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Original post by Hazard17
...
I can see a lot of conflicting replies appearing. Nevertheless, here is how I see it (from easiest to hardest) :
(C1, D1, FP1, C2) < (M2, S1) < (M1, S2) < C3 < (C4, FP2) < M3 < FP3
I didn't enjoy statistics so I found it harder than mechanics. FP3 was hard because there was a lot to learn. FP2 and C4 were on par with each other in terms of difficulty. C3 wasn't too bad once you get over the copious amounts of trigonometry.
Hard is subjective.
For many C1 is the hardest unit due to the change in expectations, study pattern, pace and support when they have had 4+ months off and have been spoon fed through GCSEs.
It's not about how hard something is for another student, it's about the perceived 'hardness' of a module/topic for you as a learner.
Out of all those you list I find S1 the hardest as it bores me to teach it.
For many C1 is the hardest unit due to the change in expectations, study pattern, pace and support when they have had 4+ months off and have been spoon fed through GCSEs.
It's not about how hard something is for another student, it's about the perceived 'hardness' of a module/topic for you as a learner.
Out of all those you list I find S1 the hardest as it bores me to teach it.
From the modules that I've done/am doing:
C1<C2<S1<FP1<S2<S3<M2<C3<M1<C4<FP2<FP3
I found M1 harder than M2 mainly because I was so unused to doing Mechanics and I hated Physics so I had to work pretty hard for it. I found M2 easier because I had already forced myself to work hard for mechanics. I've heard that M3-M5 are probably the hardest applied modules, but I haven't done them so I can't verify it from personal experience.
C1<C2<S1<FP1<S2<S3<M2<C3<M1<C4<FP2<FP3
I found M1 harder than M2 mainly because I was so unused to doing Mechanics and I hated Physics so I had to work pretty hard for it. I found M2 easier because I had already forced myself to work hard for mechanics. I've heard that M3-M5 are probably the hardest applied modules, but I haven't done them so I can't verify it from personal experience.
Original post by m4ths/maths247
Hard is subjective.
For many C1 is the hardest unit due to the change in expectations, study pattern, pace and support when they have had 4+ months off and have been spoon fed through GCSEs.
It's not about how hard something is for another student, it's about the perceived 'hardness' of a module/topic for you as a learner.
Out of all those you list I find S1 the hardest as it bores me to teach it.
For many C1 is the hardest unit due to the change in expectations, study pattern, pace and support when they have had 4+ months off and have been spoon fed through GCSEs.
It's not about how hard something is for another student, it's about the perceived 'hardness' of a module/topic for you as a learner.
Out of all those you list I find S1 the hardest as it bores me to teach it.
My teacher doesn't even bother to teach it to us properly, he just assumes that because we're further maths students and because the module is pretty easy that we can pick it up with minimal guidance. So all he does is write down a few formulae with a little bit of explanation and lets us get on with it (for example he taught the whole of the normal distribution chapter in about 20-30 minutes)
Easiest to hardest for me:
C3>C2>S1>C1>M1
M1 and C1 were a massacre for me
C1 I finally found out what TRUE maths was and boy, I got a C in the actual paper.
But after doing C3, C1 is piss.
C3>C2>S1>C1>M1
M1 and C1 were a massacre for me
C1 I finally found out what TRUE maths was and boy, I got a C in the actual paper.
But after doing C3, C1 is piss.
Original post by Giant
My teacher doesn't even bother to teach it to us properly, he just assumes that because we're further maths students and because the module is pretty easy that we can pick it up with minimal guidance. So all he does is write down a few formulae with a little bit of explanation and lets us get on with it (for example he taught the whole of the normal distribution chapter in about 20-30 minutes)
Speak to them about it?
I expect a lot from my students but give them 100% out of lessons (hence all the videos) as well as time and just about every resources ever made for A Level maths (of any worth).
Having done all 18, here are my thoughts. Note this is exclusively for the Edexcel board. It is difficult to give an exact order so instead I shall put them in tiers to group similar modules together.
