Examination Board: Edexcel
The Further Mathematics A-level is for those students who really enjoy the subject, and are very good at it. There is no requirement that students have followed the GCSE Further Mathematics course that we offer as an enrichment in Year 11, however, it is a demanding course and should only be undertaken by the most enthusiastic and able mathematicians. For this reason, Further Mathematics can only be taken as a fourth A-level choice, and must be chosen alongside the ‘single subject’ Mathematics A-level choice. Students choosing this double Mathematics option will find that half of their timetabled lessons are allocated to Mathematics lessons, and they will sit 12 hours of Mathematics exams at the end of Year 13, which includes the six hours of exams (three two-hour papers) sat by students choosing the Mathematics option.
In the single subject, students have no choice in their topics of study, however, in the Further Mathematics A-level they will. All students studying Further Mathematics A-level will have to sit four 90-minute papers; two of which cover topics in Pure Mathematics and are compulsory, with the remaining two papers being selected from a variety of different options. This allows students to tailor half of their Further Mathematics A-level: they could choose to specialise in Mechanics, Statistics or Decision Mathematics (this is the mathematics of algorithms and is relevant to optimisation problems and computer programming). Alternatively, they may choose the two Further Pure Mathematics options and thereby have an A-level comprised entirely of Pure Mathematics. Alternatively, they may choose two different, non-consecutive modules for a broader experience of the subject.
