I'm Worried About Further Maths

I'm starting college next week, and I am taking Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science and Economics. I want to study Computing at University, preferably at Imperial College in London.

The college requires A*AAA, and they heavily recommend that you have Further Maths, which is why I have taken it. In GCSEs, I got A* in maths, and As in Chemistry and Physics (as a point of reference).

The college I am starting at (Loreto), does their FM course by completing Maths A-Level in one year, and then FM the next. I am worried that It will be too difficult for me. What do you guys think? How hard really is FM, if you try your hardest from day one? Where is the best place to get help if I am struggling?

Thanks everyone, advice and tips are much appreciated.

Reply 1

Hayley Williams

Original post by Joe_Gaughan

Whilst i think it's a bit odd that they teach A level maths in one year instead of two years, it does actually make sense to give you a foundation of knowledge before doing further maths. Further maths is really not that difficult if your not naturally good at maths or wiling to put in a lot of work from day one. I would say get on with a level maths and aim for that A/A* and then you can decide if another step up in difficulty to further maths would be too much. If you start to struggle with A level maths then i would recommend picking up another AS.

Reply 2

JN17

Personally I think doing them alongside eachother is better (i.e both AS in one year, A2 the next) as you find a lot of overlap between modules. For example (in A2 right now), doing FP2,M3 etc alongside C3/4 is very helpful as you get taught things like differential equations in both which just makes you better at the topic in general. If you enjoy maths it won't be difficult at all, but if you get behind it can be quite hard to get back up to speed as everything builds off of other topics so the next lesson would just end up being harder. I agree with the person above that you should see how you get along with Maths and make the decision at the end of the year, as you'd know if you found it fun over the year or not, and whether you want to do more.
As far as where to get help, I advise physicsandmathstutor and examsolutions, both great resources if you don't quite understand something or need help on a question.