Edexcel AS and A Level Mathematics
What’s it about?
Mathematics is about problem-solving, logical thinking and analysis and requires both numeracy and creativity.
Reasons to study mathematics at AS and A Level:
- Mathematics is exciting and beautiful. With mathematics comes the excitement of new discoveries and the realisation that everything in the universe is connected
- Mathematics earns you more money. Studies show that people with A Level Mathematics tend to earn more on average than people without it
- If you can do mathematics, you can do anything. Mathematics is undoubtedly a hard subject, but this only makes the others seem relatively easy!
The aims of this course are to encourage students to:
- develop their understanding of mathematics and mathematical processes in a way that promotes confidence and fosters enjoyment
- develop abilities to reason logically and recognise incorrect reasoning, to generalise and to construct mathematical proofs
- extend their range of mathematical skills and techniques and use them in more difficult, unstructured problems
- recognise how a situation may be represented mathematically and understand the relationship between ‘real-world’ problems and mathematical models and how these can be refined and improved
- develop an awareness of the relevance of mathematics to other fields of study, to the world of work and to society in general
Mathematics is an amazing subject to study at A Level and, provided you have a solid understanding of GCSE higher topics, if you add a great deal of perseverance and hard work, you should be able to do well.
Entry Requirements:
We would recommend a grade 6/7 at GCSE in mathematics.
Contacts:
Mr M Mistry – Head of KS5 Mathematics
The Canterbury Academy Sixth Form
Course Content
AS Level:
Pure mathematics – Proof; algebra and function; coordinate geometry in the (x,y) plane; sequences and series; trigonometry; exponentials and logarithms; differentiation; integration; vectors.
Statistics – Statistical sampling; data presentation and interpretation; probability; statistical distributions; statistical hypothesis testing.
Mechanics – quantities and units in mechanics; kinematics; forces and Newton’s laws
A Level:
All of the content of AS mathematics, plus additional work in:
Pure mathematics – Proof; algebra and functions; coordinate geometry in the (x,y) plane; sequences and series; trigonometry; differentiation; integration; numerical methods
Statistics – Statistical sampling; data presentation and interpretation; probability; statistical distributions; statistical hypothesis testing
Mechanics – Quantities and units in mechanics; kinematics; forces and Newton’s laws; moments
Progression:
An A Level in mathematics will make you highly desirable to both employers and universities. Future careers you could be aiming for include:
- computing
- accountancy
- economics
- business
- banking
- air traffic control
- retail management
- architecture,
- surveying
- cartography
- teaching
If you plan to go on to study at university then A Level Mathematics will open more doors than any other subject. Some possible course options would be mathematics, engineering, physics, business studies, computing and psychology. Mathematics A Level is, in fact, probably the most marketable of all subjects.