How to get increase chances of getting into LSE/ a prestigious university

i was thinking about applying to lse for economics and philosophy, i'm not doing further maths, will that put me at a disadvantage as well?

No, you don't need FM for the Econ joint honours courses (apart from Maths and Economics, obviously)

Without further maths you would be at a disadvantage for LSE single honours economics. Something along the lines of more than 85% of successful applicants to LSE single honours economics have AS or A-level FM, and I would wager the ones who don't went to schools that didn't offer it (if that is the case for you, make sure your academic referee notes this on your reference!). So, for LSE specifically probably the single best thing you could do to make yourself more competitive is to find a way to take AS FM next year. Otherwise it's worth noting LSE put a lot of emphasis on the personal statement, so take the time to write yours carefully if you are applying there - particularly focus on "show" rather than "tell" when demonstrating your interest in the course, and undertake appropriate wider reading that you can then critically reflect on in your personal statement in showing that interest (as opposed to just listing a bunch of books you've read and saying how you studied the subject at A-level and liked it...).

For other "top" economics courses, AS FM would still be very useful once you are on the course and may indicate promise to admissions tutors. For those courses though, the personal statement may not be so important. For some universities, like Oxford, your GCSE grades will be an important consideration; for others, like Cambridge, they won't be that important, and the new pre-interview admissions assessment would likely be more important (although they will undoubtedly take into account the fact it's a new assessment).

Bear in mind just getting an offer is only the first step, and may, for some universities, actually be the easiest part. You then actually need to achieve that offer - and some courses at some universities tend to make a very large number of offers, but they will be set at a very high level in terms of grades and they will not consider "near miss" applicants at all on results day. I don't know how much this is true of economics specifically, however.

Also, just to add from my other reply. My college teaches Further maths like this. In year 12, they cover the full A level Maths course. Then in year 13, they cover year 1 and 2 further maths. This will make it really problematic for me to do this as for A level maths, i have only covered AS Maths so far. Is A level Further maths really necessary for LSE, or say if i did AS further maths and achieved an A or even A* and my other grades at mostly A star with other things not only grades, such as charity work and other peoples suggestions in this forum; will i have a chance of being accepted compared to a person with A level further maths? Please take into account I will most likely be taking a gap year to gather some funds for university and to do further maths as in year 2 i dont think id be able to get a goods grade in it without sacrificing my grades in other subjects.

The fact that you don't have A-level or AS-level Further Maths is a problem, unfortunately. Among applicants to LSE Econ with FM, about 40% get offers; whereas for applicants without any FM, it's only 5%. LSE doesn't count it against you if your school doesn't offer FM, but if it does and you chose not to take it, then your chance of an offer is pretty much zero.

Regarding what you need beside grades, you need an excellent personal statement, that clearly demonstrates your interest in the subject. This needs to go far beyond your A-level studies - you need to show how you've taken initiative outside the classroom and have individually developed your interest in Economics. This could include books you've read, articles from the Economist or the Financial Times, podcasts you've listened to (LSE has a very comprehensive public events programme, all of which are released online as podcasts - find some about economics and listen to them), talks you've attended, documentaries you've watched etc.

When you write your personal statement, btw, don't just list these things - draw out points that you found particularly fascinating, try and make connections between them, and show how learning one thing led you to explore it further.

E.g. Listening to Podcast X, I was fascinated by Topic Y, because... This led me to explore it further by reading Book Z, which argued that... I found this argument particularly compelling because...

Without further maths you would be at a disadvantage for LSE single honours economics. Something along the lines of more than 85% of successful applicants to LSE single honours economics have AS or A-level FM, and I would wager the ones who don't went to schools that didn't offer it (if that is the case for you, make sure your academic referee notes this on your reference!). So, for LSE specifically probably the single best thing you could do to make yourself more competitive is to find a way to take AS FM next year. Otherwise it's worth noting LSE put a lot of emphasis on the personal statement, so take the time to write yours carefully if you are applying there - particularly focus on "show" rather than "tell" when demonstrating your interest in the course, and undertake appropriate wider reading that you can then critically reflect on in your personal statement in showing that interest (as opposed to just listing a bunch of books you've read and saying how you studied the subject at A-level and liked it...).

For other "top" economics courses, AS FM would still be very useful once you are on the course and may indicate promise to admissions tutors. For those courses though, the personal statement may not be so important. For some universities, like Oxford, your GCSE grades will be an important consideration; for others, like Cambridge, they won't be that important, and the new pre-interview admissions assessment would likely be more important (although they will undoubtedly take into account the fact it's a new assessment).

Bear in mind just getting an offer is only the first step, and may, for some universities, actually be the easiest part. You then actually need to achieve that offer - and some courses at some universities tend to make a very large number of offers, but they will be set at a very high level in terms of grades and they will not consider "near miss" applicants at all on results day. I don't know how much this is true of economics specifically, however.

Hello University Forum Helper,
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed and wonderful response. It is much appreciated. I know it is very late but if you don't mind, I would like to ask you a question. You mentioned that the chance of getting an offer from LSE is approximately 5% if you don't have Further Maths or don't take AS/A -level Further Maths. What would you recommend a student to do if your school doesn't offer FM and that it is close to impossible to do it outside of school as this year, the exams are cancelled? Could you recommend any other ideas or things I can pursue to showcase my mathematical prowess?

For some background information, I am applying for 2022 and this means that I am submitting my UCAS in September this year (2021).

Thanks