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Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Original poster

Having to do four A levels if studying further maths

64 replies

user1471443411 · 02/02/2022 20:23

My daughter is in the process of applying for A levels and wants to do further maths. It turns out that of the three places she wants to apply to, two only let you study further maths if you do four A levels. There aren't any other subjects she really wants to do as she dislikes writing essays.
Does anyone know if, in general, schools will let you drop your fourth subject at an early date? Is this requirement put in place in case people struggle with further maths, so that they have something to fall back on?

OP posts:
2DemisSVP · 09/02/2022 20:52

Should say, my student’s 3rd subject wasn’t a science, which is the issue.

GlacindaTheTroll · 09/02/2022 20:55

If she's interested in joining the police, then get her to watch Cracker (currently free on ITV hub) and see if the penny drops about how useful a subject psychology can be. More useful, I think, than criminology, and of course you need good maths for it (stats)

TizerorFizz · 09/02/2022 21:04

It really doesn’t limit much. Oxford obviously not. Imperial possibly and Cambridge? But I’m not even sure about that. If you were a maths genius I’m sure they would be quite keen!

Original poster
user1471443411 · 09/02/2022 21:05

Thanks everyone for all these additional replies.
TizerorFizz 'Getting 3 top grades is better than 4 lower owned'. This is my thinking, and starting four then dropping one is a waste of time and effort, unless it's a subject you're interested in.
My daughter's had a look at the two closest good universities, and neither of them require four a levels for a maths degree, only three with further maths being preferred. One of her options doesn't require a fourth A level so she might end up going there after all (it's where most of her friends are going).

OP posts:
TizerorFizz · 09/02/2022 21:46

@user1471443411
Do get her to look around at universities. Don’t just go with friends. It can be useful to look at possible is options. Some maths degrees offer economics/finance options. So look at all details before she follows her friends.

Original poster
user1471443411 · 09/02/2022 22:15

Sorry I meant going to the same sixth form as her friends (where you are allowed to only do three a levels).

OP posts:
TizerorFizz · 09/02/2022 22:17

Oh! Well that makes sense.

Soontobe60 · 09/02/2022 22:27

My DD did maths, further maths, history and Spanish. She dropped the Spanish in the second year so only did 3 a levels. Went to Uni to study maths and is now an accountant

CollagenLady · 09/02/2022 22:31

Jumping on with a question please!

Does anybody know if the following Universities are a possibility with Maths FMaths and Physics ... Chemistry as a 4th, with the thoughts of dropping it.

Imperial
Cambridge
Bath
Southampton

Engineering degree is the end goal.

As Imperial and Cambridge are so sought after I was wondering what the best grades to aim for are and if 4 ALevels is expected?

Thank you!

DontKeepTheFaith · 10/02/2022 05:58

@CollagenLady

Jumping on with a question please!

Does anybody know if the following Universities are a possibility with Maths FMaths and Physics ... Chemistry as a 4th, with the thoughts of dropping it.

Imperial
Cambridge
Bath
Southampton

Engineering degree is the end goal.

As Imperial and Cambridge are so sought after I was wondering what the best grades to aim for are and if 4 ALevels is expected?

Thank you!

Ds1 had an offer from Imperial college for engineering with maths, FM and physics.

Can’t comment on the rest but DS1 applied to Warwick, Durham, Bristol, Imperial and Oxford and got offers from them all. Didn’t seem to cause an issue at all. He was predicted and got A* in all his subjects.

Ribenery · 10/02/2022 06:13

Ds is at UCL doing Maths. He did M, FM and Physics.

I went to the open day with him and spoke to the admissions tutor. She said they would rather see 3 excellent A level results than 4 mediocre ones and she advised him to drop the 4th A level unless he was really confident of 4 good results (which he wasn't!).

CollagenLady · 10/02/2022 06:14

@DontKeepTheFaith

Congratulations to you and your son!

That's very interesting to hear.

What engineering did he want to specialise in if you don't mind me asking?

Thank you! Smile

Panicmode1 · 10/02/2022 07:12

@CollagenLady DS has applied for Engineering for this year and has offers from Cambridge, Imperial, Bristol, Durham, and had an interview (well, more a chat!) at Loughborough for Product Design Engineering yesterday.

He is doing Maths, FM, Physics and DT - they have offered on all of them, but I'm sure if he wasn't doing DT it wouldn't be an issue for engineering - maths, FM and physics (with A*s or As in all, depending on the institution) are what they are interested in, and what the interviews/ENGAA (Cambridge) are testing.

