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Anyone taken maths and further maths for a level?

I am about to start applying for sixth forms/colleges and still havent finalised what subjects i should choose for a-levels. The ones i am most likely to choose are maths and fm but i am a little confused by the changes in the spec... Is it linear or modular because on the five ways curriculum pdf, maths and fm arent included in the subjects moving to linear courses??? Also, has anyone taken these? i feel like the spec isnt enough to really give me an idea on what these will be about and how different they are from gcse maths and further maths.
(edited 8 years ago)
I currently take Maths, Further Maths and teach myself Additional Further Maths. The step up from GCSE for me was practically none existent although I had done reading beyond my syllabus so the content wasn't that new to me. I love the combination of Maths and Further Maths personally but I think the key thing about the combination is that you have to like maths to do it. In my opinion the Further Maths is no harder, you just have twice as much to do.
I believe that maths will remain modular up until 2017? Anyways I take maths and FM, Maths AS wasn't a huge jump from GCSE for me. Core 1 was a nice transition, however FM is a different story. Requires a lot more effort than just Maths, would only recommend this if you're really confident in your maths ability.
I thought all subjects would be linear next year, it just means that if you choose to do an AS level that it doesn't count towards the a level. Idk if it is or not,look of the DfE website

I do both. C1 is not a big step up from GCSE, but it will get a lot harder in C2

FP1 will depend a lot on how you understand maths, there's a lot of new abstract content that you may find hard to wrap your head around. It's a lot easier if you've done further maths at gcse, so if your school doesn't offer that, self teach some of the bits, it really bridges the gap
I'm taking Maths and FMaths and I'm finding it alright - I did the FSMQ so C1 and C2, along with bits of M1 and S1, were just a bit of revision. From GCSE C1 is honestly just a progression, if you're confident in your maths ability and got an A/A* at GCSE you should be perfectly fine :smile: it's more about hard work and determination in some bits rather than natural ability
Reply 5
Original post by Ewanclementson
I currently take Maths, Further Maths and teach myself Additional Further Maths. The step up from GCSE for me was practically none existent although I had done reading beyond my syllabus so the content wasn't that new to me. I love the combination of Maths and Further Maths personally but I think the key thing about the combination is that you have to like maths to do it. In my opinion the Further Maths is no harder, you just have twice as much to do.



Yeah i guessed Further would be A LOT harder. I think i am just a little paranoid about the jump from GCSE to a level mathematics but i think I would be able to handle it as long as my other a level choices arent too hard as well. What other a levels did you pick, if you dont mind me asking?
Reply 6
Original post by Yekaterina1999
I'm taking Maths and FMaths and I'm finding it alright - I did the FSMQ so C1 and C2, along with bits of M1 and S1, were just a bit of revision. From GCSE C1 is honestly just a progression, if you're confident in your maths ability and got an A/A* at GCSE you should be perfectly fine :smile: it's more about hard work and determination in some bits rather than natural ability


Ah thank you!! Um i am not quite sure what those intials (FSMQ, C1 and C2) really mean but i am guessing they are the different modules within the subject... I guess they arent necessarily as hard as they are about understanding the concepts, i thnk the teachers in my school just kinda over exaggerated them
Original post by AishaRana
I am about to start applying for sixth forms/colleges and still havent finalised what subjects i should choose for a-levels. The ones i am most likely to choose are maths and fm but i am a little confused by the changes in the spec... Is it linear or modular because on the five ways curriculum pdf, maths and fm arent included in the subjects moving to linear courses??? Also, has anyone taken these? i feel like the spec isnt enough to really give me an idea on what these will be about and how different they are from gcse maths and further maths.


Maths doesn't become linear yet. It will be first taught from September 2017.
Original post by AishaRana
Yeah i guessed Further would be A LOT harder. I think i am just a little paranoid about the jump from GCSE to a level mathematics but i think I would be able to handle it as long as my other a level choices arent too hard as well. What other a levels did you pick, if you dont mind me asking?


My subjects are: Maths, Further Maths Additional Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics and General Studies.
If you know that you're genuinely talented at maths they should both be a cakewalk, at least as AS Level.
Original post by AishaRana
Ah thank you!! Um i am not quite sure what those intials (FSMQ, C1 and C2) really mean but i am guessing they are the different modules within the subject... I guess they arent necessarily as hard as they are about understanding the concepts, i thnk the teachers in my school just kinda over exaggerated them


FMSQ is a free maths standing qualification which is a level 3 qualification for people who took maths gcse in year 10 or before and got a grade B or higher.
C1 and C2 are the first two modules of A-level maths, they're the AS Maths modules. You have to take one more optional module with them - either M1, S1 or D1.


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