Further Mathematics

Subject Intent

Course Overview:

This course is available to students with exceptional mathematical ability who are considering taking Mathematics beyond A Level. Anyone willing to study Further Mathematics must also be studying A Level Mathematics. The Pure element will be taken further and you will delve deeper into the applied aspect of the subject. Students taking Chemistry, Biology or Psychology may have a greater desire to study Statistics further, whereas Physics students may prefer to take mechanics a step further as part of the optional modules.

Course Structure: 
The Further Maths course is made up of Further Pure content and then two applied modules (options include Statistics / Mechanics / Decision).  

• Further Pure – students will study proof, complex numbers, matrices, further algebra and functions, further calculus, polar coordinates, hyperbolic functions & differential equations.
• Statistics – builds on content taught in Maths A Level, but includes exploration of more distributions for different types of data (eg Chi-squared distribution)
• Decision – looks at the mathematics behind decision making processes, with a strong link to historical content of Computer Science

Although we would normally select Decision Mathematics and Statistics, the Further Mathematics options can be considered and tailored to suit the cohort each year. Each applied module is of equal weighting and counts for 25% of the overall A Level, with Further Pure accounting for 50%.

Progression Opportunities:

Higher education courses or careers that either require A Level Mathematics or are strongly related include: Economics, Medicine, Architecture, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Information Science, Surveying, Teaching, Mathematics, Accountancy, Financial Services, Psychology, Computing, Information Communications Technology, Statistics, Systems Analysis, Systems Modelling.