Further Mathematics

Further Mathematics is designed to appeal to the most able mathematicians in the year and is taken in addition to Mathematics A-Level. It is particular useful to those students who are interested in degree courses with a large mathematical content. If you choose to study Further Mathematics, you will do so alongside A Level Mathematics and will be awarded 2 A Levels if successful. Further Mathematics A level is structured to allow the best range of opportunities for our students. A level Further Mathematics has a 50:50 split between compulsory and optional elements, with familiar option choices and defined content. 

A Level Further Mathematics develops and extends a set of transferable skills. These include the skill of working with mathematical information, as well as the ability to think logically and independently, consider accuracy, model situations mathematically, analyse results and reflect on findings. 

The 50% of the compulsory course is made up of Pure Mathematics, the topics include; proof, complex numbers, matrices, further algebra and functions, further vectors, further calculus, polar coordinates, hyperbolic functions and differential equations.

The 50% optional part of the course can be chosen from more advanced Pure mathematics, Statistic, Mechanics or Decision mathematics. The choice of the optional topics will be made to best reflect the skills needed by our students in equipping them for the next stage in their education.

For the award of an A level in Further Mathematics students will sit four papers each lasting one hour 30 minutes. Papers 1 and 2 will examine the compulsory Pure mathematics aspect of the course. Paper 3 can be chosen from one of four options and will have equal weighting with papers 1 and 2. Paper 4 can be chosen from one of seven available options and will also have equal weighting with papers 1 and 2. All four exams will be sat at the end of two years.

Employers in many fields ranging from accountancy to consumer research are impressed by an A level in Further Mathematics. The Further Mathematics course is sufficiently demanding and broad to provide a sound foundation for those who wish to continue to study Mathematics, Engineering or Physics in higher education. It is also an appropriate course for those students who regard Mathematics as a service subject for Economics, Geography and the Sciences. Many of our students have successfully completed Mathematics degrees at several universities including York, Warwick and Oxford. There are a variety of career paths for Further Maths students: common routes include being an engineer, statistician and computer scientist, whereas some of our ex-students have gone on to become finance analysts and economists.