Yeah man, year 9 is the “golden” year. I feel like it’s the year that kids normally buckle up and realise what subjects they like. If you like maths then go for it but tbh I normally asked my teachers for extension tasks even though I was a grade 9 student. Doing A level maths at such a young age seemed daunting, and I rather had not put myself through that stress. If you like it, go for it though. A friend of mine did that and found it just fine.

Reply 6

ashvinsingh

Original post by thatnerdygirl

Opinion on a year 9 studying a level work in free time on top of curricular year 9 topics in school?

First study for your gcses before worrying about a level work. To access most of the a level questions you need previous knowledge taught in years 10 and 11.

Reply 7

CaptainDuckie

Study Forum Helper

Original post by ashvinsingh

First study for your gcses before worrying about a level work. To access most of the a level questions you need previous knowledge taught in years 10 and 11.

Tbh, my school finished the syllabus for GCSE maths in year 9. Then the content was just retaught, so no you don’t necessarily need knowledge that’s taught in year 10 and 11. Also, even if the syllabus hasn’t been finished, you could easily self-learn it at home. Not hard lol

Reply 8

Itsmikeysfault

If you have learnt and fully understand all of gcse maths, there shouldn't be a problem.

Reply 9

ashvinsingh

Original post by CaptainDuckie

I’d reccomend doing further maths gcse in addition then, instead of focusing on a levels.

Reply 10

CaptainDuckie

Study Forum Helper

Original post by ashvinsingh

I’d reccomend doing further maths gcse in addition then, instead of focusing on a levels.

Some schools don’t provide further maths gcse. Mine didn’t, at least.

But if you mean doing further maths gcse in her/his own time then yeah. That’s pretty much AS level maths anyways which is still precisely A levels technically.

Reply 11

ahow39409234-095

Original post by ashvinsingh

I’d reccomend doing further maths gcse in addition then, instead of focusing on a levels.

Maybe, but tbh the step up from GCSE to A-level maths is quite small

Reply 12

econhelp525

Original post by ashvinsingh

I’d reccomend doing further maths gcse in addition then, instead of focusing on a levels.

GCSE further maths (especially Edexcel IAL) pretty much just is AS maths. There's really no harm in them self-studying AS/A2 maths, if they want to. They shouldn't sit any exams early, though. As far as I know, it's not a good look, because some universities will only consider your most recent A-Level grades, as in, the ones sat in the last 18 months.

Reply 13

CaptainDuckie

Study Forum Helper

Original post by ahow39409234-095

Maybe, but tbh the step up from GCSE to A-level maths is quite small

lmao you think that the step up from GCSE level maths to A level (year 13) maths is small?

Reply 14

econhelp525

Original post by CaptainDuckie

lmao you think that the step up from GCSE level maths to A level (year 13) maths is small?

When OP talks about A-Level, I'm fairly confident they mean the linear 2 year course, so starting with the old AS content - which is a small jump up from GCSEs.

Reply 15

CaptainDuckie

Study Forum Helper

Original post by econhelp525

When OP talks about A-Level, I'm fairly confident they mean the linear 2 year course, so starting with the old AS content - which is a small jump up from GCSEs.

Oh yeah, of course. It’s like a walk in a sunny summer park at the start, but then it just starts getting darker and darker as the course progresses lmao

Reply 16

econhelp525

Original post by CaptainDuckie

Oh yeah, of course. It’s like a walk in a sunny summer park at the start, but then it just starts getting darker and darker as the course progresses lmao

I found all of AS to be quite inoffensive. Apart from mechanics. The step up from AS to A2 is quite significantly wider than from GCSE to AS.

Reply 17

CaptainDuckie

Study Forum Helper

Original post by econhelp525

I found all of AS to be quite inoffensive. Apart from mechanics. The step up from AS to A2 is quite significantly wider than from GCSE to AS.

Ngl AS to A2 wasn’t too bad yk. There was a lot of crossover between the 2 as in some of the skills you should have picked up from AS could be applied to A2 questions. It was quite amazing actually how it was like that but I don’t think I could do A-levels without the AS at the start otherwise it would’ve killed me lol

Reply 18

ahow39409234-095

Original post by CaptainDuckie

lmao you think that the step up from GCSE level maths to A level (year 13) maths is small?

Yeah, I would say so, especially for students more mathematically inclined which OP appears to be. It is certainly overstated especially in some schools that are less able to cater to individual students.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 19

CaptainDuckie

Study Forum Helper

Original post by ahow39409234-095

looks like I’m not mathematically inclined then lol. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine myself doing year 13 mechanics (especially all them questions where you had to draw diagrams from thin air and deduce equations) in year 11. I’d go absolutely insane lol