A - M5 (Hardest)
B - M4, FP3
C - M3, FP2
D - C3, C4, D2
E - M1, M2, S3
F - FP1, S4
G - C1, S1
H - C2, D1, S2 (Easiest)
M5 is by far the most difficult module. You are expecting to have a much better understanding of the foundations of the methods you are using, such as differentiation and integration from first principles using limits, and this makes it significantly more challenging conceptually than any other module, as these require less understanding and more application of rote learned principles. M4 would be 2nd in my opinion; it is mostly due to the relative motion chapter which is very confusing compared to other topics but the rest of M4 is largely fine, making it a bit harder than FP3. M3 is roughly comparable to FP2 in my opinion, and all the modules M3-5 are significantly harder than M1-2 which is the Mechanics most people have experience with. In my opinion going from 0 Mechanics to M1 is harder than from M1-2; same with C1.
See above.
A - M5 (Hardest)
B - M4, FP3
C - M3, FP2
D - C3, C4, D2
E - M1, M2, S3
F - FP1, S4
G - C1, S1
H - C2, D1, S2 (Easiest)
M5 is by far the most difficult module. You are expecting to have a much better understanding of the foundations of the methods you are using, such as differentiation and integration from first principles using limits, and this makes it significantly more challenging conceptually than any other module, as these require less understanding and more application of rote learned principles. M4 would be 2nd in my opinion; it is mostly due to the relative motion chapter which is very confusing compared to other topics but the rest of M4 is largely fine, making it a bit harder than FP3. M3 is roughly comparable to FP2 in my opinion, and all the modules M3-5 are significantly harder than M1-2 which is the Mechanics most people have experience with. In my opinion going from 0 Mechanics to M1 is harder than from M1-2; same with C1.
Original post by Giant
From the modules that I've done/am doing:
C1<C2<S1<FP1<S2<S3<M2<C3<M1<C4<FP2<FP3
I found M1 harder than M2 mainly because I was so unused to doing Mechanics and I hated Physics so I had to work pretty hard for it. I found M2 easier because I had already forced myself to work hard for mechanics. I've heard that M3-M5 are probably the hardest applied modules, but I haven't done them so I can't verify it from personal experience.
C1<C2<S1<FP1<S2<S3<M2<C3<M1<C4<FP2<FP3
I found M1 harder than M2 mainly because I was so unused to doing Mechanics and I hated Physics so I had to work pretty hard for it. I found M2 easier because I had already forced myself to work hard for mechanics. I've heard that M3-M5 are probably the hardest applied modules, but I haven't done them so I can't verify it from personal experience.
See above.
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by DJMayes
Having done all 18, here are my thoughts. Note this is exclusively for the Edexcel board. It is difficult to give an exact order so instead I shall put them in tiers to group similar modules together.
A - M5 (Hardest)
B - M4, FP3
C - M3, FP2
D - C3, C4, D2
E - M1, M2, S3
F - FP1, S4
G - C1, S1
H - C2, D1, S2 (Easiest)
M5 is by far the most difficult module. You are expecting to have a much better understanding of the foundations of the methods you are using, such as differentiation and integration from first principles using limits, and this makes it significantly more challenging conceptually than any other module, as these require less understanding and more application of rote learned principles. M4 would be 2nd in my opinion; it is mostly due to the relative motion chapter which is very confusing compared to other topics but the rest of M4 is largely fine, making it a bit harder than FP3. M3 is roughly comparable to FP2 in my opinion, and all the modules M3-5 are significantly harder than M1-2 which is the Mechanics most people have experience with. In my opinion going from 0 Mechanics to M1 is harder than from M1-2; same with C1.
