A LEVEL maths is easy!!!!?

I'm currently just coming to the end of year 13 so therefore A2 maths. I was similar to you in that it was a big decision as I'm anything but naturally good at the subject, quite the opposite.

Final GCSE grade: A (Just scraped an overall C after the individual modules in year 9/10 and then went on to get the A in both linear papers at the end of year 11)

AS maths: B
Core 1: B
Core 2: A
S1: C

During AS learning the new content was quite intimidating when it was first introduced, especially during core 2 but keeping up with the homework and doing extra questions each week keeps you more than ahead. Whilst learning new content I spent about 5 hours on maths each week including homework and made a point of seeing my teacher with anything I struggled with (pretty sure he was sick of me by the end of the year) which was super helpful. I bumped it up to about 7/8 hours a week during the build up to exams and worked through as many past papers as possible. A word of warning, I was completely laid back with s1 and didn't really work on understanding it mostly because I hated it so much which explains the C. The final grade really reflects on how much work you do.

A2 maths: C (predicted)
I've struggled immensely this year with A2 maths and felt the jump up was much more significant than GCSE to AS. I've fallen behind with work on multiple occasions and have really let things get on top of me which explains the C. It would be entirely possible with the extra work but you really have to be prepared to step it up and keep going. A2 I found is a lot more reliant on a solid understanding of previous knowledge from the C3/C4 content. Also, there's lots of trigonometry, especially trig identities which can't really be taught, it's all about practice and perseverance. Make sure you do enjoy the problem solving nature of maths as there's less memorisation of methods and more thinking, the questions of course are much more demanding.

Inevitably, the papers are getting more demanding each year. If you are going all out with revision and still getting B/C's at GCSE I'd think twice about maths. Only because there were a number of people with B's at GCSE last year in my class and only one is left now as they struggled so much. If you're prepared to work hard and genuinely enjoy maths though and aren't taking it because it looks good, give it a try. You should also talk to your teacher about this as they should know your capabilities better than anyone.


All the best Feel free to ask if you have any further questions!

Sorry for the title...

I need to make a serious decision whether or not A level maths is for me. If you have done/are currently doing AS maths / A Level please tell me about what your maths GCSE grade was and how you find A level maths now. What grade are you working at/were working at in AS Maths and when did you start learning/revising the content yourself? How hard did you have to work to get to where you're at - How many hours for example every day or week?

Any advice for me (a year 11 student who has almost completed GCSEs and is around a grade C/B student)?

Many thanks.

It depends on the person 😂 I am doing as math and find it so much easier the igcse math

I'm currently just coming to the end of year 13 so therefore A2 maths. I was similar to you in that it was a big decision as I'm anything but naturally good at the subject, quite the opposite.

Final GCSE grade: A (Just scraped an overall C after the individual modules in year 9/10 and then went on to get the A in both linear papers at the end of year 11)

AS maths: B
Core 1: B
Core 2: A
S1: C

During AS learning the new content was quite intimidating when it was first introduced, especially during core 2 but keeping up with the homework and doing extra questions each week keeps you more than ahead. Whilst learning new content I spent about 5 hours on maths each week including homework and made a point of seeing my teacher with anything I struggled with (pretty sure he was sick of me by the end of the year) which was super helpful. I bumped it up to about 7/8 hours a week during the build up to exams and worked through as many past papers as possible. A word of warning, I was completely laid back with s1 and didn't really work on understanding it mostly because I hated it so much which explains the C. The final grade really reflects on how much work you do.

A2 maths: C (predicted)
I've struggled immensely this year with A2 maths and felt the jump up was much more significant than GCSE to AS. I've fallen behind with work on multiple occasions and have really let things get on top of me which explains the C. It would be entirely possible with the extra work but you really have to be prepared to step it up and keep going. A2 I found is a lot more reliant on a solid understanding of previous knowledge from the C3/C4 content. Also, there's lots of trigonometry, especially trig identities which can't really be taught, it's all about practice and perseverance. Make sure you do enjoy the problem solving nature of maths as there's less memorisation of methods and more thinking, the questions of course are much more demanding.

