Further Maths AS and A2 in one year

Hey, I am really stuck as with what to do with my subjects this year, last year I took Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Theatre and have decided to definitely drop Theatre. However this year I want to do Further Maths AS and A2 in one year, alongside finishing normal maths and Chemistry (also dropping Biology). The problem is I wont do C4 and FP1 till the end of the year and would have already started FP3 by that time, I'm not quite sure how hard further maths is so I don't know if this would cause some big problems? I have also been told by my college that they don't know how well I'm going to do by doing it this way and would recommend just the AS level and Biology (with Chem and Normal Maths). I would also need to do STEP if i just did AS. If anyone can give any advice or input it would be much appreciated thanks

You won't do well.
fp3 assuming AQA is heavy on differentiating and integration.
Doing STEP aswell?

It is AQA yes and I would only do STEP if I did just the AS, I if do the full A level I won't (or very unlikely) do STEP on top of that

Incase anyone wondered I ended up doing Further Maths AS and A2 in one year and got A*A 😊 I got 100 UMS in a lot of units and 90 UMS average in 2 units in FM for the A* but the third was below so I didn't get the second A* 😔

Incase anyone wondered I ended up doing Further Maths AS and A2 in one year and got A*A 😊 I got 100 UMS in a lot of units and 90 UMS average in 2 units in FM for the A* but the third was below so I didn't get the second A* 😔

How much work did you do and what was your schedule?

Congratulations! How would you say FM compared to normal maths? Would say achieving an A in FM be as hard as achieving an A* in normal maths?

Thank you! 😊 I would say FM is a lot more fun compared to normal maths, but also some aspects of it are a lot harder. It depends what additional units you are doing with it too, I found the Decision (D1 and D2) to be easier units along with the Statistics units, whilst Mechanics (M1 and M2) was a bit harder for me, although I did get 100UMS (did not expect that haha😂) and people who did Physics as well found it a lot easier. The actual core FM units are a lot harder than the core normal maths units. I personally found achieving an A* in normal maths easier, this is because once you have done FM a lot of the stuff you learn builds upon everything you do in normal maths and makes you so much better at it that from what I have found you find normal maths much easier afterwards. The best I can compare it is maybe if you have done normal maths A2, and then went back to AS you would find it much easier to do a lot better. I'm not very good at explaining that sorry but basically I think an A in FM is a bit harder. It can help however that the exam board mix and match modules around both A Levels when you have done both so the applied units (Decision, Stats, Mechanics) can be used for either A Level so if you did really well in some and not the other they would mix and match to get you the highest grade in both. Hope this helps 😊 Sorry it became so long!

Ah thank you so much! I only ask because Im doing FM during my gap year and achieved an A* in normal maths. I much preferred C3 and C4 to C1 and C2, i think I enjoy the more challenging modules. I really need an A to get into uni however, so not sure what modules to choose, basically I have already done S1 and S2 (hated S1, liked S2). Im thinking of choosing FP1, FP2, D1, M1, M2 but idk what other module to choose, Im hoping to do a maths degree so a lot of people told me to do FP3 but apparently its really hard . Just not sure right now. Thanks for all your help!

No problem, I'm happy to help! If you got an A* in normal maths I don't see any reasons you can't get an A in FM 😊 Out of interest (sorry if it's nosey) what uni's are you going for? Which exam board are you doing this on? FP1 you would be fine with as it's around C3/4 difficulty maybe easier but some parts I found trickier (not sure why?). D1 and M1 you should find a breeze compared to the rest and FP2/3 will be the hardest. If you are with AQA and really loved vectors then FP4 is entirely vectors and matrices, that's it, so that would be a good unit to take. FP3 does get quite hard but imo it was also the most fun. As for M2 if you did Physics you should do really well in that too, if not after you have done D1 take a look at D2 as that one may be easier, the actual maths in the Decision units is only very basic, but one mistake can lose you a lot of marks in those papers too.

Im doing edexcel unfortunately, and have not studied Physics, hence why Im nervous about doing mechanics modules, sorry I probably should have asked what exam board you did lol. Im hoping to the likes of Leeds uni or Liverpool, Im not smart enough to get into top top unis

Haha don't worry about it I have done some of Edexcel's papers anyway for extra practice, I wouldn't worry too much about not having done Physics as M1 is still going to be easy maths wise for you if you got an A* and I didn't do Physics either haha, but if Edexcel do D2 and you prefer D1 to M1 I would recommend D2 over M2. Well Leeds seem better than Liverpool but only want A*BB (not sure what you got for your other A Level's) so if you were set to go there you may not even need the A in FM, or since I'm sure you want the A haha you could look at even better uni's (Leeds is good though), Nottingham are pretty good and give A*AB offers and Lancaster are ranked higher and want AAB, but whichever uni you go to will be good 😊

Tbh, I got an A* but I wouldn't say I'm that good at maths.. Maybe I got lucky? Lol. Yeah kinda need to do FM cos of how bad my other 2 A levels went . I'm pretty much just good at Maths.. :/