GCE MATHS- modules?????

I am planning on taking gce maths and i am wondering which is modules have the lowest grade boundaries for an A*/A:
-Decision
-Statistics
-FP (or something)
--Mechanics

Reply 1

Kevin De Bruyne

Original post by Greatthinker

I am planning on taking gce maths and i am wondering which is modules have the lowest grade boundaries for an A*/A:
-Decision
-Statistics
-FP (or something)
--Mechanics

Decision Maths (at least D1) has horrible exam boundaries for Edexcel - it can be quite hard to get the top top marks.

As far as I know, you can't do Further Pure modules for regular Maths.

I've heard that M2 has horrible grade boundaries too. I did S1-4, but I can't remember if any of them had particularly good/bad grade boundaries. I think you can look them up for each year somewhere.

It's good to know that an exam has low grade boundaries but make sure you're happy with what you're going to learn for it too - eg are you more mechy or statsy?

Reply 2

aoxa

To get a maths A level you need;
Core 1-4
and 2 applied modules (stats, decision, mechanics) - This totals 6 modules, but many people sit 7 (three applied) so if they flop one, then the other applied can be used in place of it)

To get an A you need 80% UMS across all the modules.
Core 3&4 are the only modules you can get an A* in. That means you'll need 90% UMS across those two.

I don't see why you'd be taking the FP modules, unless you're doing Further Maths too. (Although I think you can get a pure maths a-level, but I'm not sure how that works)

Reply 3

Greatthinker

Original post by SeanFM

Honestly, i dont know whether i am more statsy or mechy as im in yr 11 and planning on studying mathematics. I dont really understand the modules so can you have a look at the below links to see what the boundaries are like?
http://stmarysmagherafelt.com/downloads/EDEXCEL_GRADE_BOUNDARIES.pdf
http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/over/stat_pdf/AQA-A-LEVEL-GDE-BDY-JUNE-2014.PDF

Also, I dont know how relevant it is but im planning on studing physics or economics

Reply 4

Greatthinker

Original post by aoxa

Thanks, I had no idea it worked like this. In your opinion, which is the easiest modules (e.g stats) and which has the lowest grade boundaries?

Reply 5

Kevin De Bruyne

Original post by Greatthinker

I had a look at the AQA one but I'm more familiar with Edexcel. For grade boundaries you can think like 'right, which paper needs less raw marks to get higher UMS?'. If you compare M1 to S1 for that year, if you got the same mark in both exams, your grade would be higher for M1 due to lower grade boundaries. M2 and S2 on the other hand, S2 seems to have lower grade boundaries, which puts you in a tricky situation as for M2 you need M1, and the same for S2/S1. Looking at D1, the grade boundaries are 'high' for the lower end of the marks and a bit lower than M1 and S1 for the top end, so the better you do, the more that UMS rewards you.

There doesn't seem to be anything in the grade boundaries that might sway you one way or the other, though.

If you're studying Physics you might like the mechanics modules. With Economics you might like the stats modules. That's if you have a choice though, you may just have to go along with what your class is being taught.

Reply 6

BCMFM16

Original post by Greatthinker

I am planning on taking gce maths and i am wondering which is modules have the lowest grade boundaries for an A*/A:
-Decision
-Statistics
-FP (or something)
--Mechanics

80...? UMS

Reply 7

aoxa

Original post by Greatthinker

Thanks, I had no idea it worked like this. In your opinion, which is the easiest modules (e.g stats) and which has the lowest grade boundaries?

Raw mark grade boundaries change every year depending on how hard/easy the paper is, so there's no telling on which paper will have the lowest grade boundaries. However, UMS grade boundaries are fixed, and the raw mark that you get on the paper is converted to UMS, and added to what you got in your other modules, then your final grade is calculated from that. This link explains the UMS/raw grade boundaries and calculations well; http://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/about-results/uniform-mark-scale

I won't do stats until next year, apparently its boring but fairly easy. I'm doing mechanics 1 this year, and personally, I found it quite easy because it tied in the maths in physics. Decision maths is one of the tricker ones - not in terms of hardness, but many people tend to find it harder/ not do as well in the exam because it's more 'obscure' maths than what people are used to.

I doubt you'll get to choose what modules to sit. At my college, everyone sits Core 1-4, D1-2 and then either mechanics 1 or stats 1, but most people do stats as mechanics is mostly only offered to people doing physics.