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Secondary education

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Maths and applied maths a level text books

10 replies

Norem · 18/08/2012 23:11

Hope someone can help, my Ds failed to get into Cambridge this year as he messed up his step exams.
We are in Scotland and he is planning to do maths and applied maths a level this year to better prepare him as well as bmo competitions.
Want to order some text books for him now, if you Dc are doing these courses which books are they using?
Any other advice gratefully received :)

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Norem · 18/08/2012 23:13

I think I meant further maths rather than applied :)
Ds is in bed so i can't check right now.

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FallenCaryatid · 18/08/2012 23:41

You need to know what exam board he'll be taking in order to buy the right texts.
Have you tried emailing his tutor?

gelatinous · 18/08/2012 23:42

Do you know what exam board he is doing? Ds did OCR (not MEI) and used the standard OCR textbooks which seemed fine. You buy the ones applicable to the modules he is doing. The books seem to cover either one or two modules (eg: Core 1&2, core 3&4, M1, M2&3, FP1, FP2&3 etc). I imagine having already done highers he will find the maths modules quite straightforward and probably some of the f. maths modules too.

The other books I rate are the ones I used eons ago for my maths A level by Bostock and Chandler. The very old ones I have are called Pure maths 1, Applied maths 1, Pure maths 2 and applied maths 2, where the '1' books covered maths A level and the '2' books covered further maths. Things have changed a bit with the new syllabuses though so the divide isn't as clear cut and there are more recent editions than the ones I have (I've seen one entitled 'core mathematics'), which are still well regarded but are still old enough not to reflect the latest syllabuses so you'd have to pick and choose the right chapters for each module carefully). The books still cover all the topics and have good exercises but probably the books that relate to the actual syllabus are easier to use.

For UKMT/BMO go to their website and order past papers and practice those. They may have some books that are useful too, I think there was a recent one specifically aimed at BMO preparation.

Also join the forums on nrich and tsr, both good for advice and help when stuck.

For STEP there's an online book by someone called Siklos which is 'the' text for STEP, but the key is lots and lots of past paper practice. TSR is also good for support and help with STEP too.

Norem · 19/08/2012 00:23

Thank you for the replies we are going to have a meeting at the school this week and I will check re exam boards ect.
He did do lots of past papers for step but fell down a bit when this years paper had more statistics than probability, some of which he had not covered and after finding his fail safe not safe at all panicked.
I really feel for him at the moment, it is his absolute aim to get to Cambridge.
Thank you again and I will lead him towards those forums you mentioned.

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gelatinous · 19/08/2012 00:38

Well best wishes to him Norem, determination will take him a long way I'm sure, but do remember Cambridge is always a bit of a lottery and shouldn't be the be all and end all. I know many excellent mathematicians who have truly thrived at other high class universities having missed Cambridge by a whisker.

mummytime · 19/08/2012 07:46

I still have my Bostock and Chandler from the dark ages, and have encourage my DS to use them, my DH used them a few years ago when he needed to brush up his Maths.

Norem · 19/08/2012 11:23

I know gelatinous, he has an offer from Warwick but thinks he will regret it forever if he doesn't have another crack at Cambridge.
I think if he had done his best and not made it he would be ok, it's because he knew he had really not performed to his ability in the step exam.
I would be happy if he wanted to go to Warwick but I am also happy to support the current plan.
He is still 17 so would have been young this year anyway so maybe it will work out better in he long run?

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complexnumber · 19/08/2012 23:39

STEP maths is way more difficult than any standard A'level text book!

It is designed to address the elite, the top 0.01%.

Warwick is recognised worldwide as being one of the best maths uni's in the world. To get an offer there means you have the opportunity to be part of
, arguably, the best maths dept in the UK

I teach maths and have only ever suggested Warwick to a couple of extremely talented students

mnistooaddictive · 20/08/2012 06:57

I personally wouldn't recommends bostock and chandler as they are difficult to follow for a student working on their own. I find the explanations are not clear and I am a maths teacher! I personally prefer the heinemann modular books.

Norem · 20/08/2012 11:17

Thank you both for your replies, complex, I know, I would be very happy for him to take up his place at Warwick, he however is set on Cambridge and happy to invest another year trying. He was predicted to get his step exam, he chocked and really didn't do anywhere near his best.
Spoke to the school this morning, they will talk to Cambridge to try and find out whether taking the a levels is a good move or whether he should apply with his advanced highers and simply retake step if he gets that chance.

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