Maths A-Level

A Level Mathematics and Further Mathematics

Students in Years 12 and 13 studying Mathematics A Level have five one hour Mathematics lessons per week. Regular formal homework tasks are set. In addition to this, students may need to complete additional work as necessary to consolidate their understanding of concepts, skills and techniques studied in class. We would expect that most students will need to complete one hour of work outside of class for every hour of work in class. Many students find that they benefit from peer discussion both in class and in independent study time as this allows them both to get help with topics they have found more challenging and also to improve their reasoning and communication skills by explaining topics they have understood well.

Students in Years 12 and 13 studying Further Mathematics A Level have an additional five hour long Mathematics lessons per week and will be set corresponding homework tasks. 
We follow the Edexcel A Level Mathematics (2008) syllabus for Mathematics and Further Mathematics.

Mathematics students in Year 12 study two Core Mathematics modules, C1 and C2. These consolidate key skills from GCSE as well as introducing students to key mathematical concepts such as series, calculus, logarithms and the binomial expansion. Students will also study S1, a Statistics module in which they will learn about representing and summarising data, probability, correlation and regression, discrete random variables and the normal distribution.

In addition, Further Mathematics students in Year 12 will study the FP1 Further Pure module in which they will meet complex numbers, a key concept in advanced Mathematics with many surprising applications in Physics and Engineering. They will also meet proof by induction, which allows us to use a domino toppling approach to prove an infinite number of cases. Students will also study two modules of Decision Mathematics, D1 and D2 in which they will learn about algorithms such as Dijkstra’s method for finding the shortest route between two positions in a network and the route inspection algorithm to enable postmen and postwomen to post all their letters as quickly as possible.

In Year 13, Mathematics students will study two further Core Mathematics modules, C3 and C4 and an additional module of Applied Mathematics. Students are given a choice of Applied Mathematics modules each year. This may be Mechanics (M1), Statistics (S2) or Decision (D1) depending on demand and teacher availability (different teachers specialise in different areas of Mathematics).

Students studying Further Mathematics in Year 13 will complete Applied modules M1, M2 and S2 and Further Pure module FP3 in addition to the Core modules C3 and C4. 

Please click here for the curriculum overview for Mathematics.

Please click here for the curriculum overview for Further Mathematics.