Will I struggle with A Level Further Maths

Hi, I'm currently about to take my GCSEs this May-June (OCR, 9-1 spec for maths, as well as the FSMQ advanced qualification). I'm finding GCSE maths easy and getting around 97-100%/solid grade 9s in mocks and exam papers we've done. We're just starting on the FSMQ stuff, too, which I find really fun. For my A level options, I'm taking maths, English lit, French and further maths, but at my school, we do the whole maths A level in year 12, take it at the end of the year and then do the whole of the further maths syllabus in year 13 (or retake maths A level if we haven't done too well). Although I'm doing well in maths rn and, not to try to sound conceited, do think I have an aptitude for it, I don't have much faith in myself and am scared I'm going to fail at A level, especially with a lack of frees and how much of a leap A level further maths in particular is said to be. Is it really as hard as it's made out to be and do you think I'd be able to cope? Someone give me advice please :smile:

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 1

jonathanjames

14

Honestly bro, everyone says it's very hard, but if you truly have an aptitude for it you will do fine, I go to a grammar school, I doubt even 20 people in the year would be getting 97-100 percent in their gcse maths paper and our results for maths (50 a stars and 50 A s) and further maths (17 a stars and 18 a s) are exceptional, yet not even a third of the people are doing as well as you. Think about it like this, it's pretty much 2 As levels your doing in a year with fm and maths together, so your just doing the same workload two As level maths, content wise, shouldn't be too bad. And your college must think people can cope content wise, otherwise they just wouldn't do it, I don't know how they handle uni applications and predicted grades .....

Reply 2

jonathanjames

14

AS further maths I've heard isn't nearly as hard as It's made out to be, a2 fm is pretty hard I've heard tho....

Reply 3

giothevanna11

16

I know this isn't much help, but it can honestly depend on the type of person you are. I'm in Year 12 now and dropped Further Maths earlier this week (how my school does it is that we study both FM and Maths at the same time, not one after the other) because I was struggling with it and my assessment grades showed it quite clearly, despite getting a 9 at GCSE and an A in the FSMQ. Equally, the two others in my class (who also got 9s and A/B respectively in the FSMQ) are not finding it as bad as I did.

If you have a natural talent for mathematical thinking and problem solving, I'd say go for it. :smile:

This is something I always felt I lacked in comparison to others, and because of that even some concepts in the regular A Level take me slightly longer to fully be 100% confident with. From your post, though, it does seem like you are pretty gifted in the Maths department so it might be worth trying - if not, you can always look into dropping it at some point.

Reply 4

elenaadamssss

OP

4

Original post by jonathanjames

Honestly bro, everyone says it's very hard, but if you truly have an aptitude for it you will do fine, I go to a grammar school, I doubt even 20 people in the year would be getting 97-100 percent in their gcse maths paper and our results for maths (50 a stars and 50 A s) and further maths (17 a stars and 18 a s) are exceptional, yet not even a third of the people are doing as well as you. Think about it like this, it's pretty much 2 As levels your doing in a year with fm and maths together, so your just doing the same workload two As level maths, content wise, shouldn't be too bad. And your college must think people can cope content wise, otherwise they just wouldn't do it, I don't know how they handle uni applications and predicted grades .....

Thank you so much for taking the time to help me out, it means a lot!

Reply 5

elenaadamssss

OP

4

Original post by giothevanna11

I know this isn't much help, but it can honestly depend on the type of person you are. I'm in Year 12 now and dropped Further Maths earlier this week (how my school does it is that we study both FM and Maths at the same time, not one after the other) because I was struggling with it and my assessment grades showed it quite clearly, despite getting a 9 at GCSE and an A in the FSMQ. Equally, the two others in my class (who also got 9s and A/B respectively in the FSMQ) are not finding it as bad as I did.

If you have a natural talent for mathematical thinking and problem solving, I'd say go for it. :smile:

This is something I always felt I lacked in comparison to others, and because of that even some concepts in the regular A Level take me slightly longer to fully be 100% confident with. From your post, though, it does seem like you are pretty gifted in the Maths department so it might be worth trying - if not, you can always look into dropping it at some point.

thank you, that helped! I feel as though maybe doing maths A level in y12 then further maths y13 would probably make it easier because we'd probably have the necessary knowledge to understand further maths more by year 13? I remain hopeful, best of luck for you and your own A levels, I'm sure you'll do fab :smile:

Reply 6

giothevanna11

16

Original post by elenaadamssss

thank you, that helped! I feel as though maybe doing maths A level in y12 then further maths y13 would probably make it easier because we'd probably have the necessary knowledge to understand further maths more by year 13? I remain hopeful, best of luck for you and your own A levels, I'm sure you'll do fab :smile:

The same to you!! :smile:

Reply 7