Learning A Level Maths in a year?!

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice. So I’m looking to self-teach Mathematics AS and A Level within a year. Less than a year in fact. I’ve started this past week and the exams are in June.

So.. I’ve completed Chapter 1 of C1 – Algebra, which took me roughly 6 hours in 7 days. I could (and should!) have dedicated more time, but I’m happy with my understanding of it.

What I’m looking for advise on is whether this is possible/feasible? Has anyone done anything similar? If so can they elaborate on their experiences and offer any advice?

I plan to devote more time to it. At my current pace, I don’t anticipate it will be enough. There are 8 chapters per book (or at least in Algebra) and 6 modules. If I work at 1 chapter a week that will take 48 weeks, which suffice to say isn’t good enough.

Like I say, I plan on stepping it up. Maths is a subject which in my experience has always been very motivating when you are making progress.

Any tips, experiences are much appreciated!

I want to sit it to a high standard. Where I am confident of a B minimum.

Any questions or where I can elaborate please ask.

Thank you,

Reply 1

Jooooshy

17

You need to be looking at >1 hour a day, but it's achievable! Have you any friends doing A-level maths? It's always nice to have somebody to talk to if you don't quite understand something! A friend of mine self-taugh C3 and C4 alongside doing AS and A2 FM and M3-5 on top of that in a year.. And he got A*A*, so I wouldn't write yourself off at all! :smile:

Reply 2

Blobar

15

Let me just say this, C1 is quite easy and the algebra bit is very easy, pretty much a catchup of GCSE. It will get a lot harder so I really do advise you to put a lot more time into it if you want to get it done in the time frame you specified.

To your actual question, I don't really know, personally doing it in 2 years.

Reply 3

blackrose1234567

19

Yeah C1 is often regarded to as the easy maths module (C2 isn't that much more difficult if you're genuinely good at maths) A2 Maths is the difficult one, I don't think it's worth rushing a subject like maths, take the 2 years to do it.

Reply 4

Blobar

15

Original post by Jooooshy

You need to be looking at >1 hour a day, but it's achievable! Have you any friends doing A-level maths? It's always nice to have somebody to talk to if you don't quite understand something! A friend of mine self-taugh C3 and C4 alongside doing AS and A2 FM and M3-5 on top of that in a year.. And he got A*A*, so I wouldn't write yourself off at all! :smile:

Very very impressive!

Reply 5

Colroyd

7

Self-teaching Further Maths and 1-year A-level Chem atm, doing maths C1-C4 isn't too bad but many of the concepts in C3/C4, such as the trig and vectors, can be difficult to understand in the beginning. Oh, and C3/C4 is going to take you much longer to self-teach than C1/C2, so I'd account for that too when you're planning when you want to finish your modules by.

http://examsolutions.net/ is great for self-teaching (and last minute cramming for you crammers out there :biggrin:

).

Reply 6

m4ths/maths247

7

Some students will be able 'learn' an A Level in less than 100 hours, some students won't be able to do it 100 years. Find what is realistic for you relative to your expectations given your ability, support and time available.
I have written something here http://www.m4ths.com/is-a-level-for-me.html which may help.
Whatever anybody tells you there will always be someone who took 1 hour less than them.
It's all about you.
Good luck.

ps (I mastered it all on the bus on the way home from Tescos once and got 101 UMS on each module. I got the extra 1 UMS on each for pointing out the exam had missed some solutions that only I could find)

Reply 7

Zhy

17

Original post by Heywood

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice. So I’m looking to self-teach Mathematics AS and A Level within a year. Less than a year in fact. I’ve started this past week and the exams are in June.

So.. I’ve completed Chapter 1 of C1 – Algebra, which took me roughly 6 hours in 7 days. I could (and should!) have dedicated more time, but I’m happy with my understanding of it.

What I’m looking for advise on is whether this is possible/feasible? Has anyone done anything similar? If so can they elaborate on their experiences and offer any advice?

I plan to devote more time to it. At my current pace, I don’t anticipate it will be enough. There are 8 chapters per book (or at least in Algebra) and 6 modules. If I work at 1 chapter a week that will take 48 weeks, which suffice to say isn’t good enough.

Like I say, I plan on stepping it up. Maths is a subject which in my experience has always been very motivating when you are making progress.

Any tips, experiences are much appreciated!

I want to sit it to a high standard. Where I am confident of a B minimum.

Any questions or where I can elaborate please ask.

Thank you,

Yes, it is possible, though perhaps you may need to work harder. If you feel that you're happy with your level for a particular topic, try some exam questions. Edexcel have plenty, if they're your exam board.

In Year 12, I self-taught 12 out of 18 maths modules, and gained 3 A* grades in those A-levels. Yes, it was very difficult self-teaching them. You need to have the motivation to work even when you don't want to; without a teacher to apply pressure or give you gentle nudges as to how much work you should be doing, it can be easy to fall behind further than you may have anticipated. Be consistent, get help for anything you feel unsure of (since your learning will virtually be completely independent, this is of paramount importance), and get the work done. Don't leave it to the last minute -- especially if you will have a fairly hefty number of exams come summer-time.

Learning A Level Maths in a year?!

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