You will cover the Maths A level content in year 1 and the Further Maths A level content in year 2. In both courses, you will study Pure Maths, Statistics and Mechanics and in Further Maths you will also study Decision Mathematics.
The Pure Maths extends the GCSE work on algebra, co-ordinate geometry, vectors and trigonometry and introduces you to exponential and logarithmic functions and calculus.
Further Maths contains further pure topics such as complex numbers, matrices, hyperbolic functions and differential equations. Mechanics and Statistics both involve the modelling of real-world situations using appropriate techniques; Mechanics relating to the physical world and Statistics to the presentation and handling of data. Decision maths looks at algorithms. You are strongly advised to take Further Maths if you want to study Maths at university.
A minimum of five GCSEs at grade 4 or above including a grade 7 in GCSE Maths is required, but an 8 or 9 is strongly recommended and Further Mathematicians have often done GCSE Further Maths or Additional Maths.
Further Maths A Level is studied as a fourth A Level alongside A Level Maths and two other subjects. A love of Maths is essential! You will be learning new material at a fast pace and covering twice as much content as a single mathematician.
A Level Further Maths: to be taken at the end of students second year.
| Assessment | Assessment Length |
|---|---|
| Core Pure Paper 1 & 2 | 90 minutes each |
| At least two of Further Statistics, Further Mechanics, Decision Maths | 90 minutes each |
A Level Maths: You will also take the A Level Maths exams as the end of the second year, view the A Level Maths course page for details on what is covered there.
As a Further Mathematician, we would expect you to be very fluent with all higher tier GCSE topics. Most importantly Algebra, Quadratics, Surds, Indices, Trigonometry. Getting a copy of the CGP 'Head Start to A-level Maths' book (ISBN 9781782947929) and working through it before starting the A level course will be good preparation. You could also consider getting a copy of the Year 1 A level Pure Maths book (ISBN 9781292183398) and starting to working through this. And finally, working hard on GCSE Further Maths or ADDMaths will be excellent preparation.
You will be learning new techniques and applying them to problems. Some problems will be textbook-style whilst others may be of a more practical nature. Graphical ideas will be explored using the graphical calculator. You will be encouraged to see how Maths informs and describes real-world situations and you will become aware of both its power and its limitations in achieving these aims.
There are typically over 600 students in Maths across the two year groups, including about 150 who are also doing Further Maths. Staff in the Department are well-qualified, enthusiastic, hard-working, caring and sympathetic to students when they have difficulties with mathematical problems.
Individual members of the department will support their students and encourage them to succeed. We also run lunchtime college support sessions most days and students often comment on how much extra maths support there is available. In addition to these, we supply a wealth of resources on our Teams pages. These include directed notes, videos, exemplar exam questions and exercise sheets. We provide all students with booklets which contain notes and examples on the entirety of the course. We also organise trips to lectures (Maths Fest and Maths Inspiration) and take part in the Surrey Schools Maths Challenge.
Please be aware that the department recommends that students buy the Casio CG100 graphical calculator. This is available to purchase for £75 from the College (normally the calculator retails at £140).
Maths is a subject with many applications as well as providing a basis for further study in its own right. It will be a requirement for a variety of university courses, ranging from sciences and engineering to economics and aspects of computing. It will also be an advantage for many other university courses which have components of Maths or Statistics within them, for example, Geography, Psychology, Sociology, Architecture and Design Technology.
Research shows that those workers with qualifications in Maths earn more than those without. With the increasing use of data analysis in many fields of work the opportunities for mathematically competent and confident employees will grow.