Dropping Further Maths
Hi,
So next week I would start Year 13 and my current A Levels are Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Further Maths. However, I am considering dropping Further Maths but I am not sure at all.
Reasons why I would drop Further Maths - I heard that Further Maths gets really REALLY hard in Year 13, so I am worried that I would struggle throughout the year. Which leads me onto my second point: Chemistry and Biology also get really hard in Year 13 so I feel like doing all four may mean I jeopardise my grades in my other A Levels and so do not get into the universities I want. Thirdly, I do not need Further Maths for my chosen university course, but...
Reasons why I would not want to drop Further Maths - Although Further Maths was challenging in Year 12 it was/is one of my most rewarding and fulfilling A Level subjects and I have enjoyed looking at Maths from a completely new lens. Next, the way my school teaches Further Maths is to teach all Year 1/2 normal Maths before teaching Year 1/2 Further Maths. So in Year 13 we would just plough on with normal Maths before going into Year 2 Further Maths. The problem here is that at the moment, my Maths class (which is also my Further Maths class) is already way ahead normal Maths content. So if I dropped it I would feel really bored in class. Also, the pace at which they teach Maths content in normal Maths content is very slow and way too slow for me (but maybe not for others) but the pace in my Further Maths class is fine for me. Even if I continued doing Further Maths for a few months and then dropped it then probably by then I would have finished all of Year 2 Maths and so going to normal Maths classes would probably tire me (although I guess it can act as double/triple revision).
Could anyone offer me some advice (which would be greatly appreciated!)? Also I would be grateful if anyone could offer their insights into doing Further Maths in Year 13, how hard you found it compared to Year 12, how you found balancing 4 A Levels in Year 13 (assuming you have to do 4 A levels if you do Further Maths).
Thanks in advance!
So next week I would start Year 13 and my current A Levels are Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Further Maths. However, I am considering dropping Further Maths but I am not sure at all.
Reasons why I would drop Further Maths - I heard that Further Maths gets really REALLY hard in Year 13, so I am worried that I would struggle throughout the year. Which leads me onto my second point: Chemistry and Biology also get really hard in Year 13 so I feel like doing all four may mean I jeopardise my grades in my other A Levels and so do not get into the universities I want. Thirdly, I do not need Further Maths for my chosen university course, but...
Reasons why I would not want to drop Further Maths - Although Further Maths was challenging in Year 12 it was/is one of my most rewarding and fulfilling A Level subjects and I have enjoyed looking at Maths from a completely new lens. Next, the way my school teaches Further Maths is to teach all Year 1/2 normal Maths before teaching Year 1/2 Further Maths. So in Year 13 we would just plough on with normal Maths before going into Year 2 Further Maths. The problem here is that at the moment, my Maths class (which is also my Further Maths class) is already way ahead normal Maths content. So if I dropped it I would feel really bored in class. Also, the pace at which they teach Maths content in normal Maths content is very slow and way too slow for me (but maybe not for others) but the pace in my Further Maths class is fine for me. Even if I continued doing Further Maths for a few months and then dropped it then probably by then I would have finished all of Year 2 Maths and so going to normal Maths classes would probably tire me (although I guess it can act as double/triple revision).
Could anyone offer me some advice (which would be greatly appreciated!)? Also I would be grateful if anyone could offer their insights into doing Further Maths in Year 13, how hard you found it compared to Year 12, how you found balancing 4 A Levels in Year 13 (assuming you have to do 4 A levels if you do Further Maths).
Thanks in advance!
Original post by TwisterBlade596
Hi,
So next week I would start Year 13 and my current A Levels are Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Further Maths. However, I am considering dropping Further Maths but I am not sure at all.
Reasons why I would drop Further Maths - I heard that Further Maths gets really REALLY hard in Year 13, so I am worried that I would struggle throughout the year. Which leads me onto my second point: Chemistry and Biology also get really hard in Year 13 so I feel like doing all four may mean I jeopardise my grades in my other A Levels and so do not get into the universities I want. Thirdly, I do not need Further Maths for my chosen university course, but...
