Is it necessary to be a 'natural' mathematician to succeed at A level maths?

At GCSE, you could just about achieve an A* if you weren't mathematically inclined through lots of examples. At A level, I've noticed that the questions challenge your ability to apply mathematics to unfamiliar situations. You can overcome this through pastpapers I reckon but if you're not that great at maths anyway, do you think it's possible to achieve an A grade? Every year, a 7 mark question appears at the end of the paper that divides the cohort into A/B candidates to C/D/E candidates.

Reply 1

Legendary Carrot

Not really. If you past paper whore like I did, you notice the questions repeat themself every year or so, just with different numbers, scenario etc. You will pick up on this fast and know what to do pretty much straight away when you see a question. If you want to improve your actual mathmatical ability, you need to push yourself. Further maths is a must for this really.

Reply 2

Fat-Love

15

Nah. There's a crapload of maths papers available. Practice makes perfect unless your doing further maths. That tests your intuition a lot.

Reply 3

spooks123

you have to avoid making silly mistakes. im a natural mathematician and i didnt get A at ASlevel.

Reply 4

RedCasino

10

Go through exercises in the book, if you get it wrong then redo it (using the CD or asking a teacher if unsure). Go through a LOT of practice papers, grade boundaries are usually quite high, but practice makes perfect.

Reply 5

jonathan3909

11

NO just like its not necessary to be a natural puzzle solver to solve puzzles.

Reply 6

neiljeff123

14

im really not a natural mathematician and achieved an A at A-level (and a first in a math module at uni) so just follow the advice and do lots of examples

Reply 7

Arekkusu

16

I don't think so, I got A-grades (then top grades) in maths and further maths without ever having the slightest clue what I was doing - particularly in mechanics and statistics.

Reply 8

BrainFactory

No. If you work hard, do loads of past papers etc you'll get through it (you'll still struggle at times, though).

(edited 13 years ago)

Reply 9

Jack166

Not really, as long as you work hard there's no reason why you shouldnt be able to get top grades :smile:

Reply 10

Casshern1456

18

Absolutely not :ninja:

Reply 11

zxh800

13

Hard work and Raw mathematical ability are inveresly proportional. The less raw ability you have the more hard work required, but nothin is impossible. If you work hard enough you can suceed.

Reply 12

felt_monkey

12

Not at all. I'm **** at maths but worked hard for the A Level, and got As in all the papers first time round. If I can do it with millions of past papers I'm sure you can too!

Reply 13

Medpotter

I got an A* in maths. I understood none of it. I just did all the past papers twice... :smile:

Reply 14

Kolya

17

Original post by Fat-Love

Nah. There's a crapload of maths papers available. Practice makes perfect unless your doing further maths. That tests your intuition a lot.

Err, and how do you think students develop intuition? :eyebrow:

(Hint: they have done a lot of practice!)

Reply 15

F i s

What is this "natural mathematician"? I studied A level maths and felt that my mathematical ability improved so clearly you don't sit you're final test with a loss of intelligence.

Reply 16

Farhan.Hanif93

18

Original post by Student#254

At GCSE, you could just about achieve an A* if you weren't mathematically inclined through lots of examples. At A level, I've noticed that the questions challenge your ability to apply mathematics to unfamiliar situations. You can overcome this through pastpapers I reckon but if you're not that great at maths anyway, do you think it's possible to achieve an A grade? Every year, a 7 mark question appears at the end of the paper that divides the cohort into A/B candidates to C/D/E candidates.

I strongly disagree, A-Level maths requires very little mathematical ability. If you have past papers available to you then the chances of not getting an A are pretty slim (IIRC something like 35% of all candidates got an A in Maths). If you do have some ability, then it's very possible to get an A without much work at all. Simply listening in lessons seems to work.