Pure mathematics

I am currently finishing my gcse exams (2 left), I am now thinking about a levels. I was wondering how hard pure maths is and what you actually study, as I am taking 5 a levels already but would also like to do another such as pure maths as well.
I'm predicted a 9 (A*) in maths and a A^* in further maths

Reply 1

gdunne42

Original post by SergeAyy

The specification can be found in your examiners web site and details everything you would study. If you are starting A levels in England in September you should note the specification is changing and pure maths as a separate A level is no longer available in the new specification. You should also note that if you are already taking maths A level you can't also do the pure maths A level as the content overlaps. Doing 6 A levels seems pointless.

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Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

As far as I am aware Pure Maths A-level will be retired under the new 2017 linear A-levels scheme, as A-level Maths is becoming 100% prescribed topics and Further Maths AS 100% prescribed, and A-level 50%.

The closest analogue would be to take Maths A-level and Further Maths AS (if not full A-level). In Pure Maths you do the core modules (C1-C4) plus two of the Further Pure modules. The latter would roughly equate to the prescribed part of the Further Maths A/AS level (you would do slightly more than that in the new scheme, plus of course the mechanics and statistics portion of the main Maths A-level).

In any case, if you're good at mathematics and more importantly enjoy mathematics, it's a good option to take Maths and AS or A-level Further Maths. However I wouldn't recommend doing this in addition to FIVE other A-levels; I'm not sure it would be advisable to do it with more than two other A-levels (for a total of four; universities typically only consider your highest 3-4 anyway depending whether they accept FM as an A-level unto itself with Mathematics, or consider them together).

Reply 3

SergeAyy

Original post by gdunne42

OK thank you for the information and advice, I only wanted to take pure maths as I enjoy mathematics, i will be taking a look at the aqa site.

Reply 4

SergeAyy

Original post by artful_lounger

Ok thank you for the adivce, I normally enjoy mathematics and have already
chosen to take further maths and and maths at a level.

Reply 5

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by SergeAyy

Ok thank you for the adivce, I normally enjoy mathematics and have already
chosen to take further maths and and maths at a level.

I see, well the old Pure Mathematics A-level was just a combination of the old standard Maths A-level with Further Pure modules instead of mechanics/statistics/decision mathematics modules for the optional ones; Thus you couldn't take Maths and Pure Maths, nor could you take Pure Maths and Further Maths, as both would overlap; Maths and Further Maths covers the same material and then more.

As you've chosen Mathematics and Further Mathematics, you'll be covering what you would have done in the old Pure Maths A-level and more as noted. You will enjoy the challenge I'm sure :smile:

Reply 6

SergeAyy

Original post by artful_lounger

Oh I see that's great, I thought pure maths was more in depth maths but if it just
overlaps with maths and pure maths there's no point of doing it.

Reply 7

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by SergeAyy

Oh I see that's great, I thought pure maths was more in depth maths but if it just
overlaps with maths and pure maths there's no point of doing it.

Yes; it was more or less just a stepping stone between A-level Maths and A-level Maths with AS/A-level Further Maths.

To be more specific:

Previously in A-level Maths you did 6 modules over the two years, 3 in each. These consisted of C1, C2, C3, C4, the so called "core" modules, and then you would also have then 2 additional modules to take (1 per year) which were normally taken from the "applied" modules of Mechanics (M1 and M2) Statistics (S1 and S2) and Decision Mathematics (D1 and D2) in various combinations.

Further Mathematics consisted of a further 6 modules, from the previously mentioned applied modules, and usually at least one or two of the Further Pure Modules (FP1, FP2, and depending on exam board FP3 and/or FP4). Some exam boards also had additional applied modules in stats and mechanics (e.g. M3, S3/4/5).

Under the new linear A-level however, that's all being scrapped. Mathematics A-level now is 100% prescribed as noted, which means every student taking A-level Mathematics will be taught and examined on the same subjects; notably this means you won't have some doing certain applied modules and others doing different ones. They've slightly expanded the "pure/core" maths content and then all students also do Mechanics and some Statistics content.

Further Mathematics is now 50% prescribed; everyone does at least half the same topics, and these broadly correlate to the previous FP1 and FP2 modules (although the specific topics covered by the old ones varied between exam boards; now they're all the same for half of it, or all of the AS level). The other half is made up of one or more optional modules, which vary from exam board to exam board. This can be further mechanics/statistics (correlating more closely to someone taking e.g. M1/2/3+ or S1/2/3+), decision sciences/mathematics (similar to the old D1 and D2 modules) or further pure mathematics options, some with "technology" oriented options involving computational mathematics and numerical methods.

Which options you have available on the Further Mathematics course depends on both which examining board you're following and what your provider (school) offers. Different options are more or less useful depending what you plan on doing after A-level; Mechanics is obviously very useful for physics/engineering, and reasonable for mathematics degrees, while further pure mathematics is quite useful for maths and/or computer science type courses, and so on and so forth. However none are generally required to go on to any specific course, with the exception of about 3 engineering courses at Imperial which require you to take mechanics options if available.

But you don't really need to worry about all that as your school will take care of all the details, so just focus on learning the material and doing well in your exams :smile: