Why keep on studying maths?
Mathematics is one of the most general, and one of the most fundamental subjects that you can study. Although it may sometimes be difficult to see immediately the relevance of maths to a future career, and perhaps to subjects you intend to study later, maths in fact gives you an excellent grounding for any subject and is itself a prerequisite for many.
Why take A level maths?
Deciding which A levels to take can be difficult. Sometime it is a conflict of what you really like or are good at and what you want to do in order to be successful in your career or even something that your parents are doing. If you are thinking of going on to university, your first step should be to look at all the courses you might possibly want to take and see what the requirements are. Some courses specify particular subjects at A level and obviously this should be your first consideration.
For a degree in maths, statistics, physics, engineering or actuarial science, for example, you will almost certainly have to have a good maths A level and possible a further maths A level. However, there are many degrees which do not specify any particular subjects they wish you to have taken and, for many of these, maths will be an excellent choice.
If you are thinking of looking for a job straight after A levels, maths is a great "core" subject - in fact, it is one of the most important subjects you can take. This is because the ability to understand and manipulate numbers and mathematical concepts is extremely useful for almost any job.
There is always a demand for employees who can think logically and process information accurately - skills which an A level in maths will teach you.
Further maths?
If you enjoy doing maths, you might want to consider taking Further Maths at A/S or A level. The problems you are faced with in further maths are more challenging that the ordinary mathematics problems. They can also be more applicable in real case situations and have applications in physics, chemistry or biology. You can do this even if your school or college does not offer it. Find out more here.
Scientists need maths and stats!
Maths is the language of the physical sciences, and many of the quantitative parts of the social sciences as well. It also enables you to communicate complicated concepts. These more general skills that will be useful no matter what you want to do in the future.
Practically any course in the social or laboratory sciences will include a module on statistics, and students who stopped studying maths at GCSE often find this very difficult. If you have A level maths, even if this was not a required subject for admission, you will be ahead of the game!
Practically any course in the social or laboratory sciences will include a module on statistics, and students who stopped studying maths at GCSE often find this very difficult. If you have A level maths, even if this was not a required subject for admission, you will be ahead of the game
Engineering
If you study engineering you will use maths for most of your courses. Whether you are doing civil, mechanical, electrical or materials engineering, you will need to use geometry, calculus, and algebra to work with mathematical formulas for physical forces, electrical currents and other phenomena. For example, when studying civil engineering you will have to calculate the force distribution for different structures, such as truss bridges. This involves a combination of trigonometry and solving the equations of forces on the bridge. On other occasions you need to use integration to calculate the centre of mass of an object, or use differential equations to understand the flow of water through pipes.
Economics
Studying economics requires you not only to be able to handle data and work with figures, but to understand the concepts underlying economic questions as well. You will use maths to calculate compound interest, and arithmetic series to calculate growth of investments. You will need to use calculus to optimise cost-and-profit calculations, and to use maths to express and analyse supply and demand problems.
Medicine
Medical students have to take courses in statistics, which is not surprising given that much of today's medical knowledge is evidence-based. You will need to critically interpret data, such as the results of trials of new medical practise, judge the reliability of tests and assess the risks of treatments. Maths is also used in medical research for modelling tumour growth and the effects of therapy, planning treatment and understanding and interpreting medical scans.
Archaeology
Mathematics is even necessary in many of the social sciences, such as psychology and archaeology. Archaeologists use a variety of mathematical and statistical techniques to present the data from archaeological surveys and try to distinguish patterns in their results that shed light on past human behaviour. Statistical measures are used during excavation to monitor which pits are most successful and decide on further excavation. Finds are analysed using statistical and numerical methods to spot patterns in the way the archaeological record changes over time, and geographically within a site and across the country. Archaeologists also use statistics to test the reliability of their interpretations.
And best of all...
Obviously, if you want to go on to study mathematics or statistics, all the maths and stats you have done in the past will play its part. If you enjoy and even love these subjects, this is the greatest help in doing well. But even if this isn't exactly you, building up your mathematical toolbox will come in handy whatever you intend to study.
