studying maths AS in year 13?

I've always had a lot of trouble with maths in comparison with other subjects I took at GCSE. However, after having just completed my AS levels, I realise that all the places I go wrong in Chemistry and Biology are related to my poor grasp of maths. I was planning to take a maths a level in my gap year in order to improve my application to medicine. Is it worth beginning to study it in Year 13 or will I just not have the time?

Reply 1

username3487706

How many A levels are you currently taking? You could definitely take AS maths this year, but I'm not sure how much it'll benefit bio and chem. There are books specifically to help with maths skills in biology and chemistry which may help :smile:

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 2

xoxbeckywxox

I personally don't take either chem or bio, but I do know a lot of people who do.

I would say that the A level maths content doesn't strictly come up in the subjects, a lot of the stuff in the core modules is either pure or not useful for A level chem/bio. However, it does help to take it so that you're not phased by the mathsy questions in the science paper- so while it may not help you to answer the specific questions in the exam, it's a great confidence booster.

Having said that, it will depend on your workload. I would say get the maths skills books for each subject, and then see how much time you have to spare. It's more important to focus on the two sciences than it is to start the AS maths.