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Help with understanding A-Levels.

Scayron

I'd really appreciate it if someone could enlighten me about the current system of A-levels(IAL). I just finished my o-lvls and i'm having difficulty in understanding the structure of alvls. For example could you tell me how many maths modules/units can i give in my AS or A2? Is it fixed like 3 units for as and 3 for a2 if i took 6 units or can i choose how many modules i can give in a particular sitting? Could i also give all units i took just in AS? I'd also appreciate it if someone could explain the grading structure as well.
Thank you.

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Reply 1

TSR Jessica

Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown:

Why not try posting in a specific subject forum- you might have more luck there.

Here's a link to our subject forum which should help get you more responses. :redface:

Reply 2

logophile98

Hi

I am currently doing A Levels in the UK. For A Level maths here, at AS you do Core 1, Core 2 and either Mechanics 1 or Decision 1. At A2 you do Core 3, Core 4 and either Mechanics 2 or Decision 2.

If you want to do just an AS, you sit your AS exam at the end of your AS year but you're not allowed to carry on to A2 unless your school is like mine and I have to sit the AS exam regardless. If you want to do the full A level then you sit your AS and A2 exams at the end of your second year.

As for grading, it usually works by percentage. Your percentage for each paper gets averaged out and you are given a grade by the appropriate boundaries.

hope this helps, feel free to ask me any questions whenever you feel the need :smile:

Reply 3

Compost

Original post by Scayron

Do you know which exam board you would take Maths with? I'm not sure how it works with CIE but if it is Edexcel than there is C12, a double pure Maths unit that is an AS unit and C34, another double unit, which is an A2 unit. To achieve an AS you need
C12 plus 1 applied unit - Decision Maths 1, Statistics 1 or Mechanics 1.
For the full A level you need
C12 C34 and 2 applied units, either 2 from the list above or one from the list above and the second unit in that subject, e.g. Mechanics 2.

You can take as many or a few units as you wish in a sitting.

Reply 4

Scayron

I'm studying under edexcel. If I were to take 7 units, say C12 C34 M1 S1 and FP1, could i give FP1,C34 and M1 in my A2 and the other 3 in AS?

Reply 5

Compost

Original post by Scayron

I'm studying under edexcel. If I were to take 7 units, say C12 C34 M1 S1 and FP1, could i give FP1,C34 and M1 in my A2 and the other 3 in AS?

No. An A level is 6 units, not 7 and FP1 has to be a Further Maths unit anyway. If you took C12, C34 and D1, M1 and S1 then your grade would be calculated from C12, C34 and the better 2 from D1, M1 and S1 but they will only ever add up 6 units to calculate the A level grade.

Reply 6

Scayron

So you can only take 6 units to complete your a-lvls?? that's fixed?? if i wanted to take FP1 then i need to take an extra maths syllabus,like the entirety from further maths? if i took further maths, couldn't i just only select FP1 as my A2 maths course??

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 7

Compost

Original post by Scayron

You can take FP1, it just can't be part of Maths any more than it could be part of Chemistry as it is a Further Maths unit, the clue is in the name really.

If you also take another 2 units (in addition to the 6 for Maths) then you could have an AS in Further Maths, or you could just take FP1 for the sheer joy of Maths and leave it at that.

Reply 8

Scayron

could i take three applied units for a-lvls...say m1,m2 and s1?

Reply 9

Compost

Original post by Scayron

could i take three applied units for a-lvls...say m1,m2 and s1?

As I have said earlier, A level Maths has to include C12, C34 and 2 applied units. No other option is available.

For Further Maths:
AS - FP1 plus any 2 units not taken in Maths.
A level - FP1, at least 1 from FP2 and FP3, plus other units not taken in Maths to make a total of 6.

Reply 10

Scayron

i am keeping my options for either biology(doctor) or physics(scientist/engineer)....so won't it cause problems if i can't study all the units required for both? i have to study m1,m2 as well as s1,s2....so i'm currently in a daze.. :frown:

Reply 11

Compost

Original post by Scayron

I don't see why you have to study 4 applied units but it's your choice.
The centre should cash you in for whatever you complete. If you do extra units then Edexcel will just take the best allowable ones when calculating your overall grade. It is fairly common for candidates to take 13 units when taking Maths and Further Maths so they can discard a bad unit.

Reply 12

Scayron

ok....i want to study these modules: C12,C34,M1,M2,S1,FP1.....how can i apply for all these units? do i have to take further maths as well as general maths?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 13

ChiefKwen

Original post by Scayron

ok....i want to study these modules: C12,C34,M1,M2,S1,FP1.....how can i apply for all these units? do i have to take further maths as well as general maths?

I think to give yourself the best options go with:
Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Further maths + physics if you really can handle all.

But for the careers you described:
Biology,Chemistry, Maths, Physics (ok for doctor i think)
2 units in bio, 2 units in chem, 2 units in physics, 3 units in maths, 3 units in further maths
Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths( ok for scientist/ engineer) some places prefer biology for med.

You can wait until your second year before you do M2, but a good bet for you would be M1 and S1. Then M2 the following year.

Reply 14

Scayron

I meant for the modules i said above do i have to take general maths as well as further maths? I'm new to this alvl thing so i don't really understand it fully...

Reply 15

Haamoo7

Original post by Scayron

I meant for the modules i said above do i have to take general maths as well as further maths? I'm new to this alvl thing so i don't really understand it fully...

For general maths the modules you have to include are the core modules (C12 etc).
For further maths the modules you have to include are the further pure modules (FP1, FP2 etc).
The applied modules (S1, M1, D1 etc) can be in both a general maths or further maths A-level.
Since you want to do "C12,C34,M1,M2,S1,FP1", you will have to do further maths because you cannot include FP1 in a maths A level. If you were to not do FP1, then you can just do maths A-level with all the other core and applied modules.

Hope this clarifies things a bit.

Reply 16

Scayron

ya but if i take further maths i have to take FP2/FP3 too since it's compulsory....right? i want to take only FP1... :frown:

Reply 17

Compost

Original post by Scayron

ya but if i take further maths i have to take FP2/FP3 too since it's compulsory....right? i want to take only FP1... :frown:

You have to take FP1 for an AS in FM. For the full A level you also have to take at least 1 from FP2 and FP3.

Reply 18

♥Samantha♥

Original post by Scayron

ya but if i take further maths i have to take FP2/FP3 too since it's compulsory....right? i want to take only FP1... :frown:

Not for AS. for AS you only need FP1 + 2 applied units. You said you want to do C12,C34,M1,M2,S1 and FP1 so I think what you should do is:

AS Maths: C12 M1
A2 Maths: C34 M2
AS Further Maths: FP1 S1 and 1 other applied unit e.g. S2 or D1

You will end up with a full A Level in Maths and an in AS Further Maths.