The Student Room Group

?!

&7
(edited 1 year ago)
Reply 1
I think it does depend on how much you can manage. Year 11 can get quite stressful as you have to work hard throughout the year for high grades in all your other subjects and you have to consider making your personal statement for college at the same time. Remember that your other subjects are important too for both your college and university application (e.g. you can't get into some universities for Maths if you get an A*BB at A-Level).

I am not entirely sure what you mean by doing the A-Level early. Does this mean the first year of A-Level Maths content or both years? If you did Maths A-Level early then what subjects would you do when you actually get to college - it seems (as you want to do Maths in university) that you would also do Further Maths which is a separate A-Level from just Maths and so I think you need to take normal Maths alongside Further Maths and so you would be effectively going over the content you have done - however, you could talk to the college you go to and ask if it is compulsory to do this (unless you don't mind redoing stuff). You also have to think about the mechanics/statistics aspect of A-Level Maths and if that is something you are confident with - I'm not sure if mechanics is taught at GCSE (for Edexcel at least I don't think it is) and statistics can get confusing at first when you learn independently).

It seems as though you are really good at the subject if you do get (95-100)% on AS papers intended for year 12's 2 years early so I think it is possible but I think you shouldn't overwork yourself by studying for olympiads, learning and applying 2 years worth of content, getting good grades in your other subjects and writing your personal statement for college. I don't mean to discourage you though this is just my opinion, if you are confident that you can organise and manage this without being overwhelmed then you could go for it.

Universities mainly care about grades and if you have a genuine interest in the subject and you display this by talking about the wider reading you do in your personal statement for university (this applies to all subjects not just Maths). Getting awards in olympiads and competitions are like bonuses on top that show you can solve and persevere through complex questions using strategies which are often inconspicuous. Universities would consider these but remember you still have a lot of time to do this. The top universities like Oxford or Cambridge also have admission exams for undergraduate Maths courses that also make up part of your application which are the MAT and STEP respectively.

P.S: This is just my opinion and so please take my advice with a pinch of salt and anyone else more informed correct me if I am mistaken somewhere.
I am a year 12 student going into year 13 studying Biology, Chemistry and Maths (single) and have gotten good grades for Maths in the past but I am no expert in the subject. I think you should gather more opinions from others such as more teachers that teach math at your school or you could try and contact universities themselves. There are some university forum helpers here on TSR as well which you could perhaps private message.
Goodluck -
Reply 2
I appreciate the advice very much. Looks like I have a lot of thinking to do😁. Thanks again.
Original post by Ponderz
Hi- I'm a year 10 student who's just finished the school year and am seeking the advice of someone much more experienced and decisive than myself. I hope to pursue mathematics at university and have quite a passion for the subject. My teacher has told me he thinks it'd be plausible for me to sit my maths A-level at the end of year 11 if I continue at my current pace. For reference, I sat my GCSE this year and I sat some practice AS papers at the end of this year, year 10, and got in the 95% to 100% range. Is doing the A-level early something that makes sense considering I still have to study for all my other GCSEs and other things? I really enjoy all of the A-level content and for whatever reason, I seem to be significantly better at learning content early and independently rather than UKMT problem-solving-type things. I'm not too bad at UKMT-type things though and wouldn't mind pursuing the olympiad this year and the following years. I would also appreciate any advice in regard to training for these types of competitions and if universities would prefer good placement in these as opposed to mastery of A-Level content. If anyone has done something similar regarding A-Levels or olympiads or simply has some thoughtful advice or tips, it'd be much appreciated. Thanks :smile:

Please don't do A level in Year 11. I teach Mats and think this is foolish advice. Focus on getting grade 9s across the board and improve your ability to tackle UKMT questions [ a lot of Cambridge mathematicians do really well so it's concerning that you struggle - maths IS problem solving]

Are you achieving gold at UKMT challenges? Are you going to a UKMT Summer school because you were in the top % of the IMC?

Are you being mentored by UKMT?

Quick Reply

Latest