Further mathematicians seek to extend their own abilities being inspired and challenged by the vast range of material on offer including complex numbers, matrices and hyperbolic functions. The extra subject knowledge allows for connections to be made within topics and a deeper understanding of how broad, yet interlinked, maths really is. Our supportive and enthusiastic team will teach you how to solve these challenging and exciting problems.

Students will be expected to have a minimum of three GCSEs at grade 6, GCSE grade 8 or 9 in Mathematics and no less than grade 5 in English Language and at least one other grade 5 or above.

To study Further Mathematics, you must also study A Level Mathematics and they are two separate A Levels.

• Complex numbers

• Hyperbolic functions

• Polar coordinates

• Second order differential equations

• Volumes of revolution

• Critical path analysis

The Further Mathematics course is made up of four modules: Pure Core 1 and Pure Core 2 are compulsory pure mathematics modules. These extend familiar ideas from A Level Mathematics including: series, proof and calculus and also introduce new ideas such as matrices, complex numbers and hyperbolic functions.

You will learn entirely new concepts in the remaining two modules which are chosen from:

• Mechanics which includes: momentum and impulse, elasticity and work-energy principles

• Statistics which includes: quality testing, poisson and geometric distributions

• Decision which includes: algorithms, graphs and networks and linear programming

• Further Pure which includes: vectors, conic sections and reduction formulae

There are four exams at the end of the second year.

Paper 1 and Paper 2 assess Pure Mathematics and are compulsory.

Paper 3 and Paper 4 each assess one of the following options: Mechanics, Statistics, Further Pure and Decision. Year groups and intended progression destinations determine which options are studied.

Exam Board: EDEXCEL

Students within the Mathematics Department enjoy various enrichment activities:

• Guest speakers from The University of Manchester

• The UK Mathematics Challenge in conjunction with the University of Leeds

• ‘Maths inspiration’ lectures

• Further mathematicians have the opportunity to attend a two day residential course, ‘Making Maths @ Manchester’ at The University of Manchester

• ‘Florence Nightingale Day’ at the University of Lancaster

• External student courses based on problem solving

There is also an expectation to complete a one-week work placement in the summer term.

The Mathematics Department are an enthusiastic, motivated and student focused team who offer unfailing support for all students to accelerate learning and maximise progress. With excellent links to Mathematics departments at prestigious universities for students who choose this course and high progression to higher education.

The skills and qualities learnt by further mathematicians mean they are highly prized students who are sought after by elite universities and leading employers. A wide range of high profile careers await you including: finance investment, actuary, programming, software development, accountancy, business analyst, teaching, science related roles and many more.