The Student Room Group

A Level Maths calculators + any tips?

Okay so I'm starting AS Maths and Further Maths in September and I'm wondering is there any specific equipment I need to buy, like a more fancy calculator or anything? Also would you recommend me buying a textbook for myself to practise as I go along (I tend to work well with textbooks)?
Are there any websites you would recommend for support or any other tips you have to share?
only doing single maths but i use both my graphical and scientific calculator as doing simple stuff on the graphical can be annoyingly overcomplicated to input so it's good to have both at hand. i use casio fx-9750GII and it's great, takes time getting used to though and you'll need to work out how to do certain things yourself. your teacher will likely have a recommendation of which calculator you should get so it's worth asking them also:smile:
websites i live by- physics and maths tutor, mathsgenie and printing off papers from other exam board websites is good too. nothing wrong with getting a headstart if you want to. our school gives us the textbooks (yours might also) but friend of mine bought CGP textbook and he says they're really good for him. put the work in from the beginning of the year, and you'll find yourself under a lot less stress. don't be afraid to ask for help etc.
Reply 2
As far as calculators go, do yourself a favour and buy yourself the Casio FX991ESPLUS.
It's only £17 on Amazon and I honestly cannot recommend it enough for A-level maths.
Once you've learnt the features it can give you a real advantage in many situations.
Reply 3
Sounds good, I was a bit worried they'd be really expensive but £17 is managable!:smile: Thanks
Reply 4
This is super helpful, thanks!:biggrin: I probably will wait to ask my teacher about the calc then, but it's good to have an idea, and a few websites lined up...
Original post by entertainmyfaith
only doing single maths but i use both my graphical and scientific calculator as doing simple stuff on the graphical can be annoyingly overcomplicated to input so it's good to have both at hand. i use casio fx-9750GII and it's great, takes time getting used to though and you'll need to work out how to do certain things yourself. your teacher will likely have a recommendation of which calculator you should get so it's worth asking them also:smile:
websites i live by- physics and maths tutor, mathsgenie and printing off papers from other exam board websites is good too. nothing wrong with getting a headstart if you want to. our school gives us the textbooks (yours might also) but friend of mine bought CGP textbook and he says they're really good for him. put the work in from the beginning of the year, and you'll find yourself under a lot less stress. don't be afraid to ask for help etc.
Original post by max271
As far as calculators go, do yourself a favour and buy yourself the Casio FX991ESPLUS.
It's only £17 on Amazon and I honestly cannot recommend it enough for A-level maths.
Once you've learnt the features it can give you a real advantage in many situations.


DO NOT DO THIS! The MINIMUM recommended calculator is the Casio FX-991EX which costs £20, as the statistical modes on this calculator are required. If you want anything fancier, go for a graphical calculator such as the FX-9750GII, FX-9860GII, or the fanciest, FX-CG50 (it's full colour and just amazing!)
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by ChristophMario
DO NOT DO THIS! The MINIMUM recommended calculator is the Casio FX-991EX which costs £20, as the statistical modes on this calculator are required. If you want anything fancier, go for a graphical calculator such as the FX-9750GII, FX+9860GII, or the fanciest, FX-CG50 (it's full colour and just amazing!)


There isn't much different between the FX-9750GII and the FX-9860GII, apart from one being £60 and one being £80, the FX-CG50 does cost a bit (£110) but I've loved it so much, but I would recommend the 9750 and then a standard FX-991EX too, unless you really want to spend.
I should explain why you shouldn't do this, although the FX-991ES Plus is sufficient for most of the standard A Level Mathematics course, the exam board will assume everyone has the required (FX-991EX or above) calculator, and therefore can give a student a Cumulative Binomial question with a non-standard probability, which can only then be figured out on the EX calculator, or with a lot of time wasted via PD, this has happened in the new A Level examinations already, and will happen again, so at an additional cost of £3, it really could be the difference between two grades, as it ensures you can access all the questions intended.
Original post by ChristophMario
DO NOT DO THIS! The MINIMUM recommended calculator is the Casio FX-991EX which costs £20, as the statistical modes on this calculator are required. If you want anything fancier, go for a graphical calculator such as the FX-9750GII, FX-9860GII, or the fanciest, FX-CG50 (it's full colour and just amazing!)
And a quick quote from OCR B, MEI:
"For the 2017 A levels students will require a calculator that can calculate Binomial and Normal probabilities directly from values. The minimum standard for this is an advanced scientific calculator, such as the Casio 991EX ClassWiz or the TI-30X Pro; however, graphical calculators have this facility along with the additional advantage of being able to plot the graphs of functions....", although this is the same across all UK exam boards.
Original post by SillyFish
This is super helpful, thanks!:biggrin: I probably will wait to ask my teacher about the calc then, but it's good to have an idea, and a few websites lined up...


