Is it possible to do maths A level in one year?

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I can't drop physics as it is required for the course i wanna take. I think I might just do maths physics and spanish

I dont want to discourage you from taking further maths, it will help you an awful lot in maths heavy courses at uni like someone else stated. Im just offering my 2 cents. The fact you seem to have a lot of things planned out and sorted at such an early stage and debating over whether you should revise the content now is a very good sign. I think you the kind of candidate that would excel in the subject, if anyone does.

Reply 21

Paranoid_Glitch

Go for It, It's typical of FM students to do this. If it turns out you don't get the grades you'd like, you can always drop FM if you'd like to and resit the modules that you weren't too favorable of in terms of grades. What I find makes learning all these things difficult is the material first and foremost, but secondly, It's following the school structure because It's far easier for me to work independently and get things done far quicker, but that's more of a personal thing.

Reply 22

vicvic38

Original post by yoink

I cant explain the statistic, maybe lots of kids from private schools pick it up and it's not available at some public schools. I don't know. All I know is that I went to a public school regarded as one of the best in my city (admittedly its not a big city, but not small either) and out of a further maths class of 20 only ~3/4 got A* or an A. Thats 15-20% that got at least an A.

It's because at a lot of places, only really capable students pick it up.

I'd also say you are likely right about a lot of private/elite places doing it. Those centres are more likely to remove students from the course if they fall below a standard.

Also, Maths papers are laughably easy to prepare for, no matter the content. Especially if you're at the end of a spec and there are years of past papers behind you. You can just brute force every possible question type. That's what A* FM students tend to do.

My school was similar. My FM teacher, who had been teaching the subject for at least a decade (the A* was introduced in 2008) had never had an A* before me, and so I was surprised when I found out the proportion of students getting a top grade.

All I was saying was your 'very few get stellar grades' is not really correct. No shade on you.

Reply 23

.unknown

Original post by lu_han

I've just started year 13 and I'm doing my maths the way your school does it. I'm doing maths, further maths, physics, eng lit. it's really not that hard, I say go for it. If you're looking at top unis for maths heavy degrees it will be very very advantageous. doing fm now will make your life in uni a lot easier. also doing 4 a levels is not that daunting, besides when you're doing maths and fm in this way it feels like you're only ever juggling 3 subjects at any one time.

So you have already done your maths a level in year 12 then?

Reply 24

lu_han

Original post by .unknown

So you have already done your maths a level in year 12 then?

yes, I sat my a level exam in June and got A* (scraped it but raw marks dont matter) and I really didn't revise that intensely!

Reply 25

lu_han

Original post by .unknown

Wow thanks you gave me hope. However I'm starting to think it's not worth taking further maths as a fourth a level as universities, even the top ones only care about 3 a levels.

not true?? I guess it depends on the course but Cam, ICL, etc all value further maths pretty highly, or I'd wager so from the fact that they say it isn't required but strongly recommended.

Reply 26

.unknown

Original post by lu_han

yes, I sat my a level exam in June and got A* (scraped it but raw marks dont matter) and I really didn't revise that intensely!

Omg that's an amazing grade. Please tell me how you revised. Did you just do lots of practice questions?

Reply 27

lu_han

Original post by .unknown

Omg that's an amazing grade. Please tell me how you revised. Did you just do lots of practice questions?

haha thanks!! I did do loads of practice questions, but only challenging higher level ones. I did basically every past paper that was available to me, not really in timed conditions though. I didn't make notes or use a revision guide cos they don't really fit with my style of revision and I had notes from the Integral website anyway.
the best bit of advice I would give you is to revise smarter, not longer. don't try to do 6 hours of revision a day if you're just going to procrastinate for 3 of them. you might as well just fully relax for those 3 three hours. I'd prefer to just aim to get one or two past papers or assessments done a day and just do them for however long it takes me to finish them, instead of trying to hit a quotia of minutes. if you study intensely you can use your time way more efficiently.

Reply 28

.unknown

Original post by lu_han

Thank you so much!

Reply 29

bethhanyyya

Original post by .unknown

The thing is further maths is highly recommended for the course I want to take in university. Also may I ask what other subjects you did? I'm planning to do physics maths further maths and Spanish.

I got an A* at GCSE maths and couldn't do further at a level as my sixth form didn't offer it. Although i did both maths and physics A level with one other subject and that was hard enough as they are both two of the hardest subjects, unfortunately you don't get any bonus points for taking harder subjects, so in my opinion I'd say if you're planning on doing 4 , don't do further, otherwise just stick to three if you want to do it.

Reply 30

Good bloke

Original post by yoink

further maths back then was done over 2 years alongside normal maths, also over 2 years.

You haven't considered that that structure is the reason for your school's shockingly poor results? As you have been told, FM is generally taken by strong candidates and they achieve commensurate high results. Most schools take the maths A-level in one year, followed by |FM in the second year.

Reply 31

Good bloke

Original post by .unknown

Wow thanks you gave me hope. However I'm starting to think it's not worth taking further maths as a fourth a level as universities, even the top ones only care about 3 a levels.

That is less true for mathematical degree subjects like maths, engineering and physical sciences where FM is of significant benefit in competitive terms, is better preparation for the degree and schools generally insist on it being one of four A-levels.

Reply 32

.unknown

;-; i'm getting mixed answers. Some of you are saying i should definitely take FM as it will significantly help me for my degree but then some are saying I shouldn't because maths physics and a foreign language are already hard enough and that FM is one of the hardest a levels. I'm so confused i don't know what i'm going to do.

Reply 33

Lemur14

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by .unknown

Is it possible to start it and give it up if it gets too much? That would be my suggestion tbh

Reply 34

Kath0601

Original post by .unknown

I want to do maths and further maths for a level but in my school you have to do maths a level in the first year and then further maths in the 2nd year. I don't know if i'm capable of achieving high grades if I do the whole maths a level in one year and then further maths in the next year especially with exams becoming really hard now. Should I just go for it or just not do further maths?

Give it a shot, if you don't feel like you can get the necessary grades towards the end of your first year, you can always swap and carry on with maths A-Level both years.

Reply 35

.unknown

Original post by Kath0601

Give it a shot, if you don't feel like you can get the necessary grades towards the end of your first year, you can always swap and carry on with maths A-Level both years.

Ooh that's smart. Thanks for that idea.

Reply 36

PonuryWilk

I admire you sir, I was thinking of taking a gap year or two to study for A-level Maths at home after I finish college and then enrol for A level Mathematics. I had 5 (low B) for GCSE Maths. Do you think I can make it, especially when the main aim of those 1-2 years will be to study?