Mathematics

 

What do I need to know or be able to do before taking this course?

You will be expected to have achieved at least a grade B in your GCSE. If you took your GCSE at the Intermediate tier you will need to learn about some topics from the Higher tier before you start the course (your teacher will be able to tell you which ones).

What will I learn on the A-level course?

Mathematics at AS and A-level is a course worth studying in its own right. It is challenging but interesting. It builds on work you will have met at GCSE, but also involves new ideas that some of the greatest minds of the millennium have produced. It serves as a very useful support for many other qualifications as well as being a sought after qualification for the workplace and courses in Higher Education.

Pure Mathematics

When studying pure mathematics at AS and A level you will be extending your knowledge of such topics as algebra and trigonometry as well as learning some brand new ideas such as calculus. If you enjoyed the challenge of problem solving at GCSE using such techniques then you should find the prospect of this course very appealing. Although many of the ideas you will meet in pure mathematics are interesting in their own right, they also serve as an important foundation for other branches of mathematics, especially mechanics and statistics.

Mechanics

When you study mechanics you will learn how to describe mathematically the motion of objects and how they respond to forces acting upon them, from cars in the street to satellites revolving around a planet. You will learn the technique of mathematical modelling; that is, of turning a complicated physical problem into a simpler one that can be analysed and solved using mathematical methods. Many of the ideas you will meet in the course form an almost essential introduction to such important modern fields of study as cybernetics, robotics, bio-mechanics and sports science, as well as the more traditional areas of engineering and physics.

Statistics

When you study statistics you will learn how to analyse and summarise numerical data in order to arrive at conclusions about it. You will extend the range of probability problems that you started for GCSE by using the new mathematical techniques studied on the pure mathematics course.

Many of the ideas you will meet in this course have applications in a wide area of other fields – from assessing what your car insurance is going to cost to how likely the earth is going to cost to how likely the earth is going to be hit by a comet in the next few years.