Does a gap boost chances at Undergraduate?

Ah right. So that isn't about you. It is about them and the fact they only really care about students who are going to maintain the reputation of the university. Do you really want to study somewhere that cares more about its own image than the learning of the students who come through the door?

I don't know if you meant to respond to my message but I'm not sure what you mean if so. Maths is a subject that is notoriously easy to go rusty on. I'm a third year maths student and there are A-Level Maths topics that I struggle with because they haven't really come up in my degree so I haven't done them in a while. I was talking about the Cambridge course which starts very quickly and with a lot of assumed knowledge. It's not about choosing students who will "maintain the reputation of the university" but about those who can keep up with the course.

Reply 21

hotpud

18

Original post by melancollege

I don't know if you meant to respond to my message but I'm not sure what you mean if so. Maths is a subject that is notoriously easy to go rusty on. I'm a third year maths student and there are A-Level Maths topics that I struggle with because they haven't really come up in my degree so I haven't done them in a while. I was talking about the Cambridge course which starts very quickly and with a lot of assumed knowledge. It's not about choosing students who will "maintain the reputation of the university" but about those who can keep up with the course.

Oh - I completely understand about the rusty nature of maths. But clearly some universities prefer students not go rusty rather than ease them in gently or provide additional support for the rusty ones. That is my point. And ultimately they don't want potentially rusty students doing badly and bring the stats down.

Reply 22

melancollege

18

Original post by hotpud

Oh - I completely understand about the rusty nature of maths. But clearly some universities prefer students not go rusty rather than ease them in gently or provide additional support for the rusty ones. That is my point. And ultimately they don't want potentially rusty students doing badly and bring the stats down.

I can only speak about Cambridge, but... yes? Cambridge has high standards and is a very intensive course. If a student does no Maths for a year by choice, then that's on them. 'Not going rusty' can literally just mean just doing enough Maths in your gap year to not get worse. They do start slightly slower but that students don't just stop working for a year between A-Level and when they start isn't an unreasonable expectation.