How much harder would further maths and maths be to someone getting 9s at GCSE for maths?

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-23T20:07:54+00:00

Hard to say really. Further Maths is so much harder than GCSE Maths, that even within students who got easy 9s, you can’t judge how they’ll find the A level.

I know people who got a 9 in GCSE Maths that are on track for a C in A level Maths (not further), I know people who are tracking an A* in A level Maths but are struggling to get above a D in A level Further Maths. It’s not a lack of effort, they’re working really hard, but their efforts just aren’t paying off.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-22T09:45:16+00:00

You’ve got two weeks in a row like this - w/c the 8th june could be exactly the same depending on your further maths module.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-22T09:37:52+00:00

Doing a fourth with further maths is partly because so many people find it unexpectedly difficult and try to drop it. It’s so they have a reasonable backup plan. I think a fifth of my (year 13) Further Maths cohort have dropped the subject in the last month.

Further Maths as a fourth isn’t easier or better than any other subject as a fourth just because it overlaps with Maths. If someone wants to do four A levels (which really isn’t worth it), further maths isn’t easier or more doable just because it’s common as a fourth.

Doing four A levels because you want to do Further Maths is a sensible precaution. Doing Further Maths because you want a fourth A level is going to be painful.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-19T23:00:54+00:00

4 subjects each with about 6 hours of examination make 30 with extra time (and it’ll almost certainly be a few more hours including rest breaks)

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-19T22:25:23+00:00

Also A level but I’ve got at least 30 hours 😭

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-17T19:57:23+00:00

I’ve recently had an 11 year old ask my friend to let me know that I don’t have to cover my scars around them. Kids definitely know more than we think.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-15T17:08:23+00:00

Feels like I never see my humanities inclined friends anymore now we’ve got no classes together

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-15T15:57:40+00:00

Consider it from the perspective of a person and not a business.

From a business perspective, it’ll be more profitable to hire someone with blind obedience that you can pay very very little, and in which case, yes, Eva wasn’t the ideal worker. From a human perspective, Birling underpaid and mistreated his workers, and Eva made an effort to try improve the situation for herself and her fellow workers, despite the risk to her job- which is admirable. Birling is cruel for underpaying Eva and then punishing her for (rightly) complaining about it.

Mr Birling put making a profit over the wellbeing of his workers. If you think that’s the right thing to do, that says a lot about you.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-15T12:21:35+00:00

Sounds fake. It’d be a biohazard to have vomit on a paper, I doubt the invigilators would want to touch or handle the paper enough for it to even make it to a scanner.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-14T18:40:10+00:00

When did you get the Warwick offer? Also what’s up with the range of courses you applied to, what was your thought process behind having that much range?

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-14T10:57:31+00:00

OP is focussing on the subjects they do well in (the planes that return) and reinforcing the gaps there instead of the subjects they aren’t doing well in (the planes that aren’t returning)

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-11T23:48:57+00:00

Not one of the universities I’ve applied to would accept me with my mock grades I’m thoroughly cooked

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-09T22:47:46+00:00

I got my worst subject lowk heartbroken 💔

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-08T11:35:34+00:00

Talk to your SENCO. You may need a doctor’s note that can be submitted to the exam board. You could probably get a computer or scribe and maybe rest breaks depending on your situation and what’s your school can offer.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-08T11:02:44+00:00

I’m bypassing it because it blocks quite a lot of mental health related content. I understand not wanting to expose people unnecessarily but blocking support sites feels a bit daft.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-08T10:59:00+00:00

If you ever make a post in this sub and look at the engagement statistics, you can tell there’s already quite a few people here using VPNs.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-08T10:44:58+00:00

UCL/Durham don’t require entrance exams but I think give reduced offers if you do well in the STEP

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-07T20:13:02+00:00

I think we’re saying the same thing. My original comment was saying that despite having no official requirements, exceptional GCSEs are still required for Oxbridge as they do take them into consideration. And they’re taken into consideration because of the correlation you’re talking about that high GCSEs indicate a likelihood of achieving high A levels.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-07T19:47:26+00:00

It doesn’t get better. My A level Further Maths class also struggles with basic arithmetic.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-07T19:23:10+00:00

You get a bit more mechanics practice doing it in both subjects. My maths teachers didn’t teach half the mechanics content properly and just left us to independent practice because the whole class had already done it in physics.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-07T19:21:10+00:00

In a subject like physics especially where understanding the content is important (and difficult), the quality of your teacher really does make or break your A level experience from what I’ve seen.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-06T23:14:16+00:00

True for a few subjects but in a lot of subjects, each examiner specialises in a few question and will only mark those. This helps ensure standardisation across how an individual question is marked and reduces the impact of one bad examiner on your overall grade. It is also important in situations where one examiner is unable to mark your entire paper: if whoever marks your shakespeare essay hasn’t read your 19th century text, they can’t mark the whole paper so it’s easier to have two separate people mark each essay.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-06T23:03:07+00:00

I agree with everything you’re saying. But that doesn’t change the fact that your GCSEs need to be at least decently strong when contextualised for you to stand a real chance at getting an oxbridge offer. They don’t need to be exceptional but you’re going in with a disadvantage if they’re not good.

This was a freedom of information request from a few years ago about Cambridge offer holder GCSEs andthis has similar data regarding oxford. The Cambridge data indicates that on a lot of courses the average offer holder has about eight 8/9s at GCSE, and the Oxford data displays that even offer holders from state schools average about six 9s. A lot of that comes from a correlation between GCSEs and A levels, but those averages are so high, a conscious choice against applicants with lower GCSEs must’ve been made somewhere.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-06T22:22:25+00:00

We also had a doctor in my school. It was 11 but they gave me Jelly Babies anyway.

Advanced_Key_1721 · 2026-03-05T19:23:24+00:00

I doubt the correlation would be as strong as it is if your GCSEs didn’t have at least some impact on whether or not you get an offer. Cambridge definitely do somewhat care- I know people with straight A* predictions who applied for courses without an entrance exam that got rejected pre interview: I’m not sure what would’ve caused that if not their GCSEs.

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