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Should I take A-Level Maths?

JacobAyenamayi

The deadline to choose my A levels is in a couple of weeks, and I've almost got everything sorted, except one thing. I'm always hearing stories of how people that got A*s at GCSE Maths end up failing A Level Maths, and it's seriously worrying. Right now, I'm on an A in Maths, but it's the first time I've gotten an A and I had to work really hard for it, which is why I'm worried about doing A level Maths. To make things worse, I want to study Business at university, yet the top unis demand Maths at A-Level. What should I do? If I don't take Maths, I won't be to apply for unis such as LSE and UCL, which was a big part of my career plan, but if I take Maths and fail, there's no chance of me getting in to any uni at all. Any advice is much appreciated, especially from current A-Level Maths students

Reply 1

hellodave5

What is life without risks :P
You can always do an extra year if things don't go to plan.

Reply 2

Asurat

I was in your position this time last year and I think you should do it. If you work hard this year it all becomes so much easier in year 12. I think you should only take maths if you enjoy it otherwise you will have a rough 2 years ahead of you.

Reply 3

Dexterous

Original post by JacobAyenamayi

The only reason those people fail is because they think they don't have to work at A level to get good grades. A level is not like GCSE. Don't fall for this trap, stay true to yourself and work hard and all your successes and dreams will follow. :biggrin:

Reply 4

AdamCee

Original post by JacobAyenamayi

Do you enjoy maths? If so yeah take it. If you're just taking it because it will help apply to uni, you likely won't do too well. However if you put in the effort needed and you are roughly A/A* there is no reason why not

If you're worried, you can always drop it at AS anyway?

Reply 5

JacobAyenamayi

Did you guys do Maths for A-Level? If so, how hard was it, and what's the most important thing I need to know in order to pass?

Reply 6

laylarose

Original post by JacobAyenamayi

Did you guys do Maths for A-Level? If so, how hard was it, and what's the most important thing I need to know in order to pass?

I'm doing AS Maths atm. I have an A in it from GCSE, but I took a year out before Year 12, so I ended up forgetting most of my GCSE Maths. My advice is to brush up on your GCSE knowledge (i.e. hard A* questions, quadratics and graphs) as C1 is essentially an extension of GCSE Maths :smile:

Reply 7

loperdoper

I got an A at GCSE, and I really had to work for it. Like all my subjects, Maths was a big culture shock, and I found C1 much harder than most other people as my mental maths skills are really weak (they still are, and I actually found C2 easier than C1). But I managed it, and I'm in A2 Maths, and also studying AS Further Maths.

Past papers are definitely the most important thing you need in order to pass. You can know all the concepts perfectly, but if you don't understand the question (which is common), then you're completely stuffed.