Is it usual to need a grade A GCSE to do A level maths now?

A very interesting post is made by Ames here. She apparently graduated from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and does very well in maths, however has to count on fingers due to Discalculia [sorry Ames if I am oversimplifying or misunderstanding] . This illustrates the point that a learning style or a hidden special need could influence apparent attainment in conventional circumstances, but this attainment could be totally transformed with the correct adjustments to address the learning style.

Dont know whether to laugh or cry. DD is taking French A level too.

Just a thought, but would an OU Maths Foundation course be better suited for the OPs son? I did one years ago, and it started just below GCSE level, and finished just above A level IIRC. I already had A level from school, but had not done any maths for 16 years.
May also be possible to do over 2 years, and perhaps just take 3 A levels at school?

I agree that if you're really good at maths it's easy to get top grades in, I didn't even revise for my maths A-level, and worked much harder for my A in Physics.
However, from teaching maths I know that sort of ability isn't that common, and I have taught many who have got an A (not so many an A*) who have ability but also worked their socks off.

black

www.bstubbs.co.uk/a-lev.htm

Maths got 16.8% A* and 26.2% A
Further Maths got 28% A* and 28.5% A

English was 6.2 and 14.5.

I wanted to add something along those lines to the thread, BlackMogul - about the perceived difficulty of certain subjects. In 'my day' (just over 20 years ago) the subjects in which it was statistically the most difficult to get a grade A were English and, I think, History. I haven't looked to see how that compares now. I think more people got top grades for maths and sciences but also more people failed or got Es in those subject - I'm sure it's easier to do badly at maths if you don't 'get' it than at English (where you can pick up some basic themes to regurgitate/waffle about - and that is my subject so I'm allowed to be that rude!), if that makes sense?

So of course a 'difficult' subject just means difficult for some people and not so much for others.

I do think, though, that (like MFLS), it's not much that the jump from GCSE to A level is massive (and it seems that it is) but almost like it's a completely new subject at A level and so the teachers really are the ones best placed to decide if a dc is a suitable candidate, based on things like whether they really 'get' algebra (I'm not a mathematician; forgive the simplicity of my argument).

This thread and the other one about sciences at A level do leave me wondering if GCSEs are still fit for purpose when they leave people so ill-prepared for higher study and slightly ill-informed about aptitude for particular subjects. (And I know they're changing and we don't yet know how.)

Or that Maths is self-selecting in a way other subjects aren't and so only people who are good at it do it to A2.

I thought the most recent table said Maths. However, I stand to be corrected. Whichever one it is, it still points to the fact that for the mathematically minded, Maths is the easiest A level to get at the highest grades!

Black I thought it was Further Maths that gets the most A*s and As? Hence Further Maths is the easiest A-level.

Bruffin unfortunately resources get a bit thin on the ground when you get to Further Maths. Googling the individual topics might be more fruitful.

If you want videos, the Khan Academy probably has some decent ones. If his school is registered with the Further Maths Support Network (free) they'll have a teacher password for loads of teaching resources, maybe they could print some out?

When it gets a bit closer to exam time, the Further Maths online seminars are very good
www.furthermaths.org.uk/onlinerevision.php

Does your DS know about Wolfram Alpha for checking tricky integration answers and so on? Invaluable for self-study.
E.g. m.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=integrate+sin+x+dx+from+x%3D0+to+pi&lk=3
Or
m.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=sin%28x%29&x=0&y=0

Wuldric - If your DS is woeful at English, Medicine or Vet Science is probably not an option! These are SO competitive and poor English results will not help one little bit.

OP - Interestingly, stats produced recently show Maths A level with the highest number of A and A grades of ANY subject listed! Maths is not hard - if you have a brain the absorbs maths and gets it and many of the candidates are clearly very good at Maths!!! It is these people any DC who is average at Maths will be competing agasinst for university places. So many science courses will ask for A or A Maths and Further Maths too. The A*s awarded for French A level are almost non existent, however! So which subject is more difficult? What is difficult to some is easier to others. We were never advised that Biology was difficult, by the way.

He got a level 4 at KS2, has not managed to get the results to be promoted up a set throughout secondary, got a mid B at GCSE and only scraped a B on the final module, the one containing the tricky algebra required for A-level.
It's not just the B at GCSE that's causing concern!

Of course turning around or catching up very quickly is sometimes possible. Dd only got a B for French because she was suffering from extreme anxiety in the exam period and panicked in the oral; I don't really think it says much about her overall ability and have no doubt she could have upped that to an A at any other time.

I managed to swot up on English lit enough to get an A though I had only spent a few months in the country and had previously only been taught English as a foreign language and had never written a real essay. If you have the potential and the drive and the access to good explanations you can sometimes do these things.

Posters are assuming that the B at GCSE level means the OPs ds does not have the potential. I don't think we necessarily know that for sure. But it would need to be combined with drive, as well as access to his mother's excellent tuition.

It really depends on the reason for the results.

5foot5
DS turned his E for mechanics to an A this summer for AS, so it can be done. However DS spent too much time concentrating on the other modules and forget to revise properly for mechanics because he was comfortable with it. He now has to sort out Decision 2 next summer.

Noble
do you know if there are any good resourses on Decision 2, M4ths doesnt seem to include it in their dvds

I take my hat off to you for your commitment and determination. I really do. I hope it works.

DD got A* at GCSE Maths and chose it for an A level subject. I was delighted because Maths was one of my best subjects at school and I got an A at A level back in 1980. I told her I would be happy to help at any time if she needed it.

She did. And I was aghast at how much I had forgotten in 30+ years. I think I was of limited help but I can only add my voice to those who say it is hard. I really don't think A level Maths has been at all dumbed down since I was at school.

Incidentally DD has struggled even with an A* at GCSE. She only got a C at AS so she is facing at least one resit next summer and a hell of a lot of work to get this back on track.

NobleGiraffe Not been finding differentiation itself too bad, but only done the first 2 (out of 5) sections.
Following it through OK, but got lost a couple off times through having forgotten some basic algebra.
Hence telling her to go through the Headstart book.

Still wondering why they've been thrown in at Tge deep end though.
Is it the first two weeks where they can get to change subjects if it feels like a big mistake?

Should read radiography!

Pupils with similar profile to the OPs could pursue a degree in Rdiography that doesn't require Maths, becoming a dispensing optician (via foundation degree) is also a possibility.
Physiotherapy requires Science A levels and not Maths (very competitive to get a place though). HTH

Harum, I completely agree. As someone who did a chemistry degree with A/S pure maths only and found it really really tough.

Biology had lots of stats too.

Physics isn't the only science to require maths.

I'm not convinced a Chemistry degree would be a very happy experience for someone who isn't very good at Maths!

Agree. A lot could be done with chemistry degree: forensics, academic research, pharmaceuticals, food industry, oil and gas, accounting...

I believe that's true, too.

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/degree-courses/8587556/Forensic-science-degree-course-guide.html

No idea about forensic science degrees, the question was about a suitable career path! A few kids at school say they want to be forensic scientists, think it comes from watching CSI.

I thought you needed a masters in Chemistry to work in forensics and that the forensic science degrees were a waste of time and money.

Good at science but not so hot at maths? He could pursue Chemistry or Biology at Uni without the requirement for A-level maths (although it would definitely be beneficial). How about Forensic Science?

I would be interested to know what alternative career choices would be suited to DC with a profile similar to OPs.