IS A LEVEL MATHS REALLY THAT HARD?/FM for Computer Science

Im in Y11 and was told by a teacher, that in order to study computer science at a top uni, I MUST have further maths, regardless if what the entry requiremnts might state. Im quite average at maths and will probably scrape a grade 7/8 at GCSE.

(I know some people may think I shouldnt study computer science if I dont enjoy maths, however I've been told by many people you probably wont require a lot of maths after uni.)

MY MAIN QUESTION IS

IS A LEVEL MATHS REALLY THAT HARD?

Is it something I can do well in by working hard even though I may not be as mathmatically talented as some students in my class?

If I had a tutor could I do well?

Apologies if this is a stupid question, I'm just very intrigued.

Reply 1

Carrotsroom

12

Original post by schooluserfor

Im in Y11 and was told by a teacher, that in order to study computer science at a top uni, I MUST have further maths, regardless if what the entry requiremnts might state. Im quite average at maths and will probably scrape a grade 7/8 at GCSE.

(I know some people may think I shouldnt study computer science if I dont enjoy maths, however I've been told by many people you probably wont require a lot of maths after uni.)

MY MAIN QUESTION IS

IS A LEVEL MATHS REALLY THAT HARD?

Is it something I can do well in by working hard even though I may not be as mathmatically talented as some students in my class?

If I had a tutor could I do well?

Apologies if this is a stupid question, I'm just very intrigued.

Hey!
So I don't do computer science but I know a few that do and one of them studied Computer science, IT and business studies at Alevel and was able to get uni offers for computer science. You don't necessarily have to do A-level Maths/FM but this depends on the uni you want to apply to. It's worth checking what unis you're thinking to apply to as some courses will specifically ask that you have studied a certain subject and this is usually among the higher ranking unis. So, if you're aiming high its best to take maths. This leads to my next point as Alevel maths is viewed very highly by unis and it would put you in a much better position when applying for uni. Think about it this way, if the uni admin had 2 ucas applications out and Student A studied A-level Maths and student B didn't, they would likey choose student A simply because they took A-level maths. Same if a student took FM and maths and another student took just marhs, they would pick the first student. Its not always like this but for high ranked unis, maths is likely to help you become more competitive. It will also depend on your personal statement as well as your ability to achieve top grade is both maths and FM.
Personally for me I didn't pick up maths until 2 weeks into sixth form as GCSE maths was the only 8 I got (rest were 9s) so i assumed there was no way I would do it at Alevel. However, when I did pick it up, it wasn't as hard as I thought- especially the first few chapters. The thing that you need for A-level maths is perseverance. If you're not a maths genius then you're likely gonna be practising maths almost day (ie 50% maths and 50% for your other 2 subjects). If you don't practice and get your head around some of the chapters, especially in Y2, you're likely to fall behind and lose confidence. My advice is to keep on track with your class, even better if you can move onto the next topic by yourself as there are many teachers on Youtube who can teach better.
So ultimately it all depends on you. Maths isn't vigorous at the start so you might assume you can lay back but it will catch up to you a couple months in. Many people fall back and that's why they say its hard but if you keep on top of it and stay ahead, then the 'hardness' isn't really there.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 2

wanttoknow123

10

I am currently a year 12 student who studies only a level maths. I agree with this user A level maths isn't 'hard' but you do need to practice it a lot. There are many exercises in the textbook and a lot of questions have topics that interlink so you need to make sure you have a constant understanding so you don't fall behind. Regarding further maths, I know lots of students who take it then drop it so you could always try it and see if you can keep up with the pace. Those who did further maths or add maths gcse will be more advantaged because they would have covered the content before so don't be disheartened if you don't pick up on the content as quickly. Good luck with your GCSEs and remember that a grade 9 student can get a D as well because a level maths has a quicker pace than what you did in GCSE

Reply 3

Carrotsroom

12

I had a few friends who took both further maths and maths in Year 12 and dropped it at the beginning of Y13. It depends on how your school sets out the curriculum but it ended up being very strategic as they were able to finish all of the A-level maths content by Year 12 (as they would study the FM part in Y13) and when they dropped FM, they would just be studying half of the A-level maths content again. So in the end their entire Y13 maths lessons ended up being a whole year of revision for them which put them ahead of many other students so you could think of doing that too.

