How difficult is a level maths

Is a Level maths a big step up from GCSE and how do I keep up with work

In my opinion it’s not a big step up especially if you’ve done further maths at gcse (if not still no need to worry). The pure maths at AS is in my opinion around the same level as what you need to do at gcse to get top grades. The stats and mechanics was new to me but stats is fine once you’re familiar with how to do it on the calculator and most the mechanics equations are in the formula booklet and the rest of the mechanics builds on what you would have done in pure maths.

Reply 2

bluebeetle

Original post by kerry.woollands

Is a Level maths a big step up from GCSE and how do I keep up with work

It really depends on how you found GCSE.

In the classes I've taught, usually students who come in with a 6 at GCSE especially say it feels like a really big jump. This is because getting a 6 at GCSE essentially indicates that they've probably not grasped multiple 'harder' topics well at all. Depending on the school they went to, they may have totally skipped some of the 'level 9' content (though I think that's bad practice for teachers) in order to better master the 'easier' topics. So, they're having to relearn the GCSE content they didn't understand, while also learning new content, and all of this at a much quicker pace than GCSE with more independent work required.

On the other hand, some students (and you'll find a lot like this on TSR) find it basically to be just a bit harder than GCSE. They pick up the topics just as easily as they picked them up at GCSE, and probably note that the main difference is that the exam questions have longer solutions and require you to do a bit more problem-solving to figure out what methods are needed.

Obviously there are exceptions to both of these. Some people work incredibly hard to get a 9 at GCSE, then struggle at A-level because they can't really work any harder than they were before, but the content is harder. And some people are lazy at GCSE and end up with a better grade at A-level because they start trying.

Just make sure to do all the homework that is set. If something comes up in lesson that you don't fully understand, then go home and practice it straight away because chances are, the content of the next lesson will build upon this. Most people I teach who are still getting Ds and below by the end of Y12 are those who were barely understanding it early on, didn't do any extra work to make sure they fully understood it, and then just kept falling further and further behind because they didn't have the building blocks needed to understand new material.