Statistics A-level

5+ GCSEs at Grade 4 or above, from the core subjects, including English Language and Grade 6 Maths.

Whilst there will be strong similarities to the style of your maths lessons at school and your statistics lessons in college, there will also be some notable differences.  Statistics throws up some counter-intuitive results which can stimulate some discussion about what the statistical measure is really showing.  There are also many examples of poorly presented and mis-interpreted statistics.

At the end of year 1, you will design and carry out a full statistical investigation using the skills you have developed to date at that point.  This will be a much more open-ended task than you are used to in GCSE Maths lessons and will conclude with a presentation of your findings which will help you develop your oracy skills.

Hence, whilst many lessons will follow the format of completing practice questions and using mini whiteboards to help you consolidate your understanding of a new concept, there will be some variation on this pattern across the two years.

At the end of the two years, you will sit 3 exams.  Each exam is 2 hours in length and has 80 marks available.

Papers 1 and 2 examine specific sections of the syllabus and paper 2 is synoptic, testing your undersatnding of the syllabus as a whole.

There are no compulsory trips as part of the course, but there may be opportunities to attend relevant lectures to broaden your understanding of statistics.

The most significant cost when studying A level Statistics is the Graphical Calculator. You will need access to one in order to access many areas of the course.

We recommend the Casio CG100 and hope to be in a position to loan you one on a trial basis at the start of the year.

You may be able to buy a second hand one from a student who has just completed A Level maths and has one they no longer want.

We will also produce workbooks which you will need to buy from Reprographics for a small cost, spread across the two years.

1. Cirencester College is offering ‘Bring Your Own Device’ guidelines, in order to encourage digital literacy and make the most of how digital devices can support learning in the classroom and independent study. Please find below some specific guidance for this subject but do be aware that each subject will have it’s own guidance. If you are taking more than one course (eg A levels, GCSE etc), check the guidance for each subject carefully. If you do decide to invest in a device, consider something that will cover the requirements of all the courses you are taking. Also, bear in mind that some students change their mind about the courses they are studying within the first few weeks of year one; after this time programmes of study should be settled.

2. In this subject, students can get by without anything more than a phone. Pen and paper will do for most purposes if BYOD is not feasible. Note, there may be times when not having a device other than a phone is limiting in some way; but these can generally be navigated by using a machine (desktop / laptop) at home or in a study space in college. Students will need to have an organised and flexible approach to manage this. There are a number of laptops available for short-term loan at college, but availability on any given day is not guaranteed.

3. A device with a larger screen than a phone would make some ‘things’ easier eg downloading and completing a revision paper, research task, creating a powerpoint. We also find that the ability to hand-write with a touch screen /stylus is useful for drawings, writing equations and formulae etc. For this reason, if students are investing in a device, we’d recommend a tablet with stylus or a touch-screen laptop. A tablet with stylus rather than a laptop is sufficient and probably relatively inexpensive (compared to a laptop).

4. Windows machines are preferable to Apple (macOS) in STEM subjects. Lecturers use windows and will use this platform to demonstrate processes, tasks etc in the classroom. We find the range of machines (incl. touchscreen) and software available, alongside budget considerations make windows the preferred option. However, it is entirely possible to use a Mac instead if that is your preference; you may just end up with questions about how to manage software in the mac ecosystem which can take a bit more time to resolve.

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