Recommended Textbooks for the year

Hi, I will be doing math, physics, chem and further M. I was wondering if the books below + working hard would be enough to get me an A* by the end of the 2 years.

Chemistry: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Chemistry-Level-Second-Student-Book/dp/0198351828/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472521170&sr=1-1&keywords=aqa+chemistry+a+level+2016

Physics same book aswell

Maths and further Maths: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Edexcel-AS-Level-Modular-Mathematics/dp/0435519107/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1472521234&sr=1-5&keywords=maths+a+level

Obviously with the maths id have to keep buying new books for when units change.

Thanks

Thanks

Bump

I did Edexcel for Chemistry so I don't know what the textbooks are like for AQA, but the Edexcel one i was given wasn't that good. A textbook on its own is definitely not enough for an A* on it's own though. For chemistry I recommend chemguide.com for very good explanations, and the person who created the site also has a very good textbook on calculations called 'Calculations in AS/A level Chemistry' for both AS and A2.

Reply 4

1010marina

I did AQA but the old spec

I HATED the book for chemistry -- the new one is admittedly quite a bit better (from a glance) but I'd recommend the CGP student book. It's like a textbook but without half the faff. And one thing you will appreciate is full worked solutions for everything. The book you've selected is good for once you know everything pretty solid, as a way to widen your knowledge, but it's not a starting point. The definitions are rubbish and it just doesn't explain itself very well.

The maths books however I do quite like but would still recommend the CGP books because they have worked solutions for all the questions. There's less support at a level and it's frustrating when you can't see where you've gone wrong. The core modules I'd say it's up to you but ***100%*** I recommend getting cgp if you're doing stats.

Edit sorry forgot to include I did edexcel for maths

Reply 5

solC

Regarding CGP books, they are a nice way to consolidate work, but remember they are revision guides, so don't solely rely on the CGP book to get a good grade. Some people in my class did this and throughout the year would complain 'this stuff isn't in my textbook' when in fact they just hadn't bothered to go through the actual textbook. Basically just remember the CGP might not have everything :smile:

Reply 6

JerryG

So as long as I understand everything in the official textbooks, I should be good to get the high grades?

Reply 7

solC

Original post by JerryG

So as long as I understand everything in the official textbooks, I should be good to get the high grades?

Knowing and understanding the content is very important, but being able to apply your knowledge and understanding is also key, especially in physics where quite a few questions were about applying knowledge to unknown situations, and I think that's where doing past papers becomes quite useful.
But yeah, a good understanding should get you further than just memorising :smile:

Reply 8