Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I got into Uni with C,D,E (I think? The C could have been a D but I can't remember ). 8 GCSEs all at C or D and an E (English Lit booooooooooooo!).

I studied a profession (Surveying) at uni but really bummed around and played rugby allot.

My first job was in a Warehouse and as a Doorman - both are still on my CV.

15 years later I am a commercial Manager earning (the internet tells me) above the 90th percentile in the South East. Not bad for the son of a Lorry Driver I think.

That's not to blow my own trumpet but to indicate that poor grades (or good for that matter) do not define where you will end up.

So good luck with the GCSEs chaps, they help but are not the be all and end all if you don't get them.

gak I even got a Level 6 GNVQ last year for some reason, never needed it before and it has been no use since! I rate personality as more relevant than qualifications.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
As someone who did his GCSEs last year one but of advice would be if you did additional maths don't do A-level maths.

Pretty pants advice there I am afraid...

If you want to do anything where the requirement is that you have an A-level in Maths (ie a lot of science, engineering, ecconomics, etc degrees...), or you are planing on doing something where there will be a fair bit of maths, do A-level maths regardless of whether you did additional maths at GCSE.

I'm just giving the advice that I wish I'd been given, we were told as long as you did well at GCSE you'd be grand at A-level but on the first day we were told anyone who hadn't done additional maths you would be lucky to get D's. And for most science degrees I don't believe Maths is required for a science degree you just have to achieve a B or better in the subject at A-level, I don't think it's required for Engineering either just they prefer for you to have it.

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
As someone who did his GCSEs last year one but of advice would be if you did additional maths don't do A-level maths.

Pretty pants advice there I am afraid...

If you want to do anything where the requirement is that you have an A-level in Maths (ie a lot of science, engineering, ecconomics, etc degrees...), or you are planing on doing something where there will be a fair bit of maths, do A-level maths regardless of whether you did additional maths at GCSE.

I'm just giving the advice that I wish I'd been given, we were told as long as you did well at GCSE you'd be grand at A-level but on the first day we were told anyone who hadn't done additional maths you would be lucky to get D's. And for most science degrees I don't believe Maths is required for a science degree you just have to achieve a B or better in the subject at A-level, I don't think it's required for Engineering either just they prefer for you to have it.

Why would maths not be required for a science degree?

I went to college for an English education degree and I needed to take 1 math course.

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
I'm just giving the advice that I wish I'd been given, we were told as long as you did well at GCSE you'd be grand at A-level but on the first day we were told anyone who hadn't done additional maths you would be lucky to get D's. And for most science degrees I don't believe Maths is required for a science degree you just have to achieve a B or better in the subject at A-level, I don't think it's required for Engineering either just they prefer for you to have it.

I didn't do additional maths at GCSE and got a B at maths A-level. Maths is a required subject for a lot of engineering subjects and anything involving lots of maths (like physics). I know the minimum requirement for my degree was ABB, with at least a B in maths and I studied Biomedical Engineering. From what I remembered all the engineering degrees at my university required maths A-level. Clearly this will differ by institution however I applied to universities in the top 30 and they all required maths A-level, certainly for their engineering programs.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Alfndrate wrote:
I went to college for an English education degree and I needed to take 1 math course.

Our university system is different to that in the US. A lot of places do single honours degrees with minimal "out of subject" courses. Dual honours degrees are more popular at some institutions (for example where I got my second masters and my wife did her undergraduate and PGCE they almost exclusively do dual honours degrees) but again you generally only do modules related to your core subject(s). There are, on some degrees, optional blocks which can be taken in subjects outside of your core subject, but they are not always available, or you are encouraged to take options within related subjects or from within the same subject.

 Alfndrate wrote:

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
As someone who did his GCSEs last year one but of advice would be if you did additional maths don't do A-level maths.

Pretty pants advice there I am afraid...

If you want to do anything where the requirement is that you have an A-level in Maths (ie a lot of science, engineering, ecconomics, etc degrees...), or you are planing on doing something where there will be a fair bit of maths, do A-level maths regardless of whether you did additional maths at GCSE.

