Should A level Maths be Complusory?

Original post by Jiraiya is no liar

Many people lack basic numerical skills i think A level maths should be compulsory. MATHS IS FUN
IF YOU KNOW THE METHODS if you don't LEARN them no shortcut to maths you sit down and WORK IT OUT.

you would be surprised how many people cant work this out...
x + y=15
y=x+3

Maths is like a foreign language lol and loads of people fail at foreign language.

A level maths would sort the lazy from the dedicated.

A Level maths won't help with basic mathematical skills; it builds upon them.

The problem is at the root, as in children not being taught basic skills, so forcing people to do Maths at A Level won't solve this.

Reply 61

Saif95

12

Original post by Jiraiya is no liar

Many people lack basic numerical skills i think A level maths should be compulsory. MATHS IS FUN
IF YOU KNOW THE METHODS if you don't LEARN them no shortcut to maths you sit down and WORK IT OUT.

you would be surprised how many people cant work this out...
x + y=15
y=x+3

Maths is like a foreign language lol and loads of people fail at foreign language.

A level maths would sort the lazy from the dedicated.

I can work that out!!

Oh wait I do AS Maths loool

Reply 62

thetobbit

11

Well no... it doesn't really help someone moving into an Arts degree to know how to solve an equation like the on you posted.

By this logic every good subject should be compulsory, oh wait that sounds like GCSEs lol. Hence why A-Levels are a chance to focus more on what you enjoy...

Reply 63

Dinodance

7

Original post by Jiraiya is no liar

Many people lack basic numerical skills i think A level maths should be compulsory. MATHS IS FUN
IF YOU KNOW THE METHODS if you don't LEARN them no shortcut to maths you sit down and WORK IT OUT.

you would be surprised how many people cant work this out...
x + y=15
y=x+3

Maths is like a foreign language lol and loads of people fail at foreign language.

A level maths would sort the lazy from the dedicated.

What a load of crap.
Firstly, x = 6 and y=9: I don't even have a maths gcse. I think GCSE covers the basics fine.
Secondly, at all colleges I've looked at, you need at least a B in maths to take a levdl maths. Why? Because anyone below will struggle with the jump from GCSE and A level. Even maths teachers at my school say dont do it if you're struggling at GCSE

Reply 64

Sagacious

13

I don't think A-Level Maths should be compulsory. Why would somebody who wants to become an artist/poet want learn how to differentiate a quadratic. Besides, most people would just fail it anyway.

However, I do think that GCSE Maths should be made harder. For able students, GCSE Maths is easy and can be done without much effort at all; as a consequence this can get the most able students and turn them lazy. Also, in my Further Maths class at school it's approximately 85% Asian. The Asians had already been taught Core 1 and 2 by the time they started the course. I looked around and 10 of them were fast asleep because the work was just too easy for them. We need to adopt the Asians mathematics curriculum.

Furthermore, I know a few people who have gotten C's on the foundation paper yet still lack basic numeracy skills. Surely passing that paper would show you are capable of doing simple percentages, converting fractions and understanding simple geometry? Obviously not.

Reply 65

yorkie08

nothing should be compulsory , you choose the subjects that interest you.

Reply 66

sleep99

GCSE Maths, English and Science being compulsory is fine as it is.

A-Levels show choice in careers, not everything requires A-Level Maths.

Reply 67

AJCSShp

16

Maybe not A-Level Maths, but some sort of maths should be compulsory in Year 12 and 13. :smile:

A lot of countries make maths compulsory till age 18.

A lot of my friends don't remember simple percentages from gcse, and their simple arithmetic skills are rusty. Maybe a maths lesson a week would be helpful.

Reply 68

Florence321

11

Original post by Sagacious

I don't think A-Level Maths should be compulsory. Why would somebody who wants to become an artist/poet want learn how to differentiate a quadratic. Besides, most people would just fail it anyway.

However, I do think that GCSE Maths should be made harder. For able students, GCSE Maths is easy and can be done without much effort at all; as a consequence this can get the most able students and turn them lazy. Also, in my Further Maths class at school it's approximately 85% Asian. The Asians had already been taught Core 1 and 2 by the time they started the course. I looked around and 10 of them were fast asleep because the work was just too easy for them. We need to adopt the Asians mathematics curriculum.

Furthermore, I know a few people who have gotten C's on the foundation paper yet still lack basic numeracy skills. Surely passing that paper would show you are capable of doing simple percentages, converting fractions and understanding simple geometry? Obviously not.

Agree with this! I lost two marks on the whole maths GCSE with minimal revision - now I'm doing C2 and having not really been challenged that much before, I don't know the way that suits me when it comes to trying to understand the more difficult concepts. Because of this I'm not doing quite as well as I should be!

The GCSE should not necessarily be made harder overall, but it should try to address the parts of maths which people who do not go on to any maths-related career should still find useful; people shouldn't be getting great grades in GCSE maths without actually knowing the basic reasons for what they are doing in the exam.
Having said that, parts of it do need to be made more challenging to keep the better students motivated and help people realise whether they are actually good at maths or just alright at plugging numbers into a method they've memorised but don't understand (and therefore stopping people choosing A Level maths just because they were good at GCSE).

I don't at all think that A Level maths should be compulsory - most people do not want or need to know how to differentiate etc and at this stage it wouldn't be fair to force people to learn it. People should know however how to do basic calculations by the time they leave school - maybe some kind of post-16 maths enrichment course would be better, purely for making sure everyone understands the basics.

Reply 69

username451352

11

Original post by Jiraiya is no liar

as a result of the numerical skills ie x+y=15 y=x+3 you gain logical thinking skills.

It's a long winded way of doing it. I know plenty of people who'll be getting A*A*AA in their A levels (with at least one A* in Maths) yet still find it hard to get logged on to UCAS. It's dire, and doing a lot of Maths won't help much.

Also, your question is not an A level question - it's pre-GCSE.

Here's a question that only requires C3 and C4 Maths:

The variables t and x are related by

t=x+\sqrt{x^2+2bx+c}

, where b and c are constants and

b^2<c

. Show that

\frac{dx}{dt} = \frac{t-x}{t+b}

and hence integrate

1/\sqrt{x^2+2bx+c}

The knowledge required to solve that question won't help you in the non-mathematical real world. Sure, the process will, some of the time (if you're in a problem solving job) - but you don't get to that stage simply by doing a lot of maths - and if you're in the sort of job that needs those skills, chances are you'll have needed Maths A level to get there.

Should A level Maths be Complusory?

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