Maths A Level - is it true how hard it is?

[bendmeoverbackwards]

Dd is in Year 11 and about to finalise her A level choices. She wants to do Sociology and Psychology and is thinking about Maths for her third choice.

She had some problems with mental health and subsequent school attendance in Year 10. This year has been much better but her attendance is still a bit low. She is very bright and seems to be working at home and catching up with what she's missed.

Her current predicted grade for Maths is a 6 (was a 7 previously) but has been getting 7s in tests. They need a 7 for Maths A Level at their school and she thinks she can achieve this.

I've heard how hard Maths A Level is, its a huge jump from GCSE, it's one of the hardest A levels. Is this true?

I would say she has a very good Maths brain which was evident from when she was young. She just seems to work out things herself and was always top at primary school and given extension work etc.

Does it sound like she would cope?

For me, most of maths was probably easier than the last tax exam and the final corporate reporting one but I suspect that's because I never spent enough time preparing.

That's taken me back! Yes, the tax and year 3 consolidation exams were evil.

Like another poster said, I worked twice as hard for my maths A level as my others. Got three As and a B in maths and felt very fortunate that maths hadn't dragged down my other grades. It still gives me slight nightmares and I've mainly worked in numerical-based financial services jobs so I'm comfortable with numbers.

It’s really hard even if you fly through the GCSE/AS Level as I did. My son is naturally maths-y, but I’ll be very strongly discouraging him from taking A Level maths.

That seems a pity if he’s naturally good at it?

I did maths A Level. I found it a total doddle at GCSE level - I used to do my other homework in maths lessons and still got an A with zero effort - A Level was MUCH harder. I was fine with Pure Maths and Statistics but I found Mechanics really, really hard. I had a lot of extra tuition and eventually got a C which was my worst A Level grade. (It didn't actually matter, but still.)

It is very early for this to be a final choice? I would check with the school when the real deadline is.

Having said that, I think I'd go back to her teacher - non-committal isn't really good enough. It wd make me suspicious that she thinks at present she's not working at a high enough level to make A level maths viable.

Otherwise - has your DD looked at some of the A level work? At this stage she shd be at the end of her maths learning for GCSE and so if she looks at the A level, does it seem achievable or not?

At this stage she shd be at the end of her maths learning for GCSE

After 4 terms? That's optimistic. I would think there is at least another term or more of content to learn at this stage.

I was also naturally good at it, but it was the thorn in the side of a great education experience and I wish I’d chosen something else. Knowing my son’s attitude I just don’t think it’d be a wise choice for him!

For maths it is more like 31 terms to be fair.

She also needs to think about whether she can cope with all the modules, which are wide-ranging. My daughter excelled at Statistics, was fine with Core & Decision but totally bombed with Mechanics.

Before the numbers came iny son got an A* at Maths for GCSE and chose to do it at A level. He got an E grade and worked really hard. He resat it and had a tutor and managed to improve his grade to a C. It is very hard.

Some years ago but I dropped it at the October half term as I realised there was no way I was going to pass well despite being competent at GCSE level. I swapped it for another subject.

At my school the suggestion is that you really need an 8 or a 9 to access it fully and get a good grade. It’s a big leap and it’s pretty easy to get a 7 without really being any good at Maths.

Really interesting thank you all. I wonder why the school sets a minimum of a 7 if it’s that’s tough?

From your comments I am not sure that "typical" trajectories from GCSEs to A level are all that useful.

If she's got a "maths brain", and is now enjoying working at maths and improving steadily as she catches up the work she hasn't done while unwell, my instinct would be to say that she deserves a chance to try maths A level and see. I'd strongly advise her to do lots of maths between the end of GCSEs and starting 6th form, especially aiming for great fluency with algebra. Planning to start 4 A levels or having a subject she could plausibly swap into and a realistic deadline for doing that, would seem prudent if she does try maths.

So, if she's up for a fair bit of preparatory work on her maths, I'd be supportive. If after discussion about doing that sort of work she chooses against it, that's probably a realistic and positive outcome.

If getting a 7 in GCSE maths is beginning to feel like her current limit, then yes, I'd agree with the majority suggesting she may have better subject options than maths for A level. But definitely have a look a core maths.

Ds has a great Maths brain, but not necessarily an aptitude for the type of Maths work that gets marks in exams. In particular, Maths up to about Y10, from his earliest years, was obvious and didn’t need ‘learning’. The final stages of GCSE were a bit more challenging, mostly for accuracy and showing working, and he got an 8. Started A-level, but he really wasn’t used to ‘learning’ Maths or ‘working at Maths’ and ended up dropping it, despite eg a fairly high Gold in the Senior Maths Challenge, which is a different kind of more intuitive Maths.

DD is a less good ‘natural’ mathematician who always worked carefully at the subject, and got a 9 and an A*. Not a better mathematician, but much better at Maths exams and with a much better-practised ‘learning approach’ to the subject.

