Madcap maths plan?

[TooHasty]

DD is in Y12 and is taking maths , FM , physics and chem and to be honest is breezing through it SO FAR!! UMS of between 95 & 100% on recent mocks
He is talking about dropping chemistry next year (which he finds deadly boring) and doing additional further maths by himself.I can't afford a tutor but he says the textbook series the school uses is really clear and he thinks he will be able to manage with these and online resources.In the past he says a few students have done it but the school strongly advises against (although to be fair those students did it alongside 4 other A levels and an EPQ .Ds is planning to do an EPQ too.
He is very keen on maths and physics and does step papers for fun and has himself arranged with the local RG uni to spend half term week in their maths department to see what their undergraduate lectures and seminars are like.
I have very strong reservations about this additional further maths idea!!

Sounds great. May i ask what are your reservations?

TooHasty:

What is your DC thinking about doing after 6th form? If he has some definite courses in mind - check what they require - but many maths/ physics/ engineering degrees require further maths at A-Level.

e.g. cambridge mathematics doesn't require it but it is highly recommended:

www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/maths/

which I rather suspect is code for unlikely to get an interview without it.

There are of course lots of other places that don't - but rather than assume having this A-Level won't matter - probably safest to look up prospective University courses he's interested in applying to UCAS for and determine what the entry requirements are.

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What you can do to support him:

Khan Academy (is entirely free) can be used to find out more information on specific calculations/ theorems/ etc... and can provide critical tuition at points where your DC might be slightly unclear or need reinforcement. www.khanacademy.org/

My advice would be to talk to his maths teacher and/or whoever is providing guidance on A-Level choices/ university choices.

HTH

The only reservation I would have is that he needs to check the uni courses he is interested in are prepared to accept two or three A levels in the same subject. Some insist on three different subjects and only count further maths as a fourth A level. If he is looking at a maths degree then it should be fine but for other subjects eg economics they may feel he is not showing enough breadth.

Past, op is talking about Additional FM, not FM. My reservation would be the same as Essexmum's - maths, FM, physics, chem, no EPQ, another three or 6 maths modules, fine. Three maths A levels, physics - very one-sided. What would his EPQ likely to be about?

He is thinking maths or physics, or a combination of the 2.But he is 16 and might change his mind and has put all his eggs in one basket.
I am a bit concerned that his school have not recommended it in the past.I am concerned that he might not be able to self-motivate well enough.
Also I don't really know if this additional further maths is a real thing? Does it count as an AS level?

And depending on where he applies, he might actually want the time next year to work on STEP topics.

Does it count as an AS level?

If he does three extra modules, it's an AS; six is a whole A level.

I think he tries as hard as he can at maths and is in the top 2 or 3 at his GS .But I think that is from very interested in reading round the subject, but I am not actually sure that he is naturally that good at maths.I mean he is able enough, but is not (IMO) in the same league as people who have gone to places like Warwick.I am not a maths teacher, it's just the feeling I get....

Too Hasty & Essex:

Just a Mum - but from FE side of scheme we understood Additional Further Maths GCSE was dropped after summer 2014 (see this: www.rewardinglearning.org.uk/microsites/mathematics/additional/)

and that was why I thought the conversation was about 'further maths GCSE' - so strongly urge you talk with school to just double check all this.

Further Additional Maths AS and A level are still being offered by Edexcel. Maths courses at this level are modular so 3 modules gives you AS maths, 3 more A level maths, 9 A level maths and AS further maths, 12 A level maths and A level further maths, 15 modules A levels in maths, further maths and AS additional further maths or 18 modules 3 A levels in maths, further maths and additional further maths.
My son also in year 12 is just taking 9 modules as he is also doing A level biology, chemistry and physics but there are students at his school planning on taking all 18!

I think it is OCR that they do at his school , but not 100% surey

Let me know how you get on. ds2 (yr11 now) has poss plans to do something similar. Edexcel offers 18 different modules, with complicated rules on how they can combine for 3 different A level qualifications.

What modules has he done so far? ds1 (yr13, predicted 2 A*s for Maths & FM), says C3 and C4 are on a completely different plane to C1 & C2; similarly S2 to S1.

I think ideally your ds1 should continue with all subj, incl chemistry and treat the extra maths on a "see how it goes" basis. Definitely don't declare them on UCAS form, as you wouldn't want an offer based on them, just in case the wheels come off from the "teach myself" plan. I understand this is a common approach for Cambridge maths candidates/applicants. Someone on a thread recently talked about serious mathmos doing at least 10 modules in yr12.

Someone on a thread recently talked about serious mathmos doing at least 10 modules in yr12. - that was probably me! But no one should be freaked out by that - that was from some internal Radley advice, not to be worried about by the vast majority of 'normal' people :)

But given that anyone competitively applying to Cambridge for Maths is jot going to be 'normal' AND is going to be in direct competition with the Radley Mathmos, it is pretty worrying...

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