igcse further maths - advantage for A level transition?

[trydive]

My daughter is transferring from a comprehensive school to a sixth form at a super-selective grammar. She'll be doing maths and further maths A Level. The minimum entry requirement for the course was a 9 for GCSE maths. Most of the students transitioning from year 11 at the grammar will also have an igcse in Further Maths, but my daughter's previous school didn't do that. Will she be at a massive disadvantage?

I taught a student who did exactly the same transition. The student in question actually taught himself the further maths GCSE in a about 3 months (in his case it was compulsory if he wanted to be in the top set for further maths at the super selective grammar). He ended up getting two A*s for maths and is studying it at Cambridge.

My feelings is that if your daughter has managed to secure a place at the grammar from a comprehensive she's probably some combination of clever and hardworking and that will also be enough to enable her to catch up quickly.

In general schools tend to go through the entire A-level syllabus even if there's overlap with topics which have been taught at further GCSE, although they may cover it more quickly if it's familiar to most students so it's certainly not going to be essential for her. She may need a little more practise on these topics but if she's got a 9 at GCSE she's obviously fluent in maths and it won't be a major issue. The more practise she gets and the more she challenges herself by seeking out the most difficult questions as she goes through topics the better she'll do.