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Original poster

A level Maths - will all the top grades be taken by those doing Further Maths?

31 replies

kittybelle · 27/08/2014 03:31

Ds thinking about Maths for A level - but worried that top grades will be out of reach if he is competing alongside others who do FM as well. Is this the case?

He is at a grammar was in 3rd Maths set (of 4 so 2nd lowest) and got an A. We havent spoken to the school yet about ds specifically - but at the A level selection talks earlier in the year - the Maths head said the subject is really tough - and just because you have an A does not mean that will cope or do well at A level - and demanded that the boys have a very frank "look you in the eye" conversation about their specific ability. Do you think this is a bit OTT?

I have looked at the A level syllabus and seems most is "pure maths" what does this mean...?

OP posts:
icymaiden · 27/08/2014 08:48

DS! was in the bottom of 4 sets at his grammar school.He got an A at GCSE and A* at A level and didn't do FM ever

DoctorDonnaNoble · 27/08/2014 08:13

Good point - should have pointed out that it we do the Further Maths thing differently at our school and a lot of the candidates do it as a 5th with some lessons in lunchtime, and some of them do it instead of a games option.
Obviously, it will be different in schools where it 'takes up' another option block.

BeckAndCall · 27/08/2014 08:10

i don't think its necessarily true - many people don't do FM because they're doing other things, not because they cant do it.

In my limited experience, lots of people doing single maths A level get A and A *

For my own DC, DS did both and then went on to do physics (so needed FM too, in an ideal world) but DD 2 only did regular maths because she didn't need FM for her biochemistry choices. and plenty of her friends are in the same place - not doing physics or engineering so have only done single maths and got an A * in A2.

hellsbells99 · 27/08/2014 07:34

My DD goes to a state comp and recently got an A at AS maths. She worked very hard. She has really enjoyed the subject and is carrying it on to A2. She got an A at Gcse too.

DoctorDonnaNoble · 27/08/2014 07:27

It is tough. The reason most of the top grades seem to go to people doing Further Maths is because those tend to be the best mathematicians. That doesn't mean that a hard working student can't get an A. A lot of students seem to struggle at A Level Maths and we get the full range of grades even though they need an A at GCSE to even start.

Eastpoint · 27/08/2014 07:12

Dd is in a similar situation but her maths teacher said she is in a good place as she knows working hard will mean she can achieve whereas some of the others might give up if they don't get something straight away. Our two will just have to work harder Smile. The maths teacher also said everyone in the (selective intake) school was good enough to do A level maths.