Reasons why I would not want to drop Further Maths - Although Further Maths was challenging in Year 12 it was/is one of my most rewarding and fulfilling A Level subjects and I have enjoyed looking at Maths from a completely new lens. Next, the way my school teaches Further Maths is to teach all Year 1/2 normal Maths before teaching Year 1/2 Further Maths. So in Year 13 we would just plough on with normal Maths before going into Year 2 Further Maths. The problem here is that at the moment, my Maths class (which is also my Further Maths class) is already way ahead normal Maths content. So if I dropped it I would feel really bored in class. Also, the pace at which they teach Maths content in normal Maths content is very slow and way too slow for me (but maybe not for others) but the pace in my Further Maths class is fine for me. Even if I continued doing Further Maths for a few months and then dropped it then probably by then I would have finished all of Year 2 Maths and so going to normal Maths classes would probably tire me (although I guess it can act as double/triple revision).
Could anyone offer me some advice (which would be greatly appreciated!)? Also I would be grateful if anyone could offer their insights into doing Further Maths in Year 13, how hard you found it compared to Year 12, how you found balancing 4 A Levels in Year 13 (assuming you have to do 4 A levels if you do Further Maths).
Thanks in advance!
So next week I would start Year 13 and my current A Levels are Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Further Maths. However, I am considering dropping Further Maths but I am not sure at all.
Reasons why I would drop Further Maths - I heard that Further Maths gets really REALLY hard in Year 13, so I am worried that I would struggle throughout the year. Which leads me onto my second point: Chemistry and Biology also get really hard in Year 13 so I feel like doing all four may mean I jeopardise my grades in my other A Levels and so do not get into the universities I want. Thirdly, I do not need Further Maths for my chosen university course, but...
Reasons why I would not want to drop Further Maths - Although Further Maths was challenging in Year 12 it was/is one of my most rewarding and fulfilling A Level subjects and I have enjoyed looking at Maths from a completely new lens. Next, the way my school teaches Further Maths is to teach all Year 1/2 normal Maths before teaching Year 1/2 Further Maths. So in Year 13 we would just plough on with normal Maths before going into Year 2 Further Maths. The problem here is that at the moment, my Maths class (which is also my Further Maths class) is already way ahead normal Maths content. So if I dropped it I would feel really bored in class. Also, the pace at which they teach Maths content in normal Maths content is very slow and way too slow for me (but maybe not for others) but the pace in my Further Maths class is fine for me. Even if I continued doing Further Maths for a few months and then dropped it then probably by then I would have finished all of Year 2 Maths and so going to normal Maths classes would probably tire me (although I guess it can act as double/triple revision).
Could anyone offer me some advice (which would be greatly appreciated!)? Also I would be grateful if anyone could offer their insights into doing Further Maths in Year 13, how hard you found it compared to Year 12, how you found balancing 4 A Levels in Year 13 (assuming you have to do 4 A levels if you do Further Maths).
Thanks in advance!
I also do 4 A-levels including further maths looking at year 2 content it seems really hard but we've started and it seems really manageable. And I still have loads of time to revise for my other 3 A levels. I think you should stick with Further maths and see how you do on your next set of mocks
And what about if I do badly in my mocks...? Also, what A Levels do you do and how much Further Maths content have you done so far?
(edited 1 month ago)
Original post by TwisterBlade596
And what about if I do badly in my mocks...? Also, what A Levels do you do and how much Further Maths content have you done so far?
Maths, further maths, physics and computer science. So far we've done all of As further maths and are just starting year 2 content
Original post by OVDOSE
Maths, further maths, physics and computer science. So far we've done all of As further maths and are just starting year 2 content
Oh ok. If I were doing your A Levels I don’t think I would drop Further Maths but the thing is Biology is very content heavy :/. In Year 12 I also had a lot of time to revise for my A Levels but because of the subjects I’m doing I fear it will change in Year 13…
Original post by TwisterBlade596
Oh ok. If I were doing your A Levels I don’t think I would drop Further Maths but the thing is Biology is very content heavy :/. In Year 12 I also had a lot of time to revise for my A Levels but because of the subjects I’m doing I fear it will change in Year 13…
That's fair I hate biology 😭😭. Good luck 👍👍
Original post by OVDOSE
That's fair I hate biology 😭😭. Good luck 👍👍
Thanks😣
So I got my results a couple weeks ago now and I did 4 subjects with further maths.
Even though I felt like I was going to fail due to the preasure, I actually did as well as I recon I would have done on 3.
