Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

Original poster

Oxbridge applicants 2018 part 3

991 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 07/03/2018 13:43

Looks like we need a new thread.

OP posts:
Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 03/05/2018 07:59

Good luck to your dd today Lobster!
These exams for fun are a little puzzling Grin

OP posts:
fatbottomgirl67 · 03/05/2018 10:24

She had maths yesterday and today. She's doing the IB which is always earlier - she finishes on 17th May and results come early too, July 5th. Can't wait for it to all be over

alittlechampagne · 03/05/2018 17:06

Jealous of the early results day but relieved we have another month for revision.

voilets · 04/05/2018 08:46

Good luck with your DD's exams fatbottom - hope so far feels okay! Understand your nerves - lots to play for.

Study leave approaching here. DD seems to be doing enough studying and taking some time for relaxation. She tends to be steady not a last minute crammer - not able to do all-nighters as I know some students are.

adrinkofwater · 04/05/2018 09:41

Hello! Not sure if this is an OK place to ask this, so sorry if it isn't!

DS is year 11 and hopes to study maths at Oxbridge. He told us last night that he was going to ask his maths teacher if they would let him take A level maths at the end of year 12. I said that I didn't think they would (they aren't generally very flexible and have always done both maths and further maths over 2 years). Then he said that both Cambridge and Warwick say that they like you do do A level maths in year 12. I think he is planning on using this to persuade the school! I've not seen this anywhere, but do you know if this really true (especially as he will be doing the new linear maths with no AS). He is planning on maths, further maths, physics and French A levels.

Good luck to all your DCs with revision and exams. (I also have a DD in year 13)

goodbyestranger · 04/05/2018 09:53

Students who've gone from our school recently to read Maths at Cambridge have done both that and FM in Y13 and it clearly hasn't hindered them. It's a state grammar. I know some independent schools do it differently.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 04/05/2018 16:58

adrinkofwater. It's really not true, neither Cambridge nor Warwick ask them to take maths in Year 12. Why does he feel that approach would be an advantage?

OP posts:
alittlechampagne · 05/05/2018 00:07

As far as I know they like 3 A levels to be taken at same time.

Fifthtimelucky · 05/05/2018 07:02

I know of a school with a very good record of getting pupils onto Cambridge maths degrees. I believe all those hoping to study maths take maths A level in the lower 6th and further maths (plus 2 other A levels) in the upper 6th.

That's fine if everyone is doing it, of course, but would be difficult for a school to accommodate a single pupil.

OhTheRoses · 05/05/2018 07:42

Good luck to all. DD has a confirmed Cambridge offer because she decided to apply after results day so it has been a measured year here. She's working part-time and learning British Sign Language.

All this talk of exams reminds me of last year though when the 30+ heatwave hit during the week before the last exams. We just about avoided melt-down (no pun intended) by buying an air cooler (at vast expense) and two fans for elsewhere. For three days she left her room wrapped in a wet towel!

We're Cambridge and no whiff of offer holders here but I guess the decision is made and firm and it varies from college to college?

One of mine did IB, the other A'Levels. The early IB results were a huge bonus.

Good luck.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 05/05/2018 07:58

adrinkofwaters question was whether it is Cambridge or Warwick's preference. It is not. They accept it, if at least 3 A levels are done at the same time, however, it is not a preferred option as far as I am aware.

OP posts:
voilets · 05/05/2018 08:48

How nice to not have the pressure of exams roses. It has been a full on year here! Hoping no huge heatwaves this year. Smile But bright sunny days to keep us all cheerful with a cool breeze might be nice - not asking for much!

adrinkofwater · 05/05/2018 10:21

Thank you everyone for your replies. I asked him last night where he had got this from and showed me this on the Cambridge website. If a student has taken A Level Mathematics early, this may strengthen their application (more so for our Mathematics and science courses) but it's unlikely to be included in a conditional offer. Its on the FAQ under questions about entrance requirements.

To be honest, in his case I think its to do with the fact that he has been bored in maths lessons since year 8 and so does his own thing (maths challenge questions etc) or helps other people as his teachers wont sort out extension work for him. He said that he has nearly gone through the A level course now and will have finished it by the end of the summer holidays. I don't know how true this is, but it is possible! Maybe he sees it as a challenge, or maybe he thinks its the obvious thing to do so in year 13 he can concentrate on the other 3 A levels and step?

Really though he should be revising for his GCSEs at the moment and not thinking about A level maths!

alittlechampagne · 05/05/2018 11:03

adrinkofwater if he is bored because it is too easy I can see the sense in taking it early. For Cambridge he must be sure of achieving the very highest UMS as there will be absolutely no allowance for taking it early.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 05/05/2018 15:49

ok, that statement is different from Cambridge preferring them to do A level maths early.

There's absolutely no advantage that I can see in terms of boredom level though. Surely that would mean he would find maths really boring in Year 12, if it's all content he has seen before, rather than a mix of Maths and FM.

