AS Further Maths - any Maths teachers with ideas

[Furthermath]

DS is doing AS Further Maths. Based on performance to date his teachers have predicted a C which is much lower than he was hoping for and I think he can do better (got 8 at GCSE & A in FM GCSE equivalent). He hasn't been slacking - I think its more a question of being a bit slapdash. (I did Maths myself to uni level so know a bit about it although a long time ago).

I will talk to his teachers but tbh they aren't very user friendly so I wondered if any Maths teachers on here could help with some strategies to improve his grade. I know that practice will help but I think the way he's practising is also key.

Anyone?

I’m an A level maths teacher. The first obvious things are to attend every lesson and focus and work hard in every lesson. He should ask the teacher if there’s something he doesn’t understand. Put lots of effort into homework. Answer every question, seek out help on the questions he doesn’t know.

Does he have a textbook at home he can use if he needs to look things up for homework? Or go over things if he didn’t quite get them in class.

There will only be a few more weeks of learning new content then it will be revision. There is no short cut for hours of practise I don’t think. Extra questions from text book and past exam questions. There are various video tutorials available online too.

The new AS further maths is only in its second year so it’s hard for teachers to make predictions. They may be being cautious.

Thanks for the feedback. Having done quite a lot of googling over the last couple of days, I agree about them being cautious. It does seem that FM is a really difficult and challenging AS Level. There is so much content and very complex so taking your foot off the gas now could be disastrous. Plus a lot of just practice practice to learn all the pitfalls and how to avoid them.

I've encourage him to speak to his teacher next week about what's needed.

He has got a home text book & uses online tutorials when he gets stuck.

I'm also wondering about:

a) CGP revision guide (seems more focused than the full text book)
b) paying for a few one to one sessions with a tutor (have been recommended one locally)
c) how many hours of work outside of lessons would be a reasonable expectation - have been told a rule of thumb is as many hours as in lessons.

Any feedback on this would be gratefully received.

He wants to register with Dr Frost Maths- online learning platform completely free and totally amazing!! I teach Alevel Maths and Further Maths and Dr Frost is the best tool I give them!

Thanks mnis - I'll check what he's using. I know he does use quite a lot of online stuff to help.

I do not think CGP do an AS further maths book. Dd is using one by Cambridge University Press, which is really good.
I had not heard of Dr.Frost, so will ask dd if she wants to give that a go.