Is it usual to just do AS Further maths?

Agree with Tallulah although he won be able to delay cashing in AS till year 13 as he is in the first cohort to not have the AS as part of the A level if the A level is examined in his year 13.

I've had loads of conversations with unis about it and all they care about is that your son receives 3 A's in one sitting so that he isn't advantaged by spreading them out-even though they can see from his past history that he is taking A2's early because he is bright and that he clearly would have achieved them anyway!

From what I have seen, 3 A2's in year 12 would be acceptable for medicine and any highly competitive course-as long as 3 A's were achieved (or A*AA-depending on the course). You son would just receive an unconditional offer and not conditional-which is obviously a great position to be in. To take 3 is v unusual though. What you couldn't do is use an A from year 12 to add to 2 A's from year 13. We expected to get an offer of AA and not AAA from unis. My daughter wanted to take 2 A2's and an AS and use her previous A and none of her unis worked like that although some said that although they would need her to take 3 A2's, they would lower their offer to AAC. My nephew however is at Uni of Bath studying Biology (and had offers from UCL and similar) and spread his out over 3 years with no questions asked-so there is no saying. You can delay cashing in the A2's I think however, but my daughters' had already been done. In short, I think there are options but you need to be warned so that you can make sure you aren't caught out.

Galliano If your DS is doing the AQA FM course they won't have "cashed in" his A2 maths. My DS is doing the same, he already knows his A level maths grade (and has a Cambridge offer) but it won't be cashed in until he has completed the A2 FM this year.

AS Physics as half of A level physics won't exist as it'll be the new spec. If he started physics in year 12 he wouldn't be doing AS at the end of that year, but a two year course with A level exams at the end, like in the old days before AS existed.

My DS has an offer to read Maths at Oxford. He did A2 Maths in Y12 and his offer still includes it so actually he only needs to pass 2 a levels this year. He met lots of others at oxford interviews who already had a level maths from y12 and there are 3 others holding Oxbridge offers in his further maths set so admittedly based on anecdotal evidence I don't think the sitting a levels early is a massive issue for maths related subjects.

My DS has taught himself some extra maths modules this year so will end up with AS additional further maths too apparently. This might be an option your son could consider. Also he should look at the MAT used by Oxford and Imperial as he may find it enjoyable and a good chance to prove himself.

Summer ends makes a good point - the A levels due to start in sep 2015 will be the new style ones with no AS as a half way exam, except maths which starts the following year, so physics will be the problem.

The three full A levels is yr 12 would probably be enough for him to get some unconditional offers, but I'm not sure how academic electronics A level is so that might be an issue. Would he consider swapping for physics? Would he continue to work in year 13 with an unconditional offer? The only fly in the ointment then might be the lack of FM taken with the others...!

I've heard of very bright candidates with 3 to 4 A2 in year 12 being asked for a further 3 in Year 13 for their offer ( not medicine). Another confusing factor is won't the new style A level offers apply to him as he is in year 10?
He needs to ask the relevant admissions people, detailing exactly what position is he in now and his choices. Personally I am would want that information directly rather than relayed by the school.

What a nuisance, he's obviously a bright boy and yet will be disadvantaged by taking the exams early.

One of my friends DSs had this issue and didn't get into any of his uni choices because of it. He went somewhere else in the end but really should have gotten into one of the top ones.

My understanding is that it is at the least safer if not necessary for 3 A2s to be completed year 13, however many appropriate AS /A2 levels he has done before.
Would n't it be better for him to do AS further maths in year 12 instead of A2 maths and then complete A2 maths, further maths and physics in year 13?

Sorry you're under so much time pressure OP but you're falling into the same potential trap there- only 2 A2s in year 13

Can you somehow delay electronics A2 until year 13? And maybe do FM AS in year 12?

Or delay cashing in the year 12 maths a2 until year 13 and combine with FM ( I know my own DS didn't cash in any maths until it was all done in year 13 but that was typical over two years - may not apply to doing it over 4 years?)

It seems so unfair that he may be disadvantaged by taking subjects early because he's so good at them, but it's best to know now and plan for it. And school's deadline of tomorrow can surely push a bit while you get in touch with a couple of admissions tutors?

I agree that it may be worth discussing his situation with admissions tutors. Even though he is young, the email will look better coming from him, although of course you can help him write it.

This from Imperial: www3.imperial.ac.uk/ugprospectus/facultiesanddepartments/computing/entryrequirements

and this from UCL: www3.imperial.ac.uk/ugprospectus/facultiesanddepartments/computing/entryrequirements

May be useful.

Some universities do ask for 3A2s taken in one sitting, or may consider those without this weaker candidates.

I think if nothing else it is very important that the school explain in the reference that the unusual way he has taken his exams is their decision, not his, and that they do not offer A2 further maths.

The best thing to do would be to actually email Imperial/anywhere else admissions tutors, describe the situation, and ask what they advise.

Do you know what exam board?
DS is doing OCR Maths and FM. AS in year 12 and A2 yr 13. From what i can gather you can mix and match some of the modules in Maths and FM so your best results go into Maths and the not so good ones go into FM results.
School is changed to AQA last year because there is supposed to be a lot more resources.

Longingfor could he not maintain his interest by doing the AS courses but not taking the exams? If he ends up having to teach himself A2 further maths then he might be pleased to have an easier first sixth form year revising earlier material for AS maths and computing whilst getting to grips with further maths. Instead of taking AS maths at the end of this year he could do additional maths GCSE.

BecKAndCall - this was the position my daughter found herself in and in affect had wasted one of her best subjects early and then was under huge pressure to produce another 3A's - which she did but with unnecessary pressure. If we had known, she could have just not done her A2 in year 12 (perhaps have done AS FM instead) and saved it for year 13, and the unis would have been happy with that. So, I see your point OP, we're not advising you about FM but I just don't want you to fall into the same trap as us. Others who know more about FM are advising you about it however.

But OP the comments about early exams ARE helpful - if you want your DS to stand a chance at an offer from one of the ultra top unis which it sounds like he has the ability for.

Ok so you can't change what he's doing in year 11, but you can plan very carefully for sixth form. If he already has A2 s in the bag at the end of year 12 places like imperial and Cambridge will still ask for 3 A2s all taken together at the end of year 13. The A2s at the end of year 12 probably won't count for his offer. So his best grades ( I'm assuming) won't be taken into account.

So even though he could be the best computing science student they've seen, and if he'd done the A2 when everyone else does he'd have an offer, he might not be in such a strong position as others when it comes to exams in the subjects he's not so super strong at - which is the basis he'd be competing on ( eg a* A A in the subjects he still has to sit at the end of year 13)

It does depend how competitive the course is though and I've known people get into Bath and Imperial to study sciences without it being an issue but for my daughter doing Law, it was. Medicine and dentistry are the same.

I'm with yourlittlesecret about unis liking the A levels taken all together in year 13. This caused my daughter problems and others I know and I will make sure that it doesn't happen to DD2.