Courses

Mathematics

Course Description

To study maths is to develop an exceptionally broad and desirable skill-set that sets you apart and equips you with logical thinking and problem solving skills alongside resilience and a robust work ethic. Our enthusiastic and supportive department will ensure you know more and learn more because with maths everything is possible.

Entry Requirements

Students studying three A Levels will be expected to have a minimum of four GCSEs at grade 6 including Mathematics, with no less than grade 5 in English language and at least one other grade 5 or above.

Features of the Course

The A Level course is made up of Pure Mathematics and Applied Mathematics. Two thirds of the content is based on Pure Mathematics. In this part of the course ideas from GCSE are extended including algebra, geometry and trigonometry. Fascinating new concepts are introduced such as differentiation, integration, exponentials and logarithms.

The remaining third of the course focuses on Applied Mathematics. This is made up of statistics and mechanics. In statistics you will learn new ways to analyse, summarise and interpret data sets. Different types of data such as the binomial distribution is introduced and ideas of probability are extended. Mechanics concentrates on the motion of objects and the forces upon them. New ideas such as Newton’s Laws of Motion, connected particles and vectors are introduced.

Assessment

There are three exams at the end of the second year
Paper 1 and Paper 2 assess Pure Mathematics
Paper 3 assesses Applied Mathematics (Statistics and Mechanics)

Exam Board: EDEXCEL

Enrichment and Work Experience

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
• ‘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.

Additional Information

A requirement of the exam board is that all students will be expected to have a Casio fx-991EX Classwiz calculator. Text books and online resources are provided by The Sixth Form.

Links With Other Subjects

Mathematics links well with all Science subjects, Business, Accounting, Computer Science and IT.

Future Career Opportunities

Having an A Level in Mathematics will provide you with the opportunities to access elite universities and a wide range of high profile careers including: finance investment, actuary, programming, accountancy, teaching, science related roles and many more.

Why study at The Sixth Form Bolton?

The Mathematics Department are an enthusiastic, motivated and student focussed team who offer unfailing support for all students to accelerate learning and maximise progress. The majority of students from this course progress to prestigious universities in areas of science, maths, computing and engineering courses.