no worries! it's always good to be prepared:yep:
good luck with starting your a levels this year:h:
Reply 10
Okay, thanks for warning me! I clearly have a bit of research to do before September... Of course I'll ask my teacher for a recommendation too but this is good to know.
Original post by ChristophMario
DO NOT DO THIS! The MINIMUM recommended calculator is the Casio FX-991EX which costs £20, as the statistical modes on this calculator are required. If you want anything fancier, go for a graphical calculator such as the FX-9750GII, FX-9860GII, or the fanciest, FX-CG50 (it's full colour and just amazing!)


Original post by ChristophMario
I should explain why you shouldn't do this, although the FX-991ES Plus is sufficient for most of the standard A Level Mathematics course, the exam board will assume everyone has the required (FX-991EX or above) calculator, and therefore can give a student a Cumulative Binomial question with a non-standard probability, which can only then be figured out on the EX calculator, or with a lot of time wasted via PD, this has happened in the new A Level examinations already, and will happen again, so at an additional cost of £3, it really could be the difference between two grades, as it ensures you can access all the questions intended.
No problem, just had it over the past two years of experiencing quite a few people getting the ES, as it was suitable for old-spec, and just assumed, that I know to warn people before, to save £15+ being potentially wasted.
Original post by SillyFish
Okay, thanks for warning me! I clearly have a bit of research to do before September... Of course I'll ask my teacher for a recommendation too but this is good to know.
Reply 12
Original post by ChristophMario
I should explain why you shouldn't do this, although the FX-991ES Plus is sufficient for most of the standard A Level Mathematics course, the exam board will assume everyone has the required (FX-991EX or above) calculator, and therefore can give a student a Cumulative Binomial question with a non-standard probability, which can only then be figured out on the EX calculator, or with a lot of time wasted via PD, this has happened in the new A Level examinations already, and will happen again, so at an additional cost of £3, it really could be the difference between two grades, as it ensures you can access all the questions intended.

Fair enough! The Casio FX-991EX has served me wonderfully although I do not do any of the statistics modules so never realised that it was lacking!

I suggest everyone to take the advice of those more knowledgeable than myself in these matters!
No A-level Maths student should consider anything less than an fx9750GIII if buying new, or an fx9860GII if buying secondhand. If you're on a very tight budget, get an fx9750GII and uprate the OS to fx9860GII using a free software package called fx-Remote, on a Windows' computer::tongue:lenty of You Tube videos on how to do this, and all the software including fx9860GII ROM images for reflashing, are available from tiplanet.org. These are not only proper graphical calculators, but have a massive advantage over the fx-991EX Classwiz; namely the SolveN command. This allows you to enter virtually any type of single variable equation, as presented, and get the solution(s) sometimes in exact form, e.g. multiples of pi when solving trig equations. The command can also be concatenated with the many other functions, including those for statistical distributions. This means you could solve a probability equation based on the normal distribution and find the mean or variance, without using tables or even fully understanding what you are doing. In mechanics, you could apply the equation of trajectory, and just enter the values, e.g. an (x,y) coordinate pair together with the initial velocity, and let the calculator do the hardwork by finding the angles of trajectory. The fx-981EX Classwiz doesn't have SolveN. It has Solv, but this is nowhere near as good. It only provides one solution to an equation, even when there are many, and you can't use it with other commands. Also, you won't get answers as multiples of pi, even if applicable. The others mentioned offer far more staticical commands, e.g. t-tests, z-tests, f-tests, Chi-squsred tests and ANOVA. All these are absent on the fx991EX Classwiz. Also, don't underestimate the usefulness of plotting graphs. You can do this in parametric form and polar form in addition to ordinary, Cartesian form. Useful add-on apps are available and you can write your own software for anything specific using Casio's version of BASIC. In short, no comparison! Two students I helped in 2016 got A,B grades in Maths and Further Maths as a result of switching to these calculators.

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