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How difficult is standard A-level maths?

I've heard that the first half of the first year is much like GCSE maths but how is it after that? Is it the most difficult A-level? And how do I prepare myself for it? Any suggestions? Thanks😊

Reply 1

captainamerica77

Its the second or maybe third difficult... chem and FM are harder...

Start early and dont leave stuff for last and dont look at answers and be like "Oh I wouldnt answered that" and move on....

Reply 2

JMcGarry00

I'm thinking about toxicology at university. Would maths be a good option?

Reply 3

Chinemerem1

It will vary between individuals, I personally found chemistry a lot easier than the new maths.

Pretty much everyone in my class did not like it, but that might just be because of how my school taught it.

Reply 4

_gcx

Study Forum Helper

Original post by JMcGarry00

I've heard that the first half of the first year is much like GCSE maths but how is it after that? Is it the most difficult A-level? And how do I prepare myself for it? Any suggestions? Thanks😊

Yeah, a large portion of the first year isn't new at all. (slightly less will be new if you've done GCSE further maths) Statistics you will have some knowledge from GCSE, and mechanics will build off what you've done in GCSE physics. (I think suvat is in gcse now?) So it's not much of a jump. Some people experienced a jump from year 1 to year 2 but I didn't really feel much. All that you need to do over the summer is make sure your (say, grade 7-9) algebra, coordinate geometry and trigonometry is solid, and you should be fine. The problem is that you can get quite a high grade at GCSE while not doing especiallywell in grade 7-9 topics, and hence those people might struggle with the introductory topics of the A-level. This is probably most of the reason you see people go from quite good grades at GCSE to quite poor grades at A-level.

Reply 5

JMcGarry00

Yeah, I understand what you mean. Thanks a lot for your help, I really appreciate it. Do you have any recommendations for what to do when actually at college and studying maths? I'm doing chemistry and biology too

Reply 6

Chinemerem1

Original post by JMcGarry00

I did those three A levels too.
I would recommend doing lots of questions early on from past papers (even though they still be old spec, just do the questions that are relevant) and a textbook (I used the online active learn textbook)

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 7

23c

Original post by JMcGarry00

I've heard that the first half of the first year is much like GCSE maths but how is it after that? Is it the most difficult A-level? And how do I prepare myself for it? Any suggestions? Thanks😊

I found maths a breeze but I was not prepared for the exam at all. try to do extra questions test yourself and ask when ur struggling because you really need to keep on the ball in year 13!

Reply 8

JMcGarry00

Original post by Chinemerem1

I did those three A levels to.
I would recommend doing lots of questions early on from past papers (even though they still be old spec, just do the questions that are relevant) and a textbook (I used the online active learn textbook)