities mention it, but would still take it on if offered.

In general, Further Maths can be slightly difficult, but it's because you have double the maths content in a week, and is recommended for top universities with high maths content in (Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Computer Science, Economics) but is still a wonderful addition if you enjoy it! To be fair, it's one of the hardest subjects, and I wouldn't bother applying to universities if they disregard it as just a joint A-level with Maths and 'further' maths that isn't of use.

Taken from Cardiff Admissions: 'For applicants offering two or more Mathematics and/or Statistics subjects at either AS or A2 Level, only one will count towards meeting the conditions of an offer.'

Taken from Keele Admissions: 'Only one subject from a combination of Maths with Further Maths or Biology/Human Biology with Physical Education will be considered.'

There are others too, but I'm not trawling through every Medical School's entry requirements. Some allow it, but some don't, so saying UCL is the only one is very wrong.

Medical school views on FM are here.

Good post

On a different point I have never got my head round why people post threads asking how hard things are

I like it when they ask how hard things are going to be in the future (e.g. an exam in June 2012)!

Oh right sorry, I didn't know what you meant. I want to go to UCL to do Geog. Isn't Engineering making stuff out of metal? Thats what it is at my school, and it has nothing to do with Maths?