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9 9s + 3 8s at GCSE, Predicted 3A*s - Ask me anything!

Hi guys!
I am going into year 13, and I thought that I would help out with anyone who has questions about GCSEs, and first year of A-Levels as well! This is my grade breakdown:

9 - maths
9 - further maths
9 - statistics
9 - bio
9 - chem
9 - physics
9 - geography
9 - history
9 - computer science
8 - latin
8 - eng lang
8 - eng lit

I am taking maths, further maths, and physics, and predicted 3A*s!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Reply 1

How are you finding further maths? I'm currently self studying it and I'm not finding it too much harder than regular maths like people said it would be, but I'm only on core pure 2 chapter 1 right now. Is it the modules or the later chapters that make it really hard or is it just overhyped in terms of difficulty, or is it that people who are studying it don't take time to understand the concepts and instead rely on memorization for foundations, making it much harder to apply knowledge down the road?

Reply 2

wow those are absolutely fantastic grades mate. Im going into Yr 12.
Since you did FM at gcse and I did too, how did u find the first year of A levels? Some people have told me its like you learn pretty much nothing new except for logarithms. again congratulations.

my college doesnt allow me to take further maths and only do 3 A levels.. otherwise i would pick Maths and Fm

Reply 3

Original post
by ea007
wow those are absolutely fantastic grades mate. Im going into Yr 12.
Since you did FM at gcse and I did too, how did u find the first year of A levels? Some people have told me its like you learn pretty much nothing new except for logarithms. again congratulations.
my college doesnt allow me to take further maths and only do 3 A levels.. otherwise i would pick Maths and Fm

Omg I’d be so upset if I wasn’t allowed to do further maths!
We’ve finished the entirety of A-level maths at my college, and it’s been superb honestly. In terms of first year and the differences between fm gcse and alevel, I haven’t seen too much of a difference. Logarithms are new, and we learn more different trig identities, as well as new ways to manipulate binomials and polynomials(not sure if that’s first year or second). Having the GCSE in further maths has 100% been helpful as it really lays the foundations for the maths Alevel, and if you found that comfortable to work with, then you should be fine.
The main difference is that you get mechanics and statistics lessons. As I did stats gcse, this was v easy for me as the gcse basically covered most of the a level content, but it definitely isn’t unapporacable without the gcse. Mechanics is also great fun honestly!
I hope that’s okay! And thank you 😀

Reply 4

thanks man . I CAN do FM at a level.. But i have to do it as a 4th a level. E.g it has to be Maths, fm and Bio , Chem.
Hope that makes sense lol

Reply 5

Original post
by ea007
thanks man . I CAN do FM at a level.. But i have to do it as a 4th a level. E.g it has to be Maths, fm and Bio , Chem.
Hope that makes sense lol

ohhh that makes more sense. i think if you can do it, go for it! you learn a lot of topics in greater depth - for instance, matrices in fm gcse only come up in fm alevel, and you actually get to understand the applications of it and use it to solve other problems too!
hope that all made sense 🙂

Reply 6

How difficult is fm a level and is it very different to normal maths a level? Btw I did fm at gcse and find it really interesting. I’m thinking of fm at a level but idk if it would be too much considering I’m also doing maths, chem and bio. Also some ppl are saying there’s no point doing maths and fm if you’re going into medicine.

Reply 7

Original post
by ribbonkayla24
How difficult is fm a level and is it very different to normal maths a level? Btw I did fm at gcse and find it really interesting. I’m thinking of fm at a level but idk if it would be too much considering I’m also doing maths, chem and bio. Also some ppl are saying there’s no point doing maths and fm if you’re going into medicine.

its fairly different to normal maths a level as you go into topics that you wouldnt see otherwise. most of the gcse fm topics come up in maths a level, but stuff like matrices are explored only in fm, and in a lot more detail, which is def interesting. in terms of medicine, it isnt necessary at all honestly, and it in itself is a lot of work. make sure you really thoroughly enjoy maths, in order to take it at fm level, and if you do, then its def super fun and interesting, four a lvls can be a lot of work tho so do be mindful of that. otherwise, you could take it and drop it if it seems too much! hope this helps :smile:

Reply 8

Original post
by henrycomeon
its fairly different to normal maths a level as you go into topics that you wouldnt see otherwise. most of the gcse fm topics come up in maths a level, but stuff like matrices are explored only in fm, and in a lot more detail, which is def interesting. in terms of medicine, it isnt necessary at all honestly, and it in itself is a lot of work. make sure you really thoroughly enjoy maths, in order to take it at fm level, and if you do, then its def super fun and interesting, four a lvls can be a lot of work tho so do be mindful of that. otherwise, you could take it and drop it if it seems too much! hope this helps :smile:


Yh I think I might do it and drop it if I can’t handle it. The reason I want to do fm is just I really enjoy maths and might regret it if I don’t. I know it’s a bit of an extra but I think I’m gonna try it and see how it goes.

Reply 9

Original post
by ribbonkayla24
Yh I think I might do it and drop it if I can’t handle it. The reason I want to do fm is just I really enjoy maths and might regret it if I don’t. I know it’s a bit of an extra but I think I’m gonna try it and see how it goes.

yay! i hope that works out for you! let me know if you need any help at any point 🙂

Reply 10

Thank you so much!

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