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Need Help for Math A-Level

I am a year 12 student in London doing Math, Computer Science, Business and Finance. In all subjects, I am working on target and even getting A's in my Business course and doing many projects to aid my Computer Science skills. However, with math, it is a completely different story. I have not even managed to achieve a C yet in any practice AS-level paper and I am really struggling and feel lost. I find it hard to follow my teacher in lessons and even though I got a 7 for GCSE it almost seems as the things now go beyond me which was never like this before, I have always been good and have excelled in the mathematical subjects and have a passion for Physics yet now feel almost like I am too stupid for maths and it is taking a toll on my mental health as I am putting in a lot of effort yet I am not getting much from it. I seem to just not understand exam questions well and get lost with what knowledge I need to apply for the question. If anyone could provide some advice or a pointer in the right direction it would be amazing and would go significantly appreciated!

Some additional information, I am looking to go to either uni after my A-levels to pursue either technology related to aeronautical engineering or financial services. I may decide to go for an apprenticeship instead also if offered one with a large financial firm. My plan is to get a job that pays a good amount for a software engineer/ tech/ IT expert and use that money to then pay for flight school as my dream is to become an airline Pilot.
(edited 11 months ago)
Reply 1
Original post by DylanSimeone
I am a year 12 student in London doing Math, Computer Science, Business and Finance. In all subjects I am working on target and even already getting A's in my Business course as well as doing many projects to aid my Computer Science skills. However, with math it is a completely different story. I have not even manged to achieve a C yet in any practice AS level paper and I am really struggling and feel lost. I find it hard to follow my teacher in lesson and even though I got a 7 for GCSE it almost seems as the things now go beyond me which was never like this before, I have always been good and have excelled in the mathematical subjects and have a passion for Physics yet now feel almost like I am too stupid for maths and it is taking a toll on my mental health as I am putting in a lot of effort yet I am not getting much from it. I seem to just not understand exam question well and get lost with what knowledge I need to apply for the question. If anyone could provide some advice or a pointer in the right direction it would be amazing and would go greatly appreciated!

Don’t be too hard on yourself! I am in Year 13 and did not get the preferred results I wanted on my Year 12 mocks (a B), but have been able to turn that around and am now on track for an A*. The key to doing well in Maths is just practise practise practise.

I do the Edexcel course and when I revise I do questions out of the textbook or take some from Physics and Maths tutor. One thing I have always stood by, regarding a good way to retain the information you have learnt/ relearn it in an easier way, is watching revision videos on YouTube after a lesson. A great channel is TL maths, there is also Bicen Maths or AJ maths. This way you have someone else teaching you the same thing in potentially an easier way and you have a different way of learning rather than just reading straight out of a textbook or doing question on a topic you don’t fully understand.

Also give yourself time. You probably don’t want to hear this, but the course just gets harder. That being said, there are topics that I found hard in AS that I now don’t have to think twice about, because I’ve used the topic in other topics so many times.

Don’t stress too much but these are pointer that I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to ask any questions and good luck! :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by annipops
Don’t be too hard on yourself! I am in Year 13 and did not get the preferred results I wanted on my Year 12 mocks (a B), but have been able to turn that around and am now on track for an A*. The key to doing well in Maths is just practise practise practise.

I do the Edexcel course and when I revise I do questions out of the textbook or take some from Physics and Maths tutor. One thing I have always stood by, regarding a good way to retain the information you have learnt/ relearn it in an easier way, is watching revision videos on YouTube after a lesson. A great channel is TL maths, there is also Bicen Maths or AJ maths. This way you have someone else teaching you the same thing in potentially an easier way and you have a different way of learning rather than just reading straight out of a textbook or doing question on a topic you don’t fully understand.

Also give yourself time. You probably don’t want to hear this, but the course just gets harder. That being said, there are topics that I found hard in AS that I now don’t have to think twice about, because I’ve used the topic in other topics so many times.

Don’t stress too much but these are pointer that I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to ask any questions and good luck! :smile:


Thank you! I am also doing the Edexcel course and yeah I've been looking for some good videos to watch.

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