A - M5 (Hardest)
B - M4, FP3
C - M3, FP2
D - C3, C4, D2
E - M1, M2, S3
F - FP1, S4
G - C1, S1
H - C2, D1, S2 (Easiest)
M5 is by far the most difficult module. You are expecting to have a much better understanding of the foundations of the methods you are using, such as differentiation and integration from first principles using limits, and this makes it significantly more challenging conceptually than any other module, as these require less understanding and more application of rote learned principles. M4 would be 2nd in my opinion; it is mostly due to the relative motion chapter which is very confusing compared to other topics but the rest of M4 is largely fine, making it a bit harder than FP3. M3 is roughly comparable to FP2 in my opinion, and all the modules M3-5 are significantly harder than M1-2 which is the Mechanics most people have experience with. In my opinion going from 0 Mechanics to M1 is harder than from M1-2; same with C1.
That's insane doing all 18 modules, I thought doing 12 was bad. I got pretty much full marks (599/600) on the 6 modules I did in Y12 (C1-4, M1-2) but I know that I would struggle hard on M3-M5. FP2 and FP3 should be a fun challenge though, they seem like real beasts.
Are you at University? If so, I'm guessing you're doing maths?
Original post by Giant
That's insane doing all 18 modules, I thought doing 12 was bad. I got pretty much full marks (599/600) on the 6 modules I did in Y12 (C1-4, M1-2) but I know that I would struggle hard on M3-M5. FP2 and FP3 should be a fun challenge though, they seem like real beasts.
Are you at University? If so, I'm guessing you're doing maths?
Are you at University? If so, I'm guessing you're doing maths?
I am starting university in four days; Maths at Cambridge.
Can anyone help me with this trig indentity
Prove
1+cosθ/1-cosθ= (cosecθ +cotθ)²
Prove
1+cosθ/1-cosθ= (cosecθ +cotθ)²
Original post by Giant
That's insane doing all 18 modules, I thought doing 12 was bad. I got pretty much full marks (599/600) on the 6 modules I did in Y12 (C1-4, M1-2) but I know that I would struggle hard on M3-M5. FP2 and FP3 should be a fun challenge though, they seem like real beasts.
Are you at University? If so, I'm guessing you're doing maths?
Are you at University? If so, I'm guessing you're doing maths?
Where did you drop the one mark? You must feel gutted
Did you study all 18 modules in the space of 2 years?
Original post by DJMayes
Having done all 18, here are my thoughts.
Note this is exclusively for the Edexcel board. It is difficult to give an exact order so instead I shall put them in tiers to group similar modules together.
A - M5 (Hardest)
B - M4, FP3
C - M3, FP2
D - C3, C4, D2
E - M1, M2, S3
F - FP1, S4
G - C1, S1
H - C2, D1, S2 (Easiest)
M5 is by far the most difficult module. You are expecting to have a much better understanding of the foundations of the methods you are using, such as differentiation and integration from first principles using limits, and this makes it significantly more challenging conceptually than any other module, as these require less understanding and more application of rote learned principles. M4 would be 2nd in my opinion; it is mostly due to the relative motion chapter which is very confusing compared to other topics but the rest of M4 is largely fine, making it a bit harder than FP3. M3 is roughly comparable to FP2 in my opinion, and all the modules M3-5 are significantly harder than M1-2 which is the Mechanics most people have experience with. In my opinion going from 0 Mechanics to M1 is harder than from M1-2; same with C1.
See above.
Note this is exclusively for the Edexcel board. It is difficult to give an exact order so instead I shall put them in tiers to group similar modules together.
A - M5 (Hardest)
B - M4, FP3
C - M3, FP2
D - C3, C4, D2
E - M1, M2, S3
F - FP1, S4
G - C1, S1
H - C2, D1, S2 (Easiest)
M5 is by far the most difficult module. You are expecting to have a much better understanding of the foundations of the methods you are using, such as differentiation and integration from first principles using limits, and this makes it significantly more challenging conceptually than any other module, as these require less understanding and more application of rote learned principles. M4 would be 2nd in my opinion; it is mostly due to the relative motion chapter which is very confusing compared to other topics but the rest of M4 is largely fine, making it a bit harder than FP3. M3 is roughly comparable to FP2 in my opinion, and all the modules M3-5 are significantly harder than M1-2 which is the Mechanics most people have experience with. In my opinion going from 0 Mechanics to M1 is harder than from M1-2; same with C1.
