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How tough is doing entire maths a level and exam in year 12?

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Reply 20
Original post by mxxnal
no no, there's no disadvantage at all!! in fact two of my friends in my class both got offers at imperial :smile:

Thanks for ur help, I also think that becasue im only doing three a levels i should find it slightly easier anyway thanks
Original post by Fifty345
Thanks for ur help, I also think that becasue im only doing three a levels i should find it slightly easier anyway thanks


I hope this can reassure you a little bit, I’ve been self learning the A Level Maths and Further Maths course myself, I’ve been going for maybe 3 months? And I’ve covered enough to confidently do AS papers to 9 or A* standard and give the A Level papers a decent shot. If you can grasp the concepts quickly, then everything else is pretty easy! Always here for advice or more tips, goes both ways because I’m self learning, anything else anyone would suggest?
Original post by Fifty345
Because I’m doing further maths in year 12 from September, alongside maths and physics, I have to do the entire maths a level in year 12 and the exam and the end of year 12. We then Start further in year 13. How tough is this? As i want to go imperial and they require an A star in maths


I got an A* in both maths and further maths, and I can say that this is very tough as it requires dedication and focus. Normally it can be quite hard to balance all your extra curricular and work as well as well as having no time to really get into the swing of it, and know what the examiners want for maximum possible marks. Id recommend getting a tutor, I used @my_maths_tutor on Instagram and well the evidence is in my grades. This is where I did 75% of my out of lesson extra maths as he helped with my homework and gave me tips and tricks to be quicker, as well as giving me quick ways to check getting rid of easy mistakes I made, and he showed me easy marks that I would have missed, by adding a line of working.
Reply 23
Right so after discussing over email with the hierarchy of my school today, I have now been aware that when you do the maths A level at the end of year 12, if you do not get an A or A star, then you must drop further maths(which you start in year 13) and retake maths in year 13. As I had originally picked Maths, Physics and Further Maths (only three a levels), if I was unable to get an A or above, I would be in danger of only doing 2 A Levels in year 13, as further would have been dropped. So, they have insisted I do 4 A levels, so I would still have to study three A levels in year 13, not 2. So I have decided to pick Maths, Physics, Further and Product Design. The problem is that I want to go Imperial for artificial intelligence, who require an a star in normal maths, and prefer further maths over product design. For me to attend that uni, I would have to work really hard and try to achieve an a star in maths in one year, or at least getting an A, meaning that if I had to drop further maths, I would find it difficult to get an AI degree at Uni (as further maths is very essential to this). I know that this is very complex, however I will be discussing more over the phone with my head of maths, to discuss these scenarios. Getting an A or A star (preferred) is a lot of hard work to achieve in one year and I am willing to take that hard work and dedication.
Original post by Fifty345
Right so after discussing over email with the hierarchy of my school today, I have now been aware that when you do the maths A level at the end of year 12, if you do not get an A or A star, then you must drop further maths(which you start in year 13) and retake maths in year 13. As I had originally picked Maths, Physics and Further Maths (only three a levels), if I was unable to get an A or above, I would be in danger of only doing 2 A Levels in year 13, as further would have been dropped. So, they have insisted I do 4 A levels, so I would still have to study three A levels in year 13, not 2. So I have decided to pick Maths, Physics, Further and Product Design. The problem is that I want to go Imperial for artificial intelligence, who require an a star in normal maths, and prefer further maths over product design. For me to attend that uni, I would have to work really hard and try to achieve an a star in maths in one year, or at least getting an A, meaning that if I had to drop further maths, I would find it difficult to get an AI degree at Uni (as further maths is very essential to this). I know that this is very complex, however I will be discussing more over the phone with my head of maths, to discuss these scenarios. Getting an A or A star (preferred) is a lot of hard work to achieve in one year and I am willing to take that hard work and dedication.


My college had the same system, and I got an A* in Maths at the end of year 12. I really liked doing it this way, because it felt like I improved so quickly! My other subjects were Chemistry and Computer Science, and I personally found both of these quite easy at AS which gave me more time to spend on Maths. I dropped my 4th subject at the end of year 12, so in year 13 I just had Chemistry and Further Maths.
I got an 8 in GCSE Maths, and hadn’t done further/additional maths before, but I still found it manageable. I had mostly caught up to the others by the time we finished the AS content.
(edited 3 years ago)
Reply 25
Original post by Dancer2001
My college had the same system, and I got an A* in Maths at the end of year 12. I really liked doing it this way, because it felt like I improved so quickly! My other subjects were Chemistry and Computer Science, and I personally found both of these quite easy at AS which gave me more time to spend on Maths. I dropped my 4th subject at the end of year 12, so in year 13 I just had Chemistry and Further Maths.
I got an 8 in GCSE Maths, and hadn’t done further/additional maths before, but I still found it manageable. I had mostly caught up to the others by the time we finished the AS content.

That gives me more confidence then Ahahah

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