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got a low 7 should i do alevel maths

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Reply 1
I got a 7 in maths, and got an A at AS Level. I don’t see what’s stopping you from doing maths? As long as your willing to put the work in.
Reply 2
Original post by akpo
I got a 7 in maths, and got an A at AS Level. I don’t see what’s stopping you from doing maths? As long as your willing to put the work in.


what did you find challenging in a level maths
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 3
Original post by lolu123
what did you find challenging in a level maths


Probably, the new specification making me do mechanics and statistics, because I hate physics and do not study it at a level. Maths in application/context is very weird if you don’t fully understand the topic/how to approach the question, especially in mechanics, and probably the fact that textbook questions do not prepare you fully for exam questions at all. Weirdly, despite of all that, I actually found it quite easier than gcse, so I don’t really have a more convincing response to that, sorry.
Original post by akpo
I got a 7 in maths, and got an A at AS Level. I don’t see what’s stopping you from doing maths? As long as your willing to put the work in.


WOW Thats great! Do you have any advice/revision tips on how to achieve a grade like this in maths AS? regards
Reply 5
Original post by akpo
Probably, the new specification making me do mechanics and statistics, because I hate physics and do not study it at a level. Maths in application/context is very weird if you don’t fully understand the topic/how to approach the question, especially in mechanics, and probably the fact that textbook questions do not prepare you fully for exam questions at all. Weirdly, despite of all that, I actually found it quite easier than gcse, so I don’t really have a more convincing response to that, sorry.


how on earth do you find it easier than gcses
Reply 6
Original post by lolu123
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I got a B at GCSE don't worry, got a B in AS and ended with an A* in A level. Of course in second year, I worked soo much harder. At the start of maths i struggled but then after a few months I picked it up.
Reply 7
Original post by joke123132
WOW Thats great! Do you have any advice/revision tips on how to achieve a grade like this in maths AS? regards


Covering A LOT of PAST PAPERS, and even topic papers. (Old specification may be useful)
Only rote learn key terms (if necessary), and try to understand why concepts work in maths (logs, calculus, proof), rather than just knowing how to do it in specific cases (AS exams are often try to catch students out).
Perfecting modelling questions (specifically) is very important as these tend to catch most students out. / Practise problem solving.
Prioritise revision towards your worst topics (still revise every topic through practising, as it’s pretty much likely to appear implicitly in a question), and when you have best topics, attempt more challenging (A/*) questions, to see how well you know that topic. (AS, often have exams where harder questions are set for popular topics students perceive as easy).

I can’t really be as more specific, because I’m weirdly 70% an arts/humanities person as well as studying maths, but I hope this was somewhat useful.
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by lolu123
how on earth do you find it easier than gcses


At gcse, it was heavily just problem solving, that you either get it right, or have no clue, and I never revised for maths at gcse, and got a high 7 based off strictly attending lessons. At A level, it’s more specific, if you understand the content, exams test you on it and some context (which I was willing to learn), with much more challenging questions, but it’s more easier to prepare for (in my opinion).
I'm glad someone else asked this question for me. I too have just received a lower 7 at GCSE, but I'm worried about taking maths as I always struggled on graphs, trig and things like that which apparently are heavily features at A level?
Reply 10
Original post by akpo
At gcse, it was heavily just problem solving, that you either get it right, or have no clue, and I never revised for maths at gcse, and got a high 7 based off strictly attending lessons. At A level, it’s more specific, if you understand the content, exams test you on it and some context (which I was willing to learn), with much more challenging questions, but it’s more easier to prepare for (in my opinion).


oh i understand now and lastly is the content easy to understand
Reply 11
Original post by lolu123
oh i understand now and lastly is the content easy to understand


At the start yes, but vectors and logarithms (very late/last topics) are probably the most challenging and not as simple (in my opinion). So overall, yes. But, good exam time management & technique is important as well.
Reply 12
Original post by akpo
At the start yes, but vectors and logarithms (very late/last topics) are probably the most challenging and not as simple (in my opinion). So overall, yes. But, good exam time management & technique is important as well.


I struggled with vectors a lot at gcses.Is it tremendously more difficult or a bit harder then gcse
Reply 13
Original post by lolu123
I struggled with vectors a lot at gcses.Is it tremendously more difficult or a bit harder then gcse


It’s a very hard topic, and tremendously difficult now I’m entering year 2. They turn the gcse vectors into something completely different as well. It’s in between tremendously more difficult and a bit harder for AS level though. It’s quite easy in an applied context (mechanics) though, which is weird.
Reply 14
Original post by akpo
At the start yes, but vectors and logarithms (very late/last topics) are probably the most challenging and not as simple (in my opinion). So overall, yes. But, good exam time management & technique is important as well.


i just looked at some alevel maths papers and i look disgusted.Is it hard as it looks.
Reply 15
Original post by lolu123
i just looked at some alevel maths papers and i look disgusted.Is it hard as it looks.


That’s exactly how I felt when I was looking at a level maths papers, post year 11- results day. They appear, intimidating, quite challenging in nature, but after learning the topics at AS/A-level, it’s actually quite less challenging(not easy) and not as hard as it looks at face value.
(edited 5 years ago)
Reply 16
Original post by akpo
That’s exactly how I felt when I was looking at a level maths papers, post year 11- results day. They appear, intimidating, quite challenging in nature, but after learning the topics at AS/A-level, it’s actually quite less challenging(not easy) and not as hard as it looks at face value.


are you u suree?like im scared
Of course! Keep an eye out for mechanics tho, especially projectiles rip
Reply 18
Original post by lolu123
are you u suree?like im scared


I can only speak for edexcel (from my experience of AS maths), other exam boards may look harder.
Reply 19
Original post by akpo
I can only speak for edexcel (from my experience of AS maths), other exam boards may look harder.


my school does edexcel as well.Roughly how big is the jump from gcses to alevel?

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