Completely concur with the 3 strong, than 4 average exams - that's what a Cambridge admissions tutor said on one of the webinars DS went to - that said, his friends who have offers from Cambridge for STEM subjects are all doing 4....

CollagenLady · 10/02/2022 07:19

@Panicmode1

This is very interesting, thank you!

Congrats on the offers by the way, very impressive Star

He is interested in Aero Nautical / Aero Space Engineering, any thoughts on the top 3/4 universities for this sort of degree??

The 3 Vs 4 A Level is a good topic also as they say they want 3 strong but if he's potentially up against 4 strong...Confused

With the crossover on learning between M FM and Physics do you think Chemistry is a step too far on pressure? He is also doing DT for GCSE...

Kalettesarethebest · 10/02/2022 07:19

Hi, my daughter did maths, further maths and physics a’ levels but always knew she wanted to do a maths degree (she graduated last year)
She did start 4 a’ levels, physics being the fourth but just did the A’s level and dropped it after that.
Something to bear in mind though, if your daughter wants to carry on with maths, she will still have to essay write. My daughter had to complete a dissertation as part of her degree.
If she really likes maths then she should go for it but she may be putting all her eggs in one basket. On the other hand, maths is a well respected subject and she’ll still have brilliant qualifications.

User0610134049 · 10/02/2022 07:21

Will she not have to write reports etc being a police officer?

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 10/02/2022 07:25

The three A Levels will be fine as others have said, but I’m a bit taken aback that her some reason for not choosing Biology was because she would have to write a longer answer in one of the exams! She does know that police officers routinely have to write reports and so on, doesn’t she?!

gogohm · 10/02/2022 07:25

@CollagenLady

Look at Southampton. Really good for engineering and a nice university generally. Dd loves it

StarMouse879 · 10/02/2022 07:25

I had the same thought about having to write reports. Also, my eldest is doing a maths degree and although they don't write essays, they do sometimes do projects where producing a report is part of the process. They say the fact that they had done an essay subject at A level made that significantly less painful than it was for some of their peers.

Although I'd also agree that something like Psychology would be spot on for the Police force.

gogohm · 10/02/2022 07:26

Ps in engineering you have to write 10,000 word reports, be aware!

CollagenLady · 10/02/2022 07:53

@gogohm

Thanks very much!

Panicmode1 · 10/02/2022 07:54

@CollagenLady - not sure on locations for aerospace engineering - I'm sure those more knowledgeable than me can advise. Loughborough has an Aerospace faculty (saw it yesterday but didn't go in) and I know DS has friends who have applied to Imperial for it, but beyond that I don't know. DS has applied for either mechanical or design engineering.....

Pythonesque · 10/02/2022 08:28

Wanting to study maths and wanting to enter the police seems an unusual combination. Has she particular reasons to be interested in policing that may have some bearing on her choices? Eg interested in "cyber crime" - should she look at computer science?

Just how strong is her maths, has she lots of evidence already that she is very good at it? Probably the biggest worry starting maths/FM/ only one other subject, is if she finds FM more of a leap than she'd realised, she won't have the option of dropping it down the track if necessary. In choosing where to do her A levels she should make sure she is choosing somewhere that is strong in maths teaching and support, and able to help her prepare for other maths tests if needed for where she applies for uni.

TizerorFizz · 10/02/2022 09:21

@CollagenLady
Bristol is just about too for Aerospace engineering. BAe systems nearby. Bristol also allow you to do French if your gcse is a high grade so you can do 3rd year in France which opens up employment options. If the links are still there of course! I know they use top class unis in France including a Grande Ecole for Engineering. It’s a first class uni for Aerospace.

Cambridge and Oxford and Durham (I believe) are general engineering. Some areas of engineering can be better learnt by specialising earlier.

DontKeepTheFaith · 10/02/2022 20:43

[quote CollagenLady]@DontKeepTheFaith

Congratulations to you and your son!

That's very interesting to hear.

What engineering did he want to specialise in if you don't mind me asking?

Thank you! Smile[/quote]
Thanks CollagenLady, we are really proud of him.

He is doing an MA in engineering so 4 year degree and hasn’t decided on a specialty yet.

Good luck to your Dc with whatever they decide to do, it’s an exciting but scary time, choosing University courses and going through admissions.