Most Cambridge mathematicians should find maths A level not at all troubling, but the advantage he has now is STEP. He should find he has a lot of spare 'maths' time to really get his teeth into STEP 1 as a matter of routine and then into STEP 2 and 3.

He could, to strengthen his application (though it is by no means necessary, nor a guarantee to help) use this summer to work on Olympiad problems if he is already enjoying challenge problems, scoring highly on BMO1 and perhaps getting into BMO2. UKMT have some excellent books on their website.

I'd hope that he also tried to get some down time this summer too, but I know what it is like with a maths obsessive.

OP posts:
Pallando · 06/05/2018 09:43

Bit late to this, sorry! I would be surprised if taking A-level maths early was a huge advantage, but covering the single A-level maths content early would be helpful (even if self taught). This means that the A-level calculus stuff is covered and STEP questions can be accessed earlier.

One of the problems students have is that they cannot do many STEP questions until the end of year 13, which is a bit late.

One of the things we tried to achieve with the STEP support programme is to introduce a lot of the A level calculus and trig stuff early so that students can access the STEP I questions once they have finished the "Foundation modules".

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/05/2018 20:40

How does that work with STEP 3 though Pallando?

OP posts:
Pallando · 08/05/2018 09:48

Both methods of studying A-levels should mean that you have covered the material for STEP III at about the same time - however if you have been able to start working on STEP I and STEP II questions from the end of year 12 you will have a big advantage as it is probably the style of question that takes the most getting used to rather than the content.

Another complication has been that schools teaching Maths and Further Maths simultaneously have often taught something like FP1, D1, D2 in year 12 - two of these modules are not that useful for STEP and university maths, and are often taken at the expense of one of the further pure modules. Hopefully this will be much less of an issue with the new A-levels!

I have taught in schools that do both methods, and teaching a "Further Maths" group is my preferred way. You can romp through the A-level pretty quickly and then spend more time on the harder stuff (the last Further maths group I taught - very able - ended up with 2.5 A levels as we could cover 9 modules in the first year).

Pallando · 08/05/2018 10:41

On the other hand, those who "self teach" themselves some C3/C4 stuff in year 12 so that they can start doing STEP questions earlier often do well - not least because they have learnt some of the studying techniques they will need at A-level.

I went to a session at a conference over Easter where the Welsh FMSP were talking about their work. For a lot of students in Wales they can only access Further maths through the FMSP, which means some face to face sessions (often travelling a long way - and usually at week ends), some evening on-line sessions and quite a lot of self study. The students who studied Further Maths like this tended to say they were better prepared for university maths than those who didn't.

YippeeTeenager · 11/05/2018 09:08

Hello everyone! I haven’t popped up on this thread for a while, I’ve been having a bit of a rest (or trying to!) from the stress of it all, but now that it’s officially leavers day for DD today and first exam is next week I need some company, so am back looking to huddle together with other Oxbridge hopeful supporters. DD has a Cambridge offer and seems reasonably calm-ish currently, so just doing my best to help keep it that way.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 11/05/2018 09:56

Hi Yippee :)
I could do with support too. If we are calm, it's much better for them, so it's good to have a thread where we can air our thoughts.
I think dd is pretty calm. She's thoroughly fed up of past papers. There are only so many maths papers you can do really, but at the same time she feels bad if she's not grinding through them. So we have a fair number of discussions based around the 'are you sure you need to do that' kind. First exam next week too, but dd doesn't get study leave.

I did mention she ought to look at her Insurance accomodation just in case. I don't think that went down too well.

Thanks Pallando, that is interesting! It's also going to be interesting to see how things differ as the new A levels shake out.

OP posts:
jaguar67 · 11/05/2018 10:23

Hello again everyone! Just popping in to say good luck to one & all during the final push. DD much happier now first one out of way (Biology). Gave me a near coronary when calling after the exam - I mistook her (mild) hay fever symptoms for crying and was midway through my 'don't worry darling, you've tried your hardest' speech, before she put me straight and announced they were all off up the pub! Grin

Loving hearing everyone's updates xx

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 11/05/2018 10:55

what a fright jaguar!!!

OP posts:
YippeeTeenager · 11/05/2018 12:43

Thanks OYBBK, I hadn’t thought about insurance choice accommodation so perhaps I should try to find a tactful way of broaching that subject!

Well done Jaguar. Maybe it’s better now to crack on with the actual exams and get them over and done with, or maybe not...

kaiserschmarrn · 11/05/2018 13:57

We've had to be very pragmatic from the start about the insurance option, given that DS is statistically unlikely to make his offer (Cambridge Maths - figures vary but it seems only about half holding offers actually make it there). So I am quite openly investigating accommodation options!

Today is DS's last day of school proper. First paper 16th May, then nothing for two weeks. It will be a relief when exams start.