Second year further maths I felt was a big jump at the start but because the jump was immediate, you get used to the difficulty very quickly. There's also less content in second year than first year so it does balance out.
My question would be for you, can you get a good grade in further maths and a not so good grade in another subject and still get into your university? If you can, great! Then you can see further maths as like a crash mat if something goes wrong in another subject. If your uni offers would require certain grades in all of the other subjects, then I would think about how much you enjoy further maths and how confident you feel in your other subjects.
4 subjects does get very time consuming half way through second year however I would not have traded further maths for anything else. I loved the course and it was the challenge I personally needed.
Even though I felt like I was going to fail due to the preasure, I actually did as well as I recon I would have done on 3.
Second year further maths I felt was a big jump at the start but because the jump was immediate, you get used to the difficulty very quickly. There's also less content in second year than first year so it does balance out.
My question would be for you, can you get a good grade in further maths and a not so good grade in another subject and still get into your university? If you can, great! Then you can see further maths as like a crash mat if something goes wrong in another subject. If your uni offers would require certain grades in all of the other subjects, then I would think about how much you enjoy further maths and how confident you feel in your other subjects.
4 subjects does get very time consuming half way through second year however I would not have traded further maths for anything else. I loved the course and it was the challenge I personally needed.
you could take the AS in year 13 if you want something to show for it but you really dont want to spend the time on four
Original post by SneakySatsuma
So I got my results a couple weeks ago now and I did 4 subjects with further maths.
Even though I felt like I was going to fail due to the preasure, I actually did as well as I recon I would have done on 3.
Second year further maths I felt was a big jump at the start but because the jump was immediate, you get used to the difficulty very quickly. There's also less content in second year than first year so it does balance out.
My question would be for you, can you get a good grade in further maths and a not so good grade in another subject and still get into your university? If you can, great! Then you can see further maths as like a crash mat if something goes wrong in another subject. If your uni offers would require certain grades in all of the other subjects, then I would think about how much you enjoy further maths and how confident you feel in your other subjects.
4 subjects does get very time consuming half way through second year however I would not have traded further maths for anything else. I loved the course and it was the challenge I personally needed.
Even though I felt like I was going to fail due to the preasure, I actually did as well as I recon I would have done on 3.
Second year further maths I felt was a big jump at the start but because the jump was immediate, you get used to the difficulty very quickly. There's also less content in second year than first year so it does balance out.
My question would be for you, can you get a good grade in further maths and a not so good grade in another subject and still get into your university? If you can, great! Then you can see further maths as like a crash mat if something goes wrong in another subject. If your uni offers would require certain grades in all of the other subjects, then I would think about how much you enjoy further maths and how confident you feel in your other subjects.
4 subjects does get very time consuming half way through second year however I would not have traded further maths for anything else. I loved the course and it was the challenge I personally needed.
Well done with your results!
In terms of your question, I think that is possible. But the thing is, I would not want to do Further Maths at the expense of getting a lower grade in any of my A Level subjects. In Year 12 it was fine and I was able to manage all my subjects, but (as you said), the jump in difficulty from Year 12 to Year 13 is quite steep). Also, for my course (Biomedical Science), some of the unis I want to go to ask for an A in Biology/Chemistry, but this is not that bad and definitely something I can achieve.
I do enjoy Further Maths and I think the challenge is what keeps me going too. The easy option would be to drop the subject to focus on my other A Levels (also I’m worried Further Maths will become so hard that I suddenly fail the subject in Year 13). However, in Year 13, I feel that if I dropped I would miss it immensely. And then normal Maths would also become boring…
Original post by jamsparkle
you could take the AS in year 13 if you want something to show for it but you really dont want to spend the time on four
I already did the AS in Year 12 (but not because I wanted to show this to other unis but because you were expected to if you did Further Maths).
Original post by TwisterBlade596
Well done with your results!
In terms of your question, I think that is possible. But the thing is, I would not want to do Further Maths at the expense of getting a lower grade in any of my A Level subjects. In Year 12 it was fine and I was able to manage all my subjects, but (as you said), the jump in difficulty from Year 12 to Year 13 is quite steep). Also, for my course (Biomedical Science), some of the unis I want to go to ask for an A in Biology/Chemistry, but this is not that bad and definitely something I can achieve.