They do allow students to do it with a 7 but the data suggests that this is not really sufficient and this will be pointed out to students and parents. The old modular A level was easier as they could resit modules .

Very interesting to read this my own experience was the complete opposite of most here: it wasn't until I did Maths A-level that the subject became really interesting and enjoyable to me and I, fairly suddenly, started doing really well. I wouldn't say it was easy but, statistics aside, I didn't find it hard -- it was a lot less work than my other A-levels: Physics and Chemistry.

Having said that, I think there is a big difference between GCSE level and A-Level. You can do well at GCSE-level just by memory and by mastering a few algorithms. At A-level, there are few places where you have to be comfortable exploring or playing with the equations and formulae. If she's actually struggling at GCSE-level, rather than just bored, then A-level would be a big risk. But if, as you say, she's bright, then she might be fine.

I now tutor A-level maths and, quite often, I find that the students who are struggling just require being given the appropriate explanations and the right techniques. Many things at A-level (apart from - STILL - the f-ing statistics part) are actually relatively simple once the student understands what the equations mean, where they're coming from, how they work. Often, their problems arise from applying the same GCSE mindset -- memorise rules, memorise techniques, memorise how to apply them. That way of doing A-level is hard: it would require an exceptional memory. I couldn't do it that way.

(Note though, I'm not blaming schools or teachers. Different students are blocked or confused by different things. Quite often, the textbooks or classes do contain the right information. But sometimes it doesn't go in, or doesn't register. And so different students get lost on different things and it's not possible in a classroom to know what needs to be re-explained to which student. I've taught 1-1 and classrooms and the experience is so different: I believe I can be so much more helpful to students in tutorials than in classrooms. )

She loves it, but this subject is her passion, and she's going on to study it at University.

I agree. My DS has always been very gifted with Maths and in primary school was in the gifted and talented group and taught with older children etc. He took Maths A level after getting a 9 at gcse level and has found it really hard. He is now in his second year of A levels and had to make the decision to re-do the first year and only gain an AS level at the end of the two years. It's really hard.

Personally, I think for A level (and degree level), you need to have a natural aptitude for Maths, rather than just being able to learn it. My son breezed through secondary school virtually top of his class for Maths and got his grade 9 in Maths and further maths pretty easily. But that's because he's got a good memory, and excels at repetition etc.

He was entered for the Maths challenges each year and didn't get any certificates at all, which upset and surprised him.

He did A level and really struggled virtually from the start, but with lots of extra effort, got his A* in the end.

He's now doing a Maths degree and may or may not complete it. Covid and his Uni being entirely online for his first year didn't help, but he's really struggled all the way through.

He gets upset/annoyed at his course mates (including one of his flat mates) who seem the breeze through the content. He says that they can "see things" he can't, so where he spends, literally hours on a question, he can't understand how they can do it in 20 minutes! We've discussed it with a friend who's a Maths teacher and he's discussed it with his Uni mentor, and both have basically said the same that "real" mathematicians just have the aptitude to "see it" whereas those without the "vision" have to work really, really hard to get to the solution, if ever. At least our DS gets there in the end, but that's no help in an exam when time is short!

To the OP, I'd really not encourage their child to do A level if they're working at grade 6 level with hopes of grade 7 - it doesn't sound as if they have the natural ability they're going to need to cope when things get hard.

DS's school set a minimum of 7 to take the A Level, but strongly advised students to consider what grades they needed re: Uni/FE choices.

Statistically speaking if you get a 7 at GCSE your prob

Posted in error:

DS's school set a minimum of 7 to take the A Level, but strongly advised students to consider what grades they needed re: Uni/FE choices.

Statistically speaking if you get a 7 at GCSE your probably looking a a C/D at A Level - which might be fine depending on what course you want to do.

However, if your Uni choice is dependent on getting the higher grades, then his school would suggest choosing a different subject especially if maths wasn't an advantage or a requirement.

I guess they were trying to walk a line of giving pupils the choice, but also being realistic about the implications.

As per my pp, in DS's cohort they were bang on and in his class no-one who got below an 8 at GCSE graded above a C at A Level - however for most of them, that C grade was enough to secure their Uni ambitions having achieved higher grades in their subject of choice re: degree subject.

I did it 20 years ago and it was pretty hard, I remember the teachers being stood outside of the exam hall reassuring people that it was an exceptionally tough year. I got a B at gcse (only offered the intermediate paper) and got a B at A-level, I remember a girl who had about 10 A gcses switched to "with statistics" after the first year and my friend who got A at gcse got an E.

It depends if she likes it enough to dig in really. I was fine at it, but can't say I really fundamentally understood it on a deep level. Didn't help that I hated my god bothering teacher and had about 75% attendance.

I would think you want an 8 or 9 at GCSE to consider it for A level. I wouldn't attempt it with a 6.

Honestly OP with a 6/7 she shouldn't do it, how about Biology - it goes really well with the other 2 subjects.