Not allowed to do Maths A'level....with an A

Did you write that while drunk Ttbb :-D

Not exactly surprising. I've known people to get an A* in moaths while drunk. The whole GCSE thing just seems a bit redundant to me.

I got a B at GCSE maths and very nearly 100% for a level maths - a combination of finding the topics more interesting and improving my revision techniques. The biggest difference between gcse and a level was not the difficulty but the increased quantity of work to get through.

I work at an indy, we insist on an A at GCSE to go on with Maths, which seems reasonable. Can you ask if he got a low or high A? They will know his mark, and they should also know what he is capable of, and what his attitude to self guided work is.

Go somewhere else. My DS1 has an A at GCSE a C at A level and a place to do engineering at the University of his choice.

And languages, Noble. The jump from GCSE to A level is considered similarly difficult, too.

I think the school is right. To achieve a good grade at A level maths you must be naturally gifted .

Maths is completely different to other subjects except perhaps science in that it's hierarchical. You cannot learn to solve simultaneous equations if you have not mastered linear equations. You can learn Romeo and Juliet with no knowledge of King Lear.

I got an A in gcse and a level then did an engineering degree and am currently doing an engineering doctorate. I really hope somewhere elsewhere in your area does allow him to continue.

I think the majority opinion on here is that an A grade offer is standard, rather than an A. Even copperbeech has said she fills an A level class with students who have failed to meet the A requirement...

Little smile at "can Maths teachers not differentiate". Sorry!!

The bigger question here is why is a subject deemed so hard that you apparently cannot access it to the satisfaction of maths teachers with an A grade ?

That is not true of any other A level : how has maths been allowed to evolve to be so different?

To play devils' advocate, perhaps the issue lies in the teaching of maths. Can maths teachers not differentiate? I do know a few schools which set for A level, which seems to answer my own question there.

I've only ever seen A* required for further maths, never for maths (it is usually A around here). That includes two state superselectives, the four nearest private schools (one academic workhouse & three old name boarding schools) and the six nearest comprehensives (including dd's which gets the best A level results in the county even when the private schools are included & isn't far behind the grammars in the adjacent county).

Once again Copperbeech's experience is very much a minority.

The offer will be A, once everyone who has an offer has accepted, then there will be a waiting list. Students who want to do maths but only got an A, will be on the waiting list. We have actually once taken everyone with an A, then took a couple of students with a B. In other years, the spaces were all filled with A students.

Again, that is not my experience.

You don't make an offer then? You ask people to wait and see if there's space?

Surely they should be given the chance to go for it and you could possibly back up with tuition or something. Have a child going into yr 11 so this is just round the corner.

although we sometimes fill up a class with A grade students, they will have to wait until all the A* students have decided if they want to do maths or not, then be ranked according to actual UMS, and the highest scoring A grade students might be let in, if there are places. They would have conditions to meet, and might be asked to drop maths at the end of year 12, if conditions are not met.

Oops, bit inappropriate, sorry! But I think your area is possibly unusual...

Where?

no, I am talking state.

Half of sixth forms demand an A* for Maths? Double Maths/IB Higher, yes. Maths, no. Not for any of the 6th form providers (state) in this area. If you are talking about private, then maybe.

Just to add in my experience (20 years ago) - I got an A in GCSE Maths, and scrapped an E in AS Maths. I started doing the full A level Maths, failed 4 modules out of 6 so was downgraded to take the AS in which I got an E, even with additional tutoring. As previous posters have said, if he's good with algebra, and elements such as mechanics, then he may well be ok, but it is without doubt quite a leap from GCSE to A Level standard.

Good luck finding somewhere that will let him do it - if he's dead set on his career choices then I'm sure he'll put in the work needed to succeed :)

It isn't unreasonable, it is up to the school. Its about a half and half split, I would say, around half of sixth forms will insist on A* to do maths. Around half will let in lower grades.

My son's school turned down some applicants WITH A*, saying they hadn't scored high enough and wouldn't cope

Find a school that lets him try, it shouldn't be hard to get accepted. Whether he would cope with the course or not remains to be seen, some do with only an A, some don't.

Witchend I'd ignore it for Bs and Cs because most B and C grade students who start maths in sixth form don't make it to A-level, they crash and burn at AS so on that graph are the outliers (especially at C grade).
70% of A grade students who take AS do progress to A-level (these stats were from 2012 so I think this could be higher now as maths is now the most popular A-level) so the graph is a better indicator for these students.