[tadzingoo]

Basically, when i asked my maths teacher about doing FM in sixth form (ive just finished year 11) he advised me not to do it because im not capable enough. The thing is, maths is my best subject; i got a pretty high A* in gcse maths which i took a year early and i reckon ill get an A in FSMQ maths which i did a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, because of what he said, i didnt pick FM and i reckon i will regret it cos ive heard lots of people saying how important FM is.
I wanna do natural sciences/physics/geology at uni; how important is it for me to have FM A level?
Also, would it be possible to self teach FM AS outside of school?

CHEERS

[soempty]

Imo you don't really need FM to do the degrees you want. However according to you, you are perfectly capable of doing FM.

[tory88]

I do physics at Warwick, and have to say further maths is the only A level that I actually found useful in my first year (and will continue to do so in my second). I would recommend anyone going into the sciences to study further maths, at least at AS, provided they are capable. I can't see why you wouldn't be capable, I myself (and my closest friend) got an A in Addiitional Maths and did my GCSE at the normal time and came out with an A*. I'd say you should do it.

[KittyKattyKaity]

Self teaching FM is not only perfectly possible, I would guess that at least 1/4 of entrants are self-taught to one extent or another because so few schools offer it. Only one of the local 14 secondary school here teaches FM but I know kids from at least 3 other schools who have self-taught and successfully completed FM in the last couple of years, with two As, a C and a predicted A*. We don't have FMN over here (N Ireland) so those 3 were completely self taught from textbooks and no teacher backup at all. There are syllabus-specific textbooks for everyone apart from CCEA, and even then it's not too hard to map the syllabus from AQA => CCEA.