Doing A level Maths in Year 12

I'm doing A Level maths in June this year (I'm in year 12 too), and I too am a little concerned about the grade boundaries. But Ofqual have said that they will supposedly allow a greater proportion of A*s this year, although this isn't confirmed, I've only seen mentions of it. Bearing in mind that everyone doing it this year is in the same boat, and everyone has access to only the two spec papers. When I apply for natsci at Cambridge, and if worst comes to worst I only have a grade A, hopefully they will take into account of the high grade boundaries and circumstances this year. But don't know about for maths.

What sort of scores are people in your class getting on mocks?

Cambridge say that a couple of resits is not a problem as long as you don't do too many (after all, you can't resit a Tripos exam). But bear in mind that Cambridge will only see your first results as you won't have done any resits until way after your application.

Hopefully that's true haha. My class is quite small and mostly made up of international exchange students so its quite competitive. Me and about 6/7 others get quite high marks but overall grades go from E to A*.

Getting top grades is competitive enough regardless of how many 'elite' students sit the exams. I'd recommend taking the risk with it this year if you're doing well in it, only issue is like you said with resitting. Just email or ring up Cambridge and ask about it, I know some unis don't accept resits for medicine, but that's a whole different ball game. Good luck )

I'm currently taking four a levels, two of which are Maths and Further Maths and i'm hoping to go on to study Maths at somewhere like Cambridge.

Originally, when taking my a-levels, the college said we would be doing the A level exam at the end of Year 12 but recently have decided to change it so that both the Maths and Further Maths exams will be taken in Year 13. Reasons - this year is the new spec so not 100% sure on what the paper will be like; a lot of elite students will be entered so getting the top grades will be quite competitive.

My teachers have decided to let me choose whether or not I want to do the exam this year as I've been achieving A*s consistently but its up to me.


Pros:
Get it out of the way
Have one a level completed in time for uni applications
Less exams next year so I can focus on my other subjects
This year I can put all my attention on Maths
Find mechanics module easier as I do physics

Cons:
If i don't get an A* - i'll have to retake
What unis will think about me retaking

VERY long explanation haha, but basically just want to know what people think about the new spec and if it worth the risk and also to find out about what unis like Cambridge will think if I have to retake in Year 13. Thanks in advance !

Percentages, if you don't mind me asking? How many people are in your class?

Thank you !

Hey! do you mind helping me with these mechanics questions, please?
I also do A-level maths and I'm in year 12.

The ones with the asterisks, are the ones I need assistance with.


2. A racing car starts from rest at the point A, and moves with constant acceleration of 11ms-2 for 8 seconds. The velocity it has reached after 8 s is then maintained for T s. The racing car then decelerates from this velocity to 40 ms-1, in a further 2 s , reaching point B.

A) sketch a velocity-time graph (done)

*b) Given that the distance between A and B is 1404 m , find the value of T.*


3. A cyclist is descending down a mountain with constant acceleration. She passes through three checkpoinnts, P, Q and R, with velocity 6 ms-1, x ms-1 and 20 ms-1 respectively. Time taken to trvel from P to R = 35 s.

A) Find acceleration

I got the acceleration to equal 0.4 ms-2, I'm sure but does anyone mind to confirm this, if wrong, please explain.


Given that t1/t2 = 4/3 , where t1 is time taken to travel from P to Q and t2 is the time taken to travel from Q-R,

*b) find the value of x*

I didn't understand this, I need a lot of help on this one

c) Find the distance between P and R. I can do this one, but it's one of these continuous questions and I don't want an ecf.

For 2B) use the velocity time graph you drew to calculate the area under the graph in terms of T and then set this equal to the distance given and solve for T

Hey! do you mind helping me with these mechanics questions, please?
I also do A-level maths and I'm in year 12.

The ones with the asterisks, are the ones I need assistance with.


2. A racing car starts from rest at the point A, and moves with constant acceleration of 11ms-2 for 8 seconds. The velocity it has reached after 8 s is then maintained for T s. The racing car then decelerates from this velocity to 40 ms-1, in a further 2 s , reaching point B.

A) sketch a velocity-time graph (done)

*b) Given that the distance between A and B is 1404 m , find the value of T.*


3. A cyclist is descending down a mountain with constant acceleration. She passes through three checkpoinnts, P, Q and R, with velocity 6 ms-1, x ms-1 and 20 ms-1 respectively. Time taken to trvel from P to R = 35 s.

A) Find acceleration

I got the acceleration to equal 0.4 ms-2, I'm sure but does anyone mind to confirm this, if wrong, please explain.


Given that t1/t2 = 4/3 , where t1 is time taken to travel from P to Q and t2 is the time taken to travel from Q-R,

*b) find the value of x*

I didn't understand this, I need a lot of help on this one

c) Find the distance between P and R. I can do this one, but it's one of these continuous questions and I don't want an ecf.

For 3b)
i found experssions for t1 and t2 in terms of x
t1=(x-6)/0.4 and t2 = (20-x)/0.4
now just do t1/t2 and set equal to 4/3 then solve for x
Idk if this is right but thats what I would do x

I'd say around 15 people. On the latest mock we had I got 79% (A*) which was the top score in the class. I think 5 ish people were between 55-79 and everyone else was below that. There were 3/4 people who got Es or below I think.

Thanks! I was wondering if in the new spec is it still possible to only retake certain exams or is it like the whole A level all over again ? I'm hoping to get an A* but it's the new spec that's got me worried about whether or not i can make it

Thanks! I was wondering if in the new spec is it still possible to only retake certain exams or is it like the whole A level all over again ? I'm hoping to get an A* but it's the new spec that's got me worried about whether or not i can make it

I'm currently taking four a levels, two of which are Maths and Further Maths and i'm hoping to go on to study Maths at somewhere like Cambridge.

Originally, when taking my a-levels, the college said we would be doing the A level exam at the end of Year 12 but recently have decided to change it so that both the Maths and Further Maths exams will be taken in Year 13. Reasons - this year is the new spec so not 100% sure on what the paper will be like; a lot of elite students will be entered so getting the top grades will be quite competitive.

My teachers have decided to let me choose whether or not I want to do the exam this year as I've been achieving A*s consistently but its up to me.


Pros:
Get it out of the way
Have one a level completed in time for uni applications
Less exams next year so I can focus on my other subjects
This year I can put all my attention on Maths
Find mechanics module easier as I do physics

Cons:
If i don't get an A* - i'll have to retake
What unis will think about me retaking

VERY long explanation haha, but basically just want to know what people think about the new spec and if it worth the risk and also to find out about what unis like Cambridge will think if I have to retake in Year 13. Thanks in advance !