maths + physics + easter revision courses

[minkah]

Hi everyone. I am currently wondering if ds really needs to do further maths A level in order to study physics at uni. It is widely rec'd as ideal, a benefit to have. But tbh I am daunted by the prospect of him taking on 2 maths A levels,as it appears to be his weakest subject. He finds Physics fascinating and is naturally v gd at it,though. If he isnt finding maths a doddle now, in Y11, I worry he wont be able to cope with it further down the line. I thought of enrolling him for an easter revision course ( justin craig seems to be the main option..) to help boost his maths this year.. and then I dithered, thinking that I might be buying him a ticket into A levels that will still be a struggle.. not sure what to do..
Anyone here have any input, either on the entrance to uni or the benefit of easter revision : is it a real help or an temporary leg up?!

DS2 has attended Easter revision courses (not Justin Craig) and has found them useful - but presumably it depends on who is teaching the course.
If he is struggling with Maths, Physics is probably not a good option (nor is Engineering)and Further Maths is daunting for even the better mathematicians. My DS1 got an A for A2 Maths but had been recommended not too take Further Maths as he wasn't that good!

No advice re uni entrance (DS is Year 12), or easter revision courses, BUT, DS is good at Physics and Maths, he is taking FM but as a fifth option. His school are quite particular about who takes the course as they know it can be quite tricky unless you are very talented at Maths. They have really only targetted those getting A/A* at GCSE and who enjoy the subject.
Perhaps you could talk to his maths tutor and get some informal advice on whether your DS would cope/struggle with FM. Certainly I would be concerned if it was his third choice as this gives him no "get-out" at the end of Y12 AS exams.

My son is doing Physics a-level, and wants to do it at university. He is doing maths a -level as one of his other 3 a-levels, but didn't take further maths as well. Having spent a lot of time looking through prospectuses it would seem that you can't do Physics at degree level without Maths a-level, but that the 3rd obligitary a- level can be anything .

I know a physics lecturer at Birmingham (which has a respected physics course) they insist on maths and physics & that's really all they care about, the third subject can be anything (standard offer is AAA). When I queried him about the further maths he said it's not needed, they will teach all the maths needed over A level on the course and they can't assume that students coming in with further maths have actually covered the useful mechanics bits anyway as that is optional.

But, I would say, that if your ds struggles with maths in year 11 he may find higher level physics tough. It does get more mathematical at A level and very much more so at degree level.

Thanks everyone for your input, it's nice to hear other voices on this stuff that goes round and round in my head! Ds' weaker aspects of maths - oddly - are the more 'basic' aspects of it. He understands mathematical complexities,and even LIKES them, finds them interesting, but makes mistakes on standard, fundamental addition/subtraction/multiplication type aspects. Maybe lots and lots of practice on something like mathletics (speed maths) can improve this kind of thing..idk. I have spoken to his maths teacher (and other maths teachers) who werent saying that it is definitely possible to say whether maths success is neccesarily 'talent' or 'industry'.. or to what degree industry could compensate for natural facility. I know physics is very mathematical as a degree.. this is definitely adding to my anxiety about the path is he is so attached to pursuing. I have no clue how much one can improve in maths, with dedication.Because he has the dedication. But without a natural facility, is there a natural 'ceiling' on how well one can do, I wonder? Thing is, he has only just 'woken up' academically in Y11, and has not actually been paying attention particularly, to maths, before, so he has a lot of catching up to do in a short space of time, and I'm not sure quite how to evaluate how good at maths he could be, given time.

Lilymaid - did you find a good revision course for maths, if so.. could you share about it? Thanks!

DS2 did his revision course at an independent sixth form college in our local town which has run these courses for 20 years - unfortunately they are in the middle of building works and aren't running the courses this year!
If you are considering booking courses you need to ask how large the classes will be (obviously smaller the better) and who is teaching them (preferably experienced teachers earning a bit of holiday money). Also check that they are revising for the syllabus of your DSs course as each exam board has a slightly different syllabus.

Thanks lilymaid, will do.