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A-level Maths is the single most popular A-level in the country. This A-level extends many of the topics you have met at GCSE, as well as introducing some very new ideas. You'll work on developing your problem solving and analytical skills as well as looking at real life and abstract problems. This A-level is designed to support study in areas of science, economics and computing as well as stats heavy areas of psychology, biology and geography.
What will I study in Mathematics A-level?
The A-Level Maths course is split into three sections:
- The first and largest section is Pure Maths. This involves development of a few familiar topics from GCSE like algebra and trigonometry. There will also be some new ideas like calculus, numerical methods, vectors and infinite series. There are a lot of new methods and formulae to learn - but it will enable you to answer a huge range of new problems.
- There is a small section on Statistics which is about analysing data, working with probability and the formal testing of claims against the evidence we observe. This section can be very useful if your career or future study involves data collection and analysis.
- There is a small section on Mechanics – recapping and building on GCSE Physics. This section governs the way things move and interact with each other, like modelling the path thrown objects take or the speed at which things slide down slopes.
Entry Requirements
At least 5 GCSEs at Grade 4 or above all from the core subjects
Course Specific Entry Requirement:
Minimum Requirement - GCSE grade 7 in Maths and coverage of the whole of the higher maths GCSE course.
If you miss your grade 7 by a few marks then please talk to us about this at enrolment.
How will I learn?
The cycle of learning for Maths is something you are probably familiar with, but most people are surprised just how much new maths there is to learn:
- Introduction of new material – this will involve demonstration of new methods and explanation of new ideas.
- Supported practice time in lessons – as Maths is quite an active subject you do need to actually try it. Sometimes this even involves getting it wrong first! There is always time in lessons to practice new methods until you can follow them correctly and your friends and teacher will be there to help.
- Extra practice at home – regular homework assignments to practise and develop skills learned in class. These homework assignments have video solutions to help you if you get stuck. We believe that all students should be able to fully complete each homework with the support available.
- Guided test preparation – we provide practice tests for all of our assessments to help you prepare for tests. It is not uncommon to find some of the new ideas and methods you meet tricky at first. We believe that tests should not be a surprise and students should have time to prepare as they would for the final exams.
- Tests – Maths tests are an inescapable part of mathematics and everything over the two years is preparation for the final exams. We will work with you to help you develop an effective exam strategy and help you commit all the formulae you have to learn to memory.
How will I be assessed?
A-level Maths is an exam only subject with all the exams happening at the end of year 2. There are three exams with each paper being two hours long and worth 100 marks. Each paper contains questions covering both years of the course so a good memory and extensive preparation are essential. Lots of the questions involve problem solving and a few questions on each paper will involve modelling a real life problem using maths covered in the course. Two of these papers are on Pure Maths with the third being an even split of Stats and Mechanics.
Throughout the course you will have weekly mini tests (~10 mins) to make sure you have fully understood the work covered in the weekly homework assignments. There will be half termly monitoring tests covering 3-4 chapters (~60 mins) and a full mock exam in Feb of year 2 (2 hours).
Any trips?
In previous years we have run trips to local universities to see Maths and STEM lectures in person. Most of our students plan to go onto university or to an apprenticeship with some elements of further study so this is a good insight into what it will be like.
Are there any costs involved?
For A level Mathematics you will need the following:
- A Cassio CLASSWIZ fx-991 CW (or the older fx-991EX) calculator. This is a scientific calculator with some extended features you will not need for GCSE but do need for A level. This can be bought through College or independently for £23-£25. Your standard GCSE calculator will not have all he functions you need.
- Basic stationery like pens/rulers/highlighters but nothing specialist like compass/protractor
- Paper for rough work – lined or square is ideal
- You may wish to purchase your own version of the formula book which you will have access to in the exam. This is available from College for 40p.
We will provide:
- An A4 exercise book for making and retaining neat notes on the material covered in class. It is quite important to have a reference at hand for work covered in previous lessons or whilst revising for tests.
- Loan of textbooks from the College library and online access to the textbooks on devices like laptops and tablets.
- The vast majority of our resources are available online and printing them is not necessary.
Device Requirements
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 its own guidance.
Maths: In this subject, students can get by without anything more than a smartphone. There will be essential communication via Teams and email as well as resources to access from the internet. Pen and paper is most student's default way of working but many students write on a tablet and email homework to their teacher. Other resources like the textbook can be borrowed from the library or accessed online giving students a choice of ways of working. There may be times when only having access to 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. There are a number of laptops available for short-term loan at college, but availability on any given day is not guaranteed.