Reply 4

StudyMind

8

Original post by schooluserfor

Im in Y11 and was told by a teacher, that in order to study computer science at a top uni, I MUST have further maths, regardless if what the entry requiremnts might state. Im quite average at maths and will probably scrape a grade 7/8 at GCSE.

(I know some people may think I shouldnt study computer science if I dont enjoy maths, however I've been told by many people you probably wont require a lot of maths after uni.)

MY MAIN QUESTION IS

IS A LEVEL MATHS REALLY THAT HARD?

Is it something I can do well in by working hard even though I may not be as mathmatically talented as some students in my class?

If I had a tutor could I do well?

Apologies if this is a stupid question, I'm just very intrigued.

Heya!
Every a-level is harder compared to GCSE but don't worry, you'll be introduced to it slowly and as long as you keep up with the material + do lots of practice you will be fine :h:

If it helps, I would recommend looking at some past papers using Study Mind to check out what you will be doing! Don't worry if you don't understand everything, you will learn the content in time!

I hope this helps!
Milena
UCL PFE
Study Mind

Reply 5

ab20254

5

Original post by schooluserfor

Im in Y11 and was told by a teacher, that in order to study computer science at a top uni, I MUST have further maths, regardless if what the entry requiremnts might state. Im quite average at maths and will probably scrape a grade 7/8 at GCSE.
(I know some people may think I shouldnt study computer science if I dont enjoy maths, however I've been told by many people you probably wont require a lot of maths after uni.)
MY MAIN QUESTION IS
IS A LEVEL MATHS REALLY THAT HARD?
Is it something I can do well in by working hard even though I may not be as mathmatically talented as some students in my class?
If I had a tutor could I do well?
Apologies if this is a stupid question, I'm just very intrigued.

Y12 fm/cs/maths student here, just about at least. Every day's a struggle.

Is it hard? The content isn't terrible (or at least that's from me doing y1 pure and y1/2 mechanics - edexcel btw), but in my experience it's being consistent with studying and time management that's put me lower. I got a grade 8 in my GCSEs which allowed me to take further maths alongside it, and the content isn't terrible (that's from me taking decision 1 (think discrete maths, graph theory, some computer science things etc), core pure 1 (complex numbers, matrices, roots of polynomials, summations), and further mechanics).

But to put things brief, it's possible to do well albeit provided you don't waste time. In my experience, we did a chapter every week basically, and we were tested frequently (esp for FM).

Now is it required to take FM to get into CS? Not at all. But it's nice to have, and if you're lucky enough, your school could've chosen D1 as a module. But it's always best to enquire on open days. So it could come in clutch for A-Level Computer Science for graph theory (djikstra's algorithm). And I guess it could make you stand out in comparison to other applicants.

As for what another poster said about not needing maths, that's probably a load of bull imho. Since you're looking to get into a good uni, you'll probably need maths and a good grade alongside it. My dream uni gave me a contextual offer but I still need an A in maths... which is gonna be a long path for me.

Reply 6

ab20254

5

Original post by ab20254

Y12 fm/cs/maths student here, just about at least. Every day's a struggle.
Is it hard? The content isn't terrible (or at least that's from me doing y1 pure and y1/2 mechanics - edexcel btw), but in my experience it's being consistent with studying and time management that's put me lower. I got a grade 8 in my GCSEs which allowed me to take further maths alongside it, and the content isn't terrible (that's from me taking decision 1 (think discrete maths, graph theory, some computer science things etc), core pure 1 (complex numbers, matrices, roots of polynomials, summations), and further mechanics).
But to put things brief, it's possible to do well albeit provided you don't waste time. In my experience, we did a chapter every week basically, and we were tested frequently (esp for FM).
Now is it required to take FM to get into CS? Not at all. But it's nice to have, and if you're lucky enough, your school could've chosen D1 as a module. But it's always best to enquire on open days. So it could come in clutch for A-Level Computer Science for graph theory (djikstra's algorithm). And I guess it could make you stand out in comparison to other applicants.
As for what another poster said about not needing maths, that's probably a load of bull imho. Since you're looking to get into a good uni, you'll probably need maths and a good grade alongside it. My dream uni gave me a contextual offer but I still need an A in maths... which is gonna be a long path for me.

i take what i say back. the thread's 12 months old and we're both in y12 xD

IS A LEVEL MATHS REALLY THAT HARD?/FM for Computer Science

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you