Further maths students please read

If you want to do astrophysics at Oxford or Cambridge (and most other places) you have to start by doing a degree in Physics and then specialise. To do a Physics degree you NEED Further Maths, especially at those prestigious places. My advice would be drop chemistry (although it may be useful in astrochemistry) or drop Product Design. Relax on your own time

Drop product design even if you're good at it, I see you got the A* at gcse, but it's pointless carrying that to A-Levels coz of what you wanna do at uni. Further Maths is "strongly" preferred by all russel group uni, well most of them, so a combination of Further maths, maths, chemistry and physics will definitely take you where you wanna go.

Thanks for the advice, but what scares me is that A level maths seems incresibly hard and Further math scares me lot....i dont know if i have it in me to get a A in further maths

How about instead of keeping it seeming difficult, you start looking at the specification and find out what it entails and see if you actually find it difficult. Also if you can't do further maths, then I really don't recommend looking at Oxbridge as an option, as they require high amounts of work and dedication for the subject. And physics and maths are like newly wedded couple, you can't have one without the other.

And about product design, by your description, you're taking only three A levels since only three of your A levels stress you out and require work from you. But Oxbridge students are probably asked to handle the stress of about 10 A levels per year (in university). So again, if you can't handle four, that's a bad sign. I'm not saying quit product design, but it looks like it's more of a hobby for you, and hobbies don't belong to school.

To be fair, I don't really see how you'd be able to work out whether you'd find FP3 difficult or not in two years time when you've just started AS Maths. All of the A2 units are going to look incredibly hard when you've just started Year 12, it's a very difficult thing to gauge. It is true though that Physics at Oxford might not be the best idea if you can't cope with Further Maths though.

Oh no I'm not talking about FP3, but if FP1 is hard for them, then FP2 is definitely not an option. However if they find that FP1 is very doable with a bit of hard work then FP2 is too! Also an AS in Further is better no Further.

I thought FP1 was actually quite difficult! I personally found it the hardest AS unit...

Really? I've had many people say to me that FP1 is very easy, easier than C2.

Thanks for the advice, but what scares me is that A level maths seems incresibly hard and Further math scares me lot....i dont know if i have it in me to get a A in further maths

If you want to do astrophysics at Oxford or Cambridge (and most other places) you have to start by doing a degree in Physics and then specialise. To do a Physics degree you NEED Further Maths, especially at those prestigious places. My advice would be drop chemistry (although it may be useful in astrochemistry) or drop Product Design. Relax on your own time

How about instead of keeping it seeming difficult, you start looking at the specification and find out what it entails and see if you actually find it difficult. Also if you can't do further maths, then I really don't recommend looking at Oxbridge as an option, as they require high amounts of work and dedication for the subject. And physics and maths are like newly wedded couple, you can't have one without the other.

And about product design, by your description, you're taking only three A levels since only three of your A levels stress you out and require work from you. But Oxbridge students are probably asked to handle the stress of about 10 (exaggeration, maybe) A levels per year (in university). So again, if you can't handle four, that's a bad sign. I'm not saying quit product design, but it looks like it's more of a hobby for you, and hobbies don't belong to school.

Also I apologize if I seem rude. I'm just trying to be honest, telling you what opinion is, we're talking about your future after all. Sugar coating should not be an option when discussing these things.

Thank you for your honesty, I prefer it when people tell the truth instead of white lies to spare feelings. Thanks

While it says you don't need further maths in reality without further maths your chance of getting an offer is much lower. A top uni wants to see very strong aptitude in maths and further maths shows that. I study physics at Imperial and I did FM as did most people here. Only 1 or 2 people get in without FM. I recommend maths,FM,physics and chemistry and definitely drop product design, as it weakens your application while chemistry just strengthens it showing you have a strong background in science if you do well. Also by FM I mean A2 because in FP2 and FP3 you learn lots of important maths used in a physics degree.

You're welcome. I've been lied to before (sometimes unintentionally), and it gave me much more trouble than benefitted me. So I learned to never do it to anyone.

Btw How much did you study (revise) for the Maths GCSE, especially during the exams period?

Thank you very much, I am going to drop product design as soon as I can. Do you have any tips for achieving an A in maths and further maths?