Sixth Form

Who is the AS/A2 Maths course intended for?

Students who have achieved a grade B or higher at GCSE level. However priority will be given to A and A* students.

Students also need to be passionate and fully committed to the subject.

What is gained from this course?

If you are keen to sharpen your mind or improve your job prospects in many fields, including finance, medicine, computing and engineering, studying for Maths ‘A’ level will help you on your way. All ‘A’ level Mathematics specifications consist of a number of units that build towards the AS and the full ‘A’ level award.

Question to a University Professor in CHRISTCHURCH COLLEGE OXFORD

Q. What 2 A-Levels do you look for when selecting students for Engineering and PPE (politics, Philosophy and economics)?

A. Maths because of the logic and history.

What can I expect from this course?

Two lessons a week per unit (always a double). On average students have 4 periods for Core Maths and 2 periods for their option. (read on)
Access to revision clubs run on a weekly basis.
You will also receive a number of practice and past papers throughout the year
A formal assessment every term to inform you of your progress and areas for improvement.
For those studying Further Maths the opportunity to apply for Saturday and Summer School workshops at the London School of Economics, University of London.
You will also be given the opportunity to visit businesses, and experience mathematics in the work place.

Are you a consortium student?

AS Further Maths now runs concurrently with A2 Maths, and is now being offered as a discrete AS Level.

Consortium students wishing to do further maths now have the option of doing AS further maths at QK.

How long will the course take?

We offer 4 pathways:

Pathway 1: Maths A-level over two years (The AS-level will be completed after the first year) – 6 units in total.

Pathway 2: Maths AS-level over two years – 3 units in total.

Pathway 3: Maths A–level and a Further Maths AS-level over two years – 9 units in total.

Pathway 4: Maths A-level and Further Maths A-level over two years. Available only to students who took their Maths AS-level in Year 11.

The one year AS course has an estimated study time of 150 hours, although this will vary from student to student.

	Year 1	Year 2
Pathway 1: AS + A2-level	C1, C2, S1/M1/D1	C3, C4, S2/M2/S1/S2/D1
Pathway 2: AS-level	C1	C2, M1/S1/D1
Pathway 3: AS + A2 + AS-Further Maths	C1, C2, M1/S1, D1	C3, C4, FP1, M2/S2
Pathway 4: Full Maths and Further Maths A-levels	C3, C4, M2/S2, D1, FP1	FP2, FP3, M3/S3, S1/M1, *AEA (June ’10) (Optional)

Which option should I take?

If you are taking a Physics A-level it is strongly recommended that you opt for Mechanics.

Psychology, Geography and Biology A-levels will be supported by the Statistics option.

Business, or any course which includes a management module would be supported by decision Maths

Will I need any additional materials?

You will need to purchase the textbooks for the units you will be taking.

Pearsons: AS Core (C1/C2), A2 Core (C3/C4) - £15
Heinemann: D1, M1-3, S1-3, FP1-3 - £10

If kept in good condition you will be able to sell your books to next Years AS/A2 students for 2/3 of the price you have paid.

What is the course specification? (Edexcel 8371, 8373)

This course will prepare you to sit a combination of Units for the Edexcel specification. These units can be taken individually in the months indicated below depending on the pathway you are on. Each unit consists of a 1½ hour exam.

Am I automatically entered for the exams?

No. Entry to exams is not automatic, and will depend on your attendance to lessons, completion of work set and achieving a minimum of 40% in the termly assessments.

What are the Grade boundaries?

A: 80
B: 70
C: 60
D: 50
E: 40

An AS-level comprises of 3 units. So if each paper is awarded 100 marks, a cumulative total of 240 is required to achieve an A Grade.

To achieve an A grade at A-level you will need to achieve 480 marks out of a possible 600.

Note: The above marks strictly speaking are not percentages. Depending on the year, different papers are weighted differently. E.g. 67/75 = 89% but may actually be worth more or less then 89 marks out of 100!

