Further Maths A-Level and doing 4 A-Levels in A2

[sammy1996]

does anyone know how hard Further maths is? ive heard its really hard and the thing is, to do it id have to do 4 a-levels in total.
My plan was to do Further maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics upto AS, which is one more than what people recommend.
1.does anyone know just how hard further maths is? (i got an A* a year early so i think i should be able to do it but im not sure)
2.is 4 subjects in A2 a bearable workload. (Further maths counts as 2 subjects)


P.S if your not from the UK you wont have understood most of that

[Kaius]

I didn't take further maths myself but I had a taster in it. The difficulty of it is between the GCSE level maths and A-Level, its the bridge in between i believe. However in A2 unless you've got some serious commitment and are willing to forget you have a social life 4 A levels really is going to be quite difficult, especially with the subjects you've chosen. They're all heavy subjects and all require a lot of theory work which isn't just in exams. You should think really, go to the open days and the taster and see how you like them, theres always time to change before you actually start college.

[sammy1996]

Further Maths ALevel is past normal alevel maths not inbetween alevel and gcse.
im going to talk to my conexxtions advisor and see what she says, just hope it works out cus i'd like to do bio-chemistry or something similar ar nottingham uni

[FullyAlive]

I take 6 as subjects two of them being Maths and Further maths although we work at twice the pace and only count them once on the timetable, but yeah anyway. I personally don't find it exceedingly difficult. It's a challenge sometimes. But it's all just building on your previous knowledge. The most difficult part I find is the applied modules with require more logic. However it does get harder at A2 obviously, and you'll find it's a lot harder than your normal Math AS work was. But that shouldn't put you off so long as you work at it it really isn't extremely difficult. You put in the effort and you'll be fine.

And as a side note, I and quite a few of those who take further maths in my year have said it isn't the hardest a level we are taking things like chemistry actually require more work and understanding although that's just a personal observation.

[sammy1996]

thanks for the advice, i was talking to some people about it and they said i should be fine :)

[Unique Physique]

A-level FM is harder than normal A-level Maths, you need to take normal A-level Maths to do well in it too seeing as the topics in it expand on the syllabus which is in regular Maths. I haven't taken neither, but I have friends that have. An A* in GCSE Maths is impressive, but there's a big jump between GCSEs and A-levels and GCSEs are quite frankly a piece of piss compared to them, so you would probably struggle with it, especially FM seeing as you're taking a massive leap not doing regular Maths, which itself is a big step up from the GCSE..

Imo, unless you're aiming to get into Oxbridge or Imperial College London (which you're not I assume) to study Maths or Physics, I honestly wouldn't bother with FM. Some universities (Manchester comes to mind) do not even treat FM and Maths as different subjects and even if you're planning to study Maths or a physical science at university, it won't be much of an advantage as they teach the required topics from FM in the first year so everybody is at the same level.

Four AS levels are perfectly achievable, they're pretty much the standard, although you don't have to do four, but many people cut down to three subjects in their A2 year because the workload increases. If you want my advice take:

Maths, Chemistry, Biology and Physics at AS level. Don't bother with FM.

[FullyAlive]

A-level FM is harder than normal A-level Maths, you need to take normal A-level Maths to do well in it too seeing as the topics in it expand on the syllabus which is in regular Maths. I haven't taken neither, but I have friends that have. An A* in GCSE Maths is impressive, but there's a big jump between GCSEs and A-levels and GCSEs are quite frankly a piece of piss compared to them, so you would probably struggle with it, especially FM seeing as you're taking a massive leap not doing regular Maths, which itself is a big step up from the GCSE..

I assume she would be doing a level Maths. Schools wouldn't let you do further without a level and well you can't because a lot of your a level counts as your further one anyway.
And whilst yes there is a big jump between A levels and GCSE's it doesn't mean you'll struggle, you have more teaching time per subject and less subjects. Sure A levels are harder but it's unlikely she'll struggle if she puts the work in as it seems she has in the past.