Inevitably, the papers are getting more demanding each year. If you are going all out with revision and still getting B/C's at GCSE I'd think twice about maths. Only because there were a number of people with B's at GCSE last year in my class and only one is left now as they struggled so much. If you're prepared to work hard and genuinely enjoy maths though and aren't taking it because it looks good, give it a try. You should also talk to your teacher about this as they should know your capabilities better than anyone.

All the best Feel free to ask if you have any further questions!

I did a year of igcse maths and a year of GCSE maths; igcse maths was so difficult in comparison! The foundation stuff was the higher stuff in GCSE maths 😂😂 I remember the shock on someone's face back in year 11 when I knew how to solve a 'difficult' equation but couldn't for the life of me draw bloody graph things 😂

Really? I only ever knew igcse 😂 but i came from a south african system to half way through igcse so the work was very different so maybe thats why i found it harder then now.. Graphs🔫🔫🔫 i am quite good with numbers so i didnt like the wordy questions in igcse haha but grade boundries are low af ... I fot a A* for math and that year it was like 70 % to get a A*😂😂

That's because it's really difficult in comparison to normal! I was just so shocked when I moved back to the uk for year 11 that the stuff was so easy 😂 I think one of the topics my igcse teacher covered was actually one of the topics in c1 😂

Well atleast u had some backround knowledge for c1 😂👌🏻

I got an A at GCSE (Bs in all but one paper so I wasn't Getting As all the way through). I took maths at AS and A2 level. I found that AS was tricky, but that's only because I wasn't applying myself enough; I treated my exams like they were GCSEs still. I got a C at AS. I retook core 1 and 2 during A2, as well as doing C3 C4 and D1. I got 501/600 ums overall, which equated to a very high A maths isn't difficult if you apply yourself to it and also don't convince yourself it's difficult; just use books and physicsandmathstutor websites, as well as mathsnet.

I would highly recommend taking maths for A level; a lot of courses do want maths, and even if they don't, it's always a big advantage!

If you haven't already, buy a Casio fx-991ES Plus calculator. It has a button to solve integration and differentiation. It's legal in exams as it only gives you an answer, but I found in core 3/4 last year (I got 87 ums), it really helped to stop silly mistakes. They're about £20, but definitely worth it!

GCSE:
Maths: A
Additional maths: A

My individual modules at AS (UMS)
C1: 98/100, A
C2: 78/100 B
M1: 92/100 A

At A2 currently working around A's, few A*'s.

C1 is the **** easy exam normally (sorry if I make it sound like I'm bragging) and is the non calculator paper. C2 and M1 I would say are harder (and I hated last years paper for C2 clearly). During the exam season I did EVERY SINGLE past paper my college had available and in one of the exams it went back to 2005.

Early on in AS I was quite lazy as I basically did the homework and basic textbook revision but I got a range in homeworks and class tests of D's to B's. When I started doing past papers as revision (not loads at first) I was getting to A's. Basically do lots of past papers because some of the questions are hard in comparison to class tests.

In A2 apart from C3 and C4 I'm doing D1. This year is pretty much the same in revision except that exam questions are far more horrific if you do not do past paper revision. There was a long question which then said the following: show that cos(4*veta) + 4cos(2*veta) = cos^4(veta)+3. That question first time was horrific for me and I got it wrong with like 15 lines of workings. Did it several months later with exam practice and I did it in about 5 lines.

Maths you need to understand the formulas and how something works and then being able to apply it. If you don't understand something that you learn you need to clear it up with a teacher in a workshop etc and then you need to understand how to apply it since exam questions will make it far more complicated. If you struggle to understand topics and stuff already in maths you will have a very hard time at A level.

Advice for revision: if you have one of those large textbooks with knowledge and recap questions along with exam style, skip the knowledge and recap questions. I also wouldn't even use the textbook that much to read up on knowledge, just ask your teacher if you don't understand something. In A2 (can't say much about my AS XD) my very early revision used the textbook, later on (and including later AS) I NEVER used the textbook for revision.

Are those the famous graphic calculators???? Classmates treat it like a godsend, but is it all that..?

Not graphic, just like the normal but with the added button that's a godsend. It helped me a lot during core 3 and 4!

Maths and Further Maths at A-Level are a bit of a joke, to be honest.

Because it is so easy or solid?

Too easy, heck, they're so easy that the top unis ignore them and have to dish out their own entrance exams.