Standards of Maths A-level at QK.

2007-2008

A – E = 100%
A – C = 87%
“Value added” score = 1.07, grade 2. Top 7 % from ALPs Report

2006-2007

A – E = 100%
A – C = 83%
“Value added” score = 1.08, grade 2. Top 7 % from ALPs Report

2005-2006

A – E = 100%
A – C = 89%
“Value added” score = 1.07, grade 2. Top 7 % from ALPs Report

2004-2005

A – E 100%
A – C 100%
“Value added” score = 1.26, grade 2, in the top 5%, from ALPs Report.

The value added score reflects the progress students made in line with national expectations. 1 is average, any score above this reflects good- excellent progress.

This means that last year and the year before, all students made excellent progress at QK.

What topics are covered by this course?

Core Mathematics

C1: Algebra and functions; co-ordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane; sequences and series; differentiation; integration.
C2: Algebra and functions; co-ordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane; sequences and series; trigonometry; exponentials and logarithms; differentiation; integration.
C3: Algebra and functions; trigonometry; exponentials and logarithms; differentiation; numerical methods.
C4: Algebra and functions; co-ordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane; sequences and series; differentiation; integration; vectors.

Further Pure Mathematics

FP1: Series; complex numbers; numerical solution of equations; co-ordinate systems, matrix algebra, proof.
FP2: Inequalities; series, first order differential equations; second order differential equations; further complex numbers, Maclaurin and Taylor series.
FP3: Further matrix algebra; vectors, hyperbolic functions; differentiation; integration, further co-ordinate systems.

Mechanics

M1: Mathematical models in mechanics; vectors in mechanics; kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line; dynamics of a particle moving in a straight line or plane; statics of a particle; moments.
M2: Kinematics of a particle moving in a straight line or plane; centres of mass; work and energy; collisions; statics of rigid bodies.
M3: Further kinematics; elastic strings and springs; further dynamics; motion in a circle; statics of rigid bodies.

Decision Mathematics

D1: Algorithms; algorithms on graphs; the route inspection problem; critical path analysis; linear programming; matchings.

Statistics

S1: Mathematical models in probability and statistics; representation and summary of data; probability; correlation and regression; discrete random variables; discrete distributions; the Normal distribution.
S2: The Binomial and Poisson distributions; continuous random variables; continuous distributions; samples; hypothesis tests.
S3: Combinations of random variables; sampling; estimation, confidence intervals and tests; goodness of fit and contingency tables; regression and correlation.

“Do you know what the foundation of mathematics is?” I ask. “The foundation of mathematics is numbers. And do you know why?...

“Because the number system is like human life. First you have the natural numbers. The ones that are whole and positive. The numbers of the small child. But human consciousness expands. The child discovers longing, and do you know what the mathematical expression is for longing?...

“The negative numbers. The formalisation of the feeling that you are missing something. And human consciousness expands and grows even more, and the child discovers the in-between spaces. Between stones, between pieces of moss on stones, between people. And between numbers. And do you know what that leads to? It leads to fractions. Whole numbers plus fractions produce the rational numbers. And human consciousness doesn’t stop there. It wants to go beyond reason. It adds an operation as absurd as the extraction of roots. And produces irrational numbers…

“It’s a form of madness. Because the irrational numbers are infinite. They can’t be written down. They force human consciousness out beyond the limits. And by adding irrational numbers to rational numbers, you get real numbers…

“It doesn’t stop. It never stops. Because now, on the spot, we expand the real numbers with the imaginary ones, square roots of negative numbers. These are numbers we can’t picture, numbers that normal human consciousness cannot comprehend. And when we add the imaginary numbers to the real numbers, we have the complex number system

The first number system in which it’s possible to explain satisfactorily the crystal formation of ice….”

I wind up standing in front of him.

“Smilla,” he says, “can I kiss you?”

Peter Hoeg
Miss Smilla’s Feeling For Snow