Screen Size: A device with a larger screen than a phone would make some ‘things’ easier eg downloading and completing a revision paper, viewing the online version of the textbook, accessing a powerpoint. We also find that the ability to hand-write with a touch screen /stylus is preferable 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).
Brands: Windows laptops 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.
Information about what device may be required for this course, where available, can be found on our Bring Your Own Device guidance page.FAQs
Is the maths covered relevant to real life? Will it actually be useful after the course is done?
There is a huge range of content in the A level Maths course - some is relevant to everyday life and does appear quite "common sense".
Large chunks of the course are things we study to allow us to understand topics later in the course and do not appear to have a real life use at the time.
Quite a few parts of the A level are quite complex concepts and are only useful if the rest of your life will involve maths or computer science!
The biggest thing you will gain from studying the A level are the transferable skills - problem solving, modelling and undersanding complex system. These are very much in demand in the workforce as well as good life skills to have.
Is there a big jump up from GCSE to A level?
Many students manage the transition very smoothly, but we do sometimes find that the speed that we have to cover material is quite different to what you have experienced at school. There is also a shift towards more independent learning, and it’s important that students understand that their success on A level is more about how they use their time outside the classroom to practice new techniques.
Overall the main differences between A level Maths and GCSE Maths are:
- There is a lot more to learn at A level and very few questions can be completed without having learned the new method. Often the final answer isn't worth any marks if the supporting working is not there with it.
- There are fewer topics at A level than GCSE and fewer (but longer) questions in the exams. Everything is covered in more depth so you really do have to be good at every part of the course. Missing out a topic you hate at GCSE probably won't change your grade but likely will at A level.
- A level maths requires very strong algebra skills and it's rare that questions don't involve solving some kind of equation. If you didn't enjoy the solving and algebra elements of GCSE maths it's not something you can avoid at A level!
What will I need to buy for the course?
You'll need your own calculator that is specifically designed for A level. For the vast majority of students this will mean buying a new one. In lessons we will demonstrate how to use the relevant calculator features - so we suggest that everyone gets the CASIO fx-991CW (or the 991 EX older model) CLASSWIZ so you can follow the demonstrations. This is available for a little under £25 either from Amazon or through the college shop. If you have a college bursary you could use some of this for your calculator.
Aside from this you will need basic stationery and paper for rough work - things like a protractor are not required!
You will be provided with a red A4 exercise book for making neat notes throughout the year.
Are there any optional modules? Is there any coursework?
The syllabus of A-level maths was agreed across all the exam boards and contains compulsory modules on statistics and mechanics. There are no optional modules.
There are no coursework elements - the only contributor to final grades is the exams at the end of year 2.
Do I really need a device for day to day maths lessons?
We'll split this into necessary/helpful/extra.
Necessary - you need a device which can do the following:
- Access emails.
- Use our virtual learning environment, Moodle.
- Access files such as pdfs and word files, to see past papers, answers etc.
All that is necessary is a smart phone.
Helpful - students who can do these things on a device will often find things easier:
- Have a larger screen to view more of a document at once/bigger, especially for using the online textbook.
- Write onto their screen, so you can annotate pdfs and make digital notes rather than paper-based.
- Keep your notes organised digitally so you have less to carry around, and you're less likely to lose things
For notes and most classroom-based work, a normal laptop (without a writeable screen) will not be very helpful except as a larger screen to see files. Maths does require lots of writing equations and drawing diagrams, for which hand-writing is important. We often find that even students who are allowed to type in exams still prefer to hand-write large sections because it is easier.
In addition, research about memory shows that people remember things better if they handwrite the notes rather than typing.
We would recommend a laptop with a touchscreen or a tablet for these functions.
Extra - these are occasional uses, for which using desktops in college or a laptop at home would be sufficient:
- Use of Excel for data analysis on the large data set. This is necessary some on a few occasions through the course, although we will be in a College computer room for this lesson.
For this a Microsoft laptop would be useful if you prefer to use your own device over a College PC. They can mostly be done on tablets anyway though.
Awarding Body
EDEXCEL
Available As
A Level
[56 UCAS pts. available]
[56 UCAS pts. available]
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What can I do after I have taken this course?
Available As
A Level
[56 UCAS pts. available]
[56 UCAS pts. available]
Add to Application
DO NOT DELETE OR EDIT THIS ROW OR ITS CONTENTS
What the students say
”In Maths I really enjoy challenging my logical thinking and finding solutions to tough problems. The satisfaction of solving a difficult question is definitely rewarding, and it’s a subject I really enjoy completing work for in my free time
Joanna Rosowska