See above.
I did
C1 C2 C3 C4 M1 M2 M3 S1 S2 D1 FP1 FP2
And M3 was the hardest one by far.
I also did poorly in FP2!
C3 is my favourite.
C1 C2 C3 C4 M1 M2 M3 S1 S2 D1 FP1 FP2
And M3 was the hardest one by far.
I also did poorly in FP2!
C3 is my favourite.
Original post by Astarci89
Did you study all 18 modules in the space of 2 years?
Yes; I did AS Maths + AS Further Maths in Y12 and did all three at A2 plus both AS and A2 Additional Further Maths in Y13.
From what I've done,
C1 < C2 < C3 < M1 < C4 < NM < D1 < S1 < S2 < FP1 < FP2 < M2
Though my opinion might be a bit biased cause I just couldn't grasp M2
C1 < C2 < C3 < M1 < C4 < NM < D1 < S1 < S2 < FP1 < FP2 < M2
Though my opinion might be a bit biased cause I just couldn't grasp M2
From the Edexcel Maths Modules, I have done all 18, so here is my verdict (obviously this is subjective). I'll use the same ranking based format as DJMayes above.
Hardest:
Rank 1. M5 (by a long way)
Rank 2. FP3
Rank 3. M4
Rank 4: FP2, M3
Rank 5: S3, D2*,
Rank 6: S4
Rank 7: C3, C4, M1, M2
Rank 8: FP1, C2
Rank 9: S2, C1, D1, S1
Easiest:
D2*-partially incomplete, but it's harder than D1- the problems frequently span over a page or more, making it easy to miscalculate and mess up.
Noticeably, taking mechanics modules, you are challenged much more than statistics modules. S1-4 is largely learn by rote, with little knowledge of the principles of what you are using, for instance, the (exponential) formula for normal distribution. Additionally, despite M1-2 being difficult, relatively, the later mechanics modules are more taxing, particularly relative motion, from M4, as well as Moments of Inertia, from M5. M5, as a general observation, requires you to understand concepts from first principles, eg to find moments of inertia with integration, or differentiating to find the speed of a rocket whose mass varies. It is for this reason that it is so much harder than every other module, and is more university orientated. FP3 scores highly basically because of the vectors chapter.
Other exams, like AEA, and STEP 1-3, test other skills, like persistence and ingenuity, but would all likely be placed above M5 for difficulty. A STEP 2 paper would be much harder and take a lot longer than an M5 paper, even for a similar syllabus level.
Hardest:
Rank 1. M5 (by a long way)
Rank 2. FP3
Rank 3. M4
Rank 4: FP2, M3
Rank 5: S3, D2*,
Rank 6: S4
Rank 7: C3, C4, M1, M2
Rank 8: FP1, C2
Rank 9: S2, C1, D1, S1
Easiest:
D2*-partially incomplete, but it's harder than D1- the problems frequently span over a page or more, making it easy to miscalculate and mess up.
Noticeably, taking mechanics modules, you are challenged much more than statistics modules. S1-4 is largely learn by rote, with little knowledge of the principles of what you are using, for instance, the (exponential) formula for normal distribution. Additionally, despite M1-2 being difficult, relatively, the later mechanics modules are more taxing, particularly relative motion, from M4, as well as Moments of Inertia, from M5. M5, as a general observation, requires you to understand concepts from first principles, eg to find moments of inertia with integration, or differentiating to find the speed of a rocket whose mass varies. It is for this reason that it is so much harder than every other module, and is more university orientated. FP3 scores highly basically because of the vectors chapter.
Other exams, like AEA, and STEP 1-3, test other skills, like persistence and ingenuity, but would all likely be placed above M5 for difficulty. A STEP 2 paper would be much harder and take a lot longer than an M5 paper, even for a similar syllabus level.
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