Questions about the FSMQ

Hello, I'm in year 10 (Nearing year 10 mocks at the time of writing) doing well in maths. My school has had me do the Senior Maths Challenge in the past, and has now registered me for the AQA Level 2 Further Maths Certificate. I love maths and talking about it, so in a discussion with older students I found out about the OCR Free Standing Maths Qualification. Is this the same as or better than the AQA L2 Certificate? Were I interested in this, would I be able to sign up as a private candidate (if so, how? and how much would it cost?) or would I have to ask my school about it? And anything else you can add about it would really help, thank you

FSMQ is harder than aqa level 2 further maths as it contains more a level content and is a level 3 qualification rather than level 2. So doing FSMQ is likely better preparation for further study but also has a lot of content to learn.
I dont know details about how to enter into exams but you should probably ask your school about this as they may be willing to enter you for the qualification free of charge.
Happy to answer any more questions 🙂

Thank you so much, but is it a good idea to take both at the same time? My school has already signed me up for AQA level 2, but i'm just wondering about this since someone told me it's a good idea to take it to get me started for A level FM.

Hello, I'm in year 10 (Nearing year 10 mocks at the time of writing) doing well in maths. My school has had me do the Senior Maths Challenge in the past, and has now registered me for the AQA Level 2 Further Maths Certificate. I love maths and talking about it, so in a discussion with older students I found out about the OCR Free Standing Maths Qualification. Is this the same as or better than the AQA L2 Certificate? Were I interested in this, would I be able to sign up as a private candidate (if so, how? and how much would it cost?) or would I have to ask my school about it? And anything else you can add about it would really help, thank you

Hello, I'm in year 10 (Nearing year 10 mocks at the time of writing) doing well in maths. My school has had me do the Senior Maths Challenge in the past, and has now registered me for the AQA Level 2 Further Maths Certificate. I love maths and talking about it, so in a discussion with older students I found out about the OCR Free Standing Maths Qualification. Is this the same as or better than the AQA L2 Certificate? Were I interested in this, would I be able to sign up as a private candidate (if so, how? and how much would it cost?) or would I have to ask my school about it? And anything else you can add about it would really help, thank you

Hello, I'm in year 10 (Nearing year 10 mocks at the time of writing) doing well in maths. My school has had me do the Senior Maths Challenge in the past, and has now registered me for the AQA Level 2 Further Maths Certificate. I love maths and talking about it, so in a discussion with older students I found out about the OCR Free Standing Maths Qualification. Is this the same as or better than the AQA L2 Certificate? Were I interested in this, would I be able to sign up as a private candidate (if so, how? and how much would it cost?) or would I have to ask my school about it? And anything else you can add about it would really help, thank you

Hi! I was registered to sit both AQA L2 FM and FSMQ.
I decided to not take L2 FM and only focus on FSMQ though.
It's totally up to you in the end! Have a look at the specs maybe, watch a couple videos about the content that will be taught and then maybe make your decision.
My school registered me for L2 FM, but I will be sitting FSMQ as an external candidate. I can't remember the exact amount I paid, but it was around £200. If you want to find exam centres near you, then you can find them via typing 'JCQ Find a centre' on google. The website is pretty straightforward to use. It will give you a list of centres near you. I emailed around 5 centres and asked them if they take private candidates for FSMQ examination. Two centres got back to me and I chose the one closest to me 🙂
The centres should have a website where you can apply to sit the exam alongside with the fees amount etc.
Good luck!