Fast-track for Physics

Does anyone know how much beyond the A-level syllabus is taught in the first year?
Is there much done to help people who fast-track and thus need to catch up?
How large is this extra work-load and how would one know if they're capable of 'catching up'? - choosing wrongly could be quite detrimental for the sake of an extra year.

Reply 1

DomAD

I might be wrong, but I thought the first year was mainly for scottish students who do a year less before uni than english students do. so i wouldn't have thought you'd miss much you didn't do in A2 maths and physics

University of Edinburgh

Reply 2

sjames06

The four year courses allow for a mix and match type thing in first year I believe. Everyone does the four years.. unless you meet the requirements for direct year two entry and thats what you want to do. The course structure allows for some flexibility for what you can do. From my understanding from open days you are given an offer to enter the college of science and engineering and for the first year for example you will do say two compulsory units and two elective, from the prospectus you will do in year one Physics 1A and Physics 1B along with either one or two other courses in any other subject.. informatics for example.

So basically, the four year structure is to provide more flexibility in the amount of disciplines you can try before choosing what you want to do for years 3/4

Reply 3

jadc

I took the Physics 1A course as an outside option this year, and I attended the 1B lectures although I didn't take that module (a wise choice, according to some of my friends who were doing the course :smile:

).

Physics 1A basically consists mostly of kinematics, Newtonian mechanics, etc, so you'll be familiar with most of the material if you've taken an A-level in Physics. There is a section on angular motion, which wasn't in my A-level syllabus, but it's fairly rudimentary and shouldn't take you too long to get the hang of.

Physics 1B contains *some* familiar material, but there's quite a bit that's new, and there's more depth than at A-level, as you'd expect. Everyone I spoke to who was taking the module said it was a lot more challenging than Physics 1A.

I don't know anything about provisions for helping fast-track students adapt to the course, but there must be something. Maybe there's relevant information on Edinburgh's physics page.

I would say that if you're a good enough student to be eligible for the fast-track in the first place, there's no reason you won't be able to cope with the increased workload as long as you aren't lazy. The course textbook for the two modules is massive and extremely detailed, with lots of worked examples, and there'll probably be students who are happy to help you with any material you haven't covered, so you'll have plenty of resources.

Unfortunately there's no way to know for sure if you can handle the pressure until you're there, but I don't see why you couldn't if you put in the requisite effort.

Reply 4

BloodBrother

Personally, what's the point of going to a country offering four year university courses if you'd prefer to skip a year? England would be better in that case right? Unless you qualify for free tuition fees or something. It was worth me doing first year, I put more effort into P1B than the first course and my grade reflects that, it should set me up well for second year. Despite doing AH Physics last year it mainly helped for the first term and not that much came up in 1B.

My flatmate claimed he should have gone straight into second year but with him only attending about 6 lectures he was fine for the first exams but did pretty horrible in the May ones. I'd strongly advise against skipping first year, you will meet lots of great people after all! But up to you.

Fast-track for Physics

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