Self teach A-Level Maths 2015

Yes I completely understand where your coming from.
For me it's that I easily understand maths, I just didn't work hard at All.

Thanks for the advice!

Yes of course it is! Further maths is obviously hard, and at my school they prefer further maths GCSE A*s for people who want to study further maths A level, but at many other schools they are less strict and people still do very well in further maths A level. So as long as you understand it will be difficult and work hard you should be fine.

ah thanks very much, i'm just scared further maths will be quite difficult for me if I do choose to pick it and I'm worried about the workload as its also maths that I am doing aswell. Do you know what people at your school achieved for further maths at A level and is the content difficult? Thanks

Hi,

I'm currently doing 3 A-Levels at school and really wanted to take on Maths (Stats) as the fourth AS but I was not allowed as I got a C in GCSE Maths. I was doing the higher tier and really loved maths but I wished I worked harder, I barely put in any effort. I am willing to work very hard this time round.

I was thinking of taking on Maths privately with NEC, however what's putting me down from doing that is that firstly it's really expensive and not worth the money at all. People that have taken on courses with NEC have been very disappointed. Also, I have to pay separately for sitting the exams (per unit) which is £50 per unit x3 = another £150 on top of the £500 for the course.

Is it worth doing ? Should I instead self teach Maths AS ( edexcel). Buy my own books and do past papers, get help from people that have done Maths, there's lots of help on the Internet (Khan Academy, video's) and get some tuition near exam time??. I want to get an A/B? Is it possible??? I am willing to work very hard!

Thankyou

Students who got a C at GCSE have a 15%(https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/183942/DFE-RR195.pdf page 25) chance of getting a B or higher at A Level.

This Statistic also exaggerates your chances as a lot of those who got a C at GCSE would drop Maths at AS after doing really badly.Only 1% of people with a C at Maths GCSE continue it onto AS and then 0% to A Level.

f you have to work hard to get those grades then Maths probably isn't for you those who do well with A/B grades are usually those who didn't bother at all at GCSE and then work very really hard at A Level as loads of people struggle with an A/B in GCSE Maths when they try AS Maths.

ah thanks very much, i'm just scared further maths will be quite difficult for me if I do choose to pick it and I'm worried about the workload as its also maths that I am doing aswell. Do you know what people at your school achieved for further maths at A level and is the content difficult? Thanks

I really do not want to put you off self teaching it as maths is a great subject to do and very rewarding.

However have you considered the fact their is a reason you were not allowed to take it?

Personally I got an A* in GCSE Maths, A at A2 and am predicted an A in Further Maths and I will still say Maths is hard. I struggled with the transition between GCSE and AS only really becoming comfortable in March and never really became comfortable with the A2 material. My point from this being that you will find it immensely difficult to make that transition because it's bigger for you.

I know you say you can work harder but my gut feeling would be that if you were to do it in a year it would adversely affect your other subjects. Have you ever applied 56 hour principal to your week? This should tell you if you have the time. If you need me to explain this I can.

If you do not have the time I am not going to advise you forget doing AS Maths but rather do it so that you spend the first half of year 12 revisiting GCSE work and improving your base making transition easier then take 18 months to self teach AS Maths.

I understand your reasoning and logic behind this, based on evidence submitted; however, I disagree with some points raised. My explanation for the disagreement focuses on concluding Mathematics is not appropriate for certain candidates, and perhaps true in certain circumstances; but what you are missing is the fact people change. Quickly. In one single year, a person can change from an E grade student to an A* grade student.

The problem today is that not enough students are given that opportunity: to prove their enhanced ability. You cannot determine, through a select number of candidates that it is a tautology that for all students achieving a C grade, then there does not exist a student that can achieve well in Mathematics at a higher level. That research has proven designated candidates, who perhaps, have little interest in Mathematics, would perform badly at Mathematics. What it has not proven, is the following deduction: If we assume that a selection of ten thousand candidates is chosen from a pool of C grade students, that have demonstrated their passion for Mathematics, and willingness to solve problems, are then progressed to higher level and monitored, would this deduce the same result? Most C grade students, who have demonstrated their passion, are declined to progress to higher level.Perhaps, it could be a case, that the students that participated in the research - that progressed to higher level Mathematics - were not passionate enough.

Allow me to explain my reasoning, and logic:

From a young age, I had only achieved a C in Mathematics at the end of Year eleven. The reason: I had no interest. Thought it was pointless. Believed Mathematics was a waste of time; who thought I would use Pythagoras's theorem, or count how many sweets Jimmy had in his shop. But at the end of my exam. I realised. I was wrong.Year twelve, I realised. It was too late. My only hope of Mathematics and Computer Science - that underlays the principles, tools, methods, and theory of computing - was performing well in my other subjects. Ultimately, I did. So I went to one of the top Russell Group Universities in the United Kingdom to study Computer Science. Furthermore, as the subject focuses on the methods and theory of computing, this included topics from a-level mathematics; namely: Induction, Recurrence, Dijkstra's and Kruskal's Algorithms, Calculus, Discrete Math, and much more - all topics of a-level mathematics students.

As a student who had only achieved a C grade at GCSE Math, who was granted an opportunity to study Computer Science at the university, I had achieved an A* in all math modules. Similar topics listed in an a-level exam with only three months to learn as opposed to having eight months at a-level under the current system, I had done it. A C grade student, earned an A* in math.The purpose: I had worked hard, harder than I had imaged. But ultimately, I had fun. Since my new development as I aged, I developed an interest in Mathematics and coding. I have since done Math and Coding every day, ever since. All you need is a passion; and I challenge anyone that says there is not a student out there that can prove themselves providing they have that passion.

People change. A year is all it takes. It would not be easy, but saying a student has virtually no chance of achieving a-level mathematics with a C grade is enough for them to prove everyone wrong. I have done it. And if one person has done it, then so can the next person.

Hello

I know this wasn't directed to me. but that 56 hour rule you speak of has really sparked my interest. I'm going into sixth form in a few weeks and am going to study maths, further maths, economics and geography (so yeah, a ton of maths), and I'm intrigued as to how this 56 hour rule may benefit me.
Please explain this, I would be too grateful

I will not mince my words here the workload is not small. That said at my school the girls did AS and A2 Further Maths in one year as an additional subject so it was taught at twice the normal speed- this may have distorted my view of how much work is needed if taught normally. The whole group got A or A*, but it did not come without tears and for lack of a better word tantrums.

With regards to content my friends reported the difficulty level of FP1 to be similar to the AS unit C2. They also said four applied units they did were a little harder than AS Maths but less hard than A2 C3 and C4, but the beast was in FP3-> They struggled endlessly with unit and everyone cried afterwards because it was foul. Whilst they did not do FP2, my teacher was an examiner for it and said that it was unnecessarily hard (just in the amount it asked you to do per question) and that's why my previous school did not do it.

My comments here are a little on hearsay as I have not done A2 Further Maths, personally I am doing it as a one year course at MPW this coming September.