Maths degree- STEP/ MAT/TMUA advice please?

[Cathpot]

DD2 about to start her A levels next term. Very set on a maths degree, loves maths and thinks it should lead to good job opportunities. She is academic so wanted to apply to Oxford but is not hung up on that and is aware she has to be realistic about her chances and happy with all her choices.

Because I knew Oxford has an aptitude test I had started to gently poke around for information and turns out various unis she would be considering also use aptitude tests but different ones. This looks like she might end up having to prepare for more than one - is this standard? Do students tend to choose groups of unis on UCAS that do the same test?

Also she has diverse interests so her A levels are an unusual mix of Maths/ Further Maths/ English Lit and Classics. She was presuming that the maths grades would be all the unis are interested in and she could do the other 2 because she enjoys the subjects. Is this a reasonable assumption?

I am coming at this from a standing start and so any advice would be really useful.

Encourage your DD to be open minded and flexible as they journey through Y12-13. Enjoyment of and aptitude at particular subjects can wax and wane. Two of mine grew into Maths and out of their respective physical science choice and keeping all options in play meant Open Days and the UCAS process were not characterised by violent changes of direction.

Recognise that what matters is the individual situation, not the average picture. Better to get a 1st in Eng Lit and have had plenty of time for meaningful and enjoyable extra curriculars that led to interesting employment options, rather than a 3rd in Maths from Oxbridge, every waking hour desperately trying to keep up.

That said, if Maths is the likely passion and future focus, then it is a great degree in its own right and which can be studied in conjunction with other subjects (if that is desired). As you will probably be aware, it is brutally competitive at the top end but that does not mean life is rendered meaningless if you don't study it at COWI level (Cam, Ox, Warwick, Imperial)!

Note that the TMUA is scheduled not to run after Nov 2023; no replacement, if any has been announced. Yes, MAT and STEP are, in a sense, parallel systems but COWI and other unis usually make offers that acknowledge that students are likely to want to do one rather than the other; look at the detail on individual websites There is some excellent advice re: STEP v MAT on a current thread about Imperial and CS. Remember that many great unis do not require or encourage the taking of MAT or STEP for Maths, particularly if a student is taking FM.

Thank you , that is helpful. She does really enjoy maths but I agree that she needs to keep options open. It’s more that I suddenly realised that there was an extra layer to applying to top maths unis that I didn’t know about! I’ll go and find that other thread