Page 2 | Further Maths A level

Stowickthevast · 2025-07-03T07:25:51+00:00

Just looking for views. Dd1 is currently in y10 and thinking about A levels. She definitely wants to do Maths and is considering Further Maths. She's just done mocks and was on the boundary of 8/9 for Maths. At her current school, everyone starts off doing 4 A levels and then drops one or does an AS at the end of Y12 depending on the subject, apart from FM which they carry through to A level. I don't think she will end up doing Maths at uni. She's currently thinking of architecture, but that may well change. The other subjects she's considering are German, art and English. Personally I think she'd be better off doing German, Art, English & Maths, and dropping either Art or German as those are subjects that you still gain some benefit from doing for a year. But I guess I wanted to ask if there's any advantage in doing further Maths instead of Art or English? She's pretty academic, should get 8/9s in most subjects.

puffyisgood · 03/07/2025 23:53

further maths is a decent sized step harder than any other A level. kids should only attempt it if: (a) it's a preferred subject for a degree they're might apply to do; and (b) there genuinely excellent at maths, or else merely very good but with a superb work ethic.

DecoratingDiva · 04/07/2025 08:46

My DS did Maths & Further Maths (along with some other subjects) and all it did was make him realise he didn’t want to do anymore maths! He got an A* and an A and went on to study something radically different but the maths is now proving useful in job applications.

I wouldn’t do further maths unless the subject you want to do actually requires it.

Manthide · 04/07/2025 11:02

My 4dc have all taken FM (dd3 the IB equivalent). Dd1 dropped FM after AS as she was worried Cambridge (medicine) would ask for a grade in it if she continued to A level. Dd2 did FM and was in tears when Cambridge (engineering) asked for A star in it, especially as she was predicted an A! She did get A star. Ds also did FM and got A* and he did engineering.
I would only carry on with it if it was necessary for the course. Op's dd could always ask Cambridge.

Whoknowshere · 04/07/2025 12:27

RebeccaRedhat · 03/07/2025 15:06

My daughter was furious when she found out she had to take Maths, to be able to do higher maths. Her teachers have been talking her out of it as she wants to do 5. Spanish, physics, economics, maths and higher maths. She has just scored all 9s in her mocks, and is top of every class. She doesn't want to go to uni, is looking at an apprenticeship is some STEM industry. So technically, doesn't need to do A levels, but wants to!

Omg this is such a shame. I know uni is not for everybody, you might not need uni for your career etc, but being top of the class with such great scores and not furthering your mind with more academic complexity is SUCH a waste of talent. I hope she can reconsider.

MrsAvocet · 04/07/2025 12:41

Whoknowshere · 04/07/2025 12:27

Omg this is such a shame. I know uni is not for everybody, you might not need uni for your career etc, but being top of the class with such great scores and not furthering your mind with more academic complexity is SUCH a waste of talent. I hope she can reconsider.

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She could do a degree apprenticeship. The competition for the best ones is absolutely immense. Several of my DS's friends went down that route and even with stellar GCSE results and high A level predictions they didn't even get shortlisted for some of the companies they applied for, and for the ones they did, the selection process was very rigorous. They did all get multiple offers from Universities that would definitely be on the Mumsnet approved list though. Obviously there are different levels of apprenticeship but with the kind of ability that RebeccaRedhat's daughter sounds to have she would probably have the option of a degree apprenticeship at some very prestigious companies. There is nothing substandard about that. (And she won't graduate with tens of thousands of pounds of debt either.)

Whoknowshere · 04/07/2025 13:18

MrsAvocet · 04/07/2025 12:41

She could do a degree apprenticeship. The competition for the best ones is absolutely immense. Several of my DS's friends went down that route and even with stellar GCSE results and high A level predictions they didn't even get shortlisted for some of the companies they applied for, and for the ones they did, the selection process was very rigorous. They did all get multiple offers from Universities that would definitely be on the Mumsnet approved list though. Obviously there are different levels of apprenticeship but with the kind of ability that RebeccaRedhat's daughter sounds to have she would probably have the option of a degree apprenticeship at some very prestigious companies. There is nothing substandard about that. (And she won't graduate with tens of thousands of pounds of debt either.)

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I work for one of the companies offering degree apprentenship. They go to uni a day a week. They are not learning much. Ok, they learn the job, I can say they will be able to work as well as everyone, but they missed 3-4 years of further education, academic learning, questioning ideas, deep and critical thinking. It is a shame tbh.

MrsAvocet · 04/07/2025 13:43

Whoknowshere · 04/07/2025 13:18

I work for one of the companies offering degree apprentenship. They go to uni a day a week. They are not learning much. Ok, they learn the job, I can say they will be able to work as well as everyone, but they missed 3-4 years of further education, academic learning, questioning ideas, deep and critical thinking. It is a shame tbh.

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Well maybe you work somewhere that offers a rubbish degree apprenticeship but that isn't ubiquitous. Much like University degrees, I'm sure quality varies. The young people I know who are doing degree apprenticeships at the moment are no more just learning to do a job than my DC who are at University are.

Floyd45 · 07/07/2025 14:38

Further Math is good to have for some subjects at University (Math, Economics. Physics, Engineering) and essential at SOME universities…I.e. Oxbridge, Imperial, UCL, LSE, Durham, Warwick (unless not offered at your school) . For anything else you don’t need it. It’s hard and at my DCs school they wanted you to get a 9 in GCSE math and an 8 or 9 in the further math GCSE to be eligible.