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Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Secondary education

Maths degree

19 replies

averageisgood · 13/10/2018 19:56

Ds is in yr 11 and needs to make a decision about which A levels to take. He is pretty set on a maths degree. His school offers 4 A levels as a pathway in 6th form. He wants to take physics and chemistry, but I'm unsure which other A levels he should take, apart from Maths. Is it necessary to take further maths as well? It's not my subject area so unsure. He is expected to get 9's in all subjects except Enlish lit, which is 7. He knows his strongest points and is a natural mathematician

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SheepyFun · 13/10/2018 20:07

If he wants to do a maths degree, he absolutely needs to do further maths if it's available. An admissions tutor would take a dim view of someone who claimed they wanted to study maths at university level, but wasn't taking every opportunity to study it now.

roisin · 13/10/2018 20:07

Yes, most uni maths degree courses would expect candidates to have done further maths, unless the school doesn't offer it.

And if he enjoys maths, why wouldn't you?

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 13/10/2018 20:09

Definitely FM if it's offered. He'll find out pretty quickly if a maths degree is really for him.

titchy · 13/10/2018 20:09

^what they said

PardonMyWedgie · 13/10/2018 20:11

^what they said is my understanding, too.
Unless he loves chemistry/physics & wants to keep options open for them too, of course.
I bet some math courses don't require FM.

Witchend · 13/10/2018 20:14

Places don't insist on Further Maths for a maths degree, but that's only really because they know some places don't offer it. If the school offers it and you don't do it, then you'd really need a very good reason why you didn't.
And most places will start with the assumption that you have further maths, so if he hasn't done the work for that he may well struggle at the start of the degree.

Spam88 · 13/10/2018 20:15

I think he'd probably struggle without further maths. Just the maths in my physics degree was a bit of a shock having not done further maths at A level.

averageisgood · 13/10/2018 20:24

I've spoken to him and he has already started his online application with physics, chemistry, maths and further maths after speaking to his maths teacher. Thanks for all the replies. . He doesn't need me after all. I feel a little emotional about that. He has ASD/ ADHD. So I'm very proud.

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Shampoo0 · 13/10/2018 20:31

My college used to do advanced maths so you can do 2 maths and 2 science

JustRichmal · 13/10/2018 21:48

Is it not better just to take 3 A levels? There is another thread where someone wanting to go on to medicine has been advised not to do 4 as universities prefer students to only take 3 and get good grades. Is it not the case that they only take the tree top grades into account? In which case would he not be best dropping physics or chemistry? I am asking because dd has been advised only to do three, one of which would be further maths.

AnotherNewt · 13/10/2018 22:01

Four is still normal when two of the four are double maths.

titchy · 13/10/2018 22:02

I'd assume he'd be dropping either Ph or Ch in 2nd year of sixth form so would do 3 justrichmal.

TheFrendo · 13/10/2018 22:10

AnotherNewt is correct. Four is normal in with FM, physics and chemistry would be a very common combination.

JustRichmal · 13/10/2018 22:11

Thanks. I think dd would also be best to at least start with four and keep her options open if she wants to drop one later.

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 14/10/2018 11:34

It's perfectly fine to do 3 A levels including FM if your intended degree is maths or engineering etc. Medicine prefers a broader set of subjects but physics and engineering etc are happy with maths, FM and physics.

For maths degrees, maths, FM and something else is fine. That something else might be physics, chemistry, computer science or even a language.

You can get on to a maths degree course without FM in many universities but you'd probably need some catch up classes at the start. And if you want to do a maths degree you should be taking FM if you can.

slimjemima · 15/10/2018 10:49

With maths it is not just about A levels.The best universities will require you to do an aptitide test eg STEP papers.
You will find these hard to do with the limited breadth that single imaths modules give

ifIonlyknew · 15/10/2018 12:17

absolutely further maths too

dottyaboutstripes · 15/10/2018 12:24

My dd intended to do a physics degree but by Christmas in yr12 realised it was maths she really wanted to study. She wasn't doing further maths so she did A/S further maths in year 13 and is now in her 3rd year of her maths degree. I think she's found it hard going tbh!

Astronotus · 15/10/2018 23:14

averageisgood. At the beginning of year 12 get him to do some research on the specific additional uni requirements for maths degrees, other than A*/A in Maths and FM A levels. The requirements differ from uni to uni. Some require STEP tests, or TMUA, AEA or MAT, or a section from two of these. Have a look at the Further Maths Support Programme website.

Good luck. You have a very clever boy there!

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