I do enjoy Further Maths and I think the challenge is what keeps me going too. The easy option would be to drop the subject to focus on my other A Levels (also I’m worried Further Maths will become so hard that I suddenly fail the subject in Year 13). However, in Year 13, I feel that if I dropped I would miss it immensely. And then normal Maths would also become boring…
In terms of your question, I think that is possible. But the thing is, I would not want to do Further Maths at the expense of getting a lower grade in any of my A Level subjects. In Year 12 it was fine and I was able to manage all my subjects, but (as you said), the jump in difficulty from Year 12 to Year 13 is quite steep). Also, for my course (Biomedical Science), some of the unis I want to go to ask for an A in Biology/Chemistry, but this is not that bad and definitely something I can achieve.
I do enjoy Further Maths and I think the challenge is what keeps me going too. The easy option would be to drop the subject to focus on my other A Levels (also I’m worried Further Maths will become so hard that I suddenly fail the subject in Year 13). However, in Year 13, I feel that if I dropped I would miss it immensely. And then normal Maths would also become boring…
I'm not sure what your college is like, but if they let you, I would maybe do a week and see how you feel about it. If the stress is still eating at you after a week I would drop it.
You sounds very stressed about it and if you still feel that way after a week, I wouldn't say Further maths is worth the risk.
Original post by SneakySatsuma
I'm not sure what your college is like, but if they let you, I would maybe do a week and see how you feel about it. If the stress is still eating at you after a week I would drop it.
You sounds very stressed about it and if you still feel that way after a week, I wouldn't say Further maths is worth the risk.
You sounds very stressed about it and if you still feel that way after a week, I wouldn't say Further maths is worth the risk.
I would be able to drop the subject at any time in Year 13. However, I can’t really “try it out” for a week or so because in my school we only do Year 2 Further Maths content once we have finished Year 2 Normal Maths content (which would be in a couple months).
Original post by TwisterBlade596
I would be able to drop the subject at any time in Year 13. However, I can’t really “try it out” for a week or so because in my school we only do Year 2 Further Maths content once we have finished Year 2 Normal Maths content (which would be in a couple months).
start learning in spare time (bicen maths or similar) and see if you enjoy it or not
(edited 1 month ago)
Original post by jamsparkle
start learning in spare time (bicen maths or similar) and see if you enjoy it or not
Oo that is a good idea (plus it would mean I can decide if I want to continue Further Maths even before I start learning content in school). Thank you!
Original post by TwisterBlade596
Oo that is a good idea (plus it would mean I can decide if I want to continue Further Maths even before I start learning content in school). Thank you!
Dr Frost also covers every chapter of FMaths: https://www.drfrost.org/courses.php?coid=12817
Original post by Muttley79
Dr Frost also covers every chapter of FMaths: https://www.drfrost.org/courses.php?coid=12817
Thank you!
Half of my year group dropped it. My uni offers were based on best 3 so it gave me a buffer. If you are being harsh with yourself would you use the extra time to study for the other 3? I ended up landing a B for FM which I was disappointed with for a bit (but I got my uni offer so I care less and less!) but I got a* for the others. This year the grade boundaries leapt up…. I think it’s helped with my A* for maths, kept me in a class of people who care about being there rather than stuck cos they have to stay at school. And I’m doing a numerate degree so it’s helpful for that. Good luck.
Original post by snoopadoop
Half of my year group dropped it. My uni offers were based on best 3 so it gave me a buffer. If you are being harsh with yourself would you use the extra time to study for the other 3? I ended up landing a B for FM which I was disappointed with for a bit (but I got my uni offer so I care less and less!) but I got a* for the others. This year the grade boundaries leapt up…. I think it’s helped with my A* for maths, kept me in a class of people who care about being there rather than stuck cos they have to stay at school. And I’m doing a numerate degree so it’s helpful for that. Good luck.
Yes amount half of my class have dropped out too. Yes if I dropped then I would definitely revise more for my other A Levels (and probably start revising Maths early because I would be ahead of the Single Maths classes).
Well done with your A Levels and good luck with your course🥳!
Also, when you studied your A Levels, do you think you spent a greater time revising for your other 3 A Levels compared to Further Maths, or did you have more of an even distribution?
Also, why are the grade boundaries for Further Maths always so high? Is it because a lot of people do well in it (despite it being a challenging subject m)?
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