I'm just giving the advice that I wish I'd been given, we were told as long as you did well at GCSE you'd be grand at A-level but on the first day we were told anyone who hadn't done additional maths you would be lucky to get D's. And for most science degrees I don't believe Maths is required for a science degree you just have to achieve a B or better in the subject at A-level, I don't think it's required for Engineering either just they prefer for you to have it.

Why would maths not be required for a science degree?

I went to college for an English education degree and I needed to take 1 math course.

It's must be different over here as it's not required.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
I went to college for an English education degree and I needed to take 1 math course.

Our university system is different to that in the US. A lot of places do single honours degrees with minimal "out of subject" courses. Dual honours degrees are more popular at some institutions (for example where I got my second masters and my wife did her undergraduate and PGCE they almost exclusively do dual honours degrees) but again you generally only do modules related to your core subject(s). There are, on some degrees, optional blocks which can be taken in subjects outside of your core subject, but they are not always available, or you are encouraged to take options within related subjects or from within the same subject.

Most places over here describe themselves as producing "well rounded individuals" by making everyone take classes that have no bearing on their degree choice. I had to take a math class because it was (when I started) directly related to my major. Most of the education majors at my university had to take statistics so they could read educational stats and research... That apparently changed two years after I took that math course.

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
It's must be different over here as it's not required.

I just went for the first engineering degree at the first university I went to, which requires AAA, including Maths and Physics A-levels: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/prospectus/courseDetails.do?id=H4002014

Even the lower level qualification (BEng rather than MEng) requires ABB, with Maths and Physics: http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/prospectus/courseDetails.do?id=H4022014

The subject I did (well, the course title has changed since mine was in Biomedical Engineering rather than Bioengineering but hey ): http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/prospectus/courseDetails.do?id=H6752014 - oh, look, requires Maths!

Hmmm... how about a non-engineering subject... say... Physics! http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/prospectus/courseDetails.do?id=F3002014 SWEET HOLY COW! - they require Maths and Physics!

Or Economics (BSc rather than BA) http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/prospectus/courseDetails.do?id=L1012014 WHO PUT MATHS IN THERE?!?!

How about Software Engineering? DAMN YOU MATHS! WHY YOU NEEDED FOR THIS! http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/prospectus/courseDetails.do?id=G6002014

Materials Engineering? http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/prospectus/courseDetails.do?id=JH512014 MATHS AGAIN! Well, I will give you it asks for two of three, so you could do it without a Maths A-level...

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
I'm just giving the advice that I wish I'd been given, we were told as long as you did well at GCSE you'd be grand at A-level but on the first day we were told anyone who hadn't done additional maths you would be lucky to get D's. And for most science degrees I don't believe Maths is required for a science degree you just have to achieve a B or better in the subject at A-level, I don't think it's required for Engineering either just they prefer for you to have it.

I didn't do additional maths at GCSE and got a B at maths A-level. Maths is a required subject for a lot of engineering subjects and anything involving lots of maths (like physics). I know the minimum requirement for my degree was ABB, with at least a B in maths and I studied Biomedical Engineering. From what I remembered all the engineering degrees at my university required maths A-level. Clearly this will differ by institution however I applied to universities in the top 30 and they all required maths A-level, certainly for their engineering programs.

Maybe it's just my school but just about everyone in my year who didn't do additional is failing or not doing as well as they need to be. I think that recently they've taken away the requirement of maths at A-level for engineering to try and get more people to apply.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I was talking about Science degrees being different. I don't really know that much about Engineering and was going by what I heard in a talk where we were told that Maths wasn't required.

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
Maybe it's just my school but just about everyone in my year who didn't do additional is failing or not doing as well as they need to be. I think that recently they've taken away the requirement of maths at A-level for engineering to try and get more people to apply.

Nope, engineering very much requires Maths, as demonstrated. Virtually all Engineering courses will require an A-level in Maths. Any university worth going to will require it anyway, even pants universities with entry requirements of EEE or something equally pointless probably will.

As to everyone failing - not sure why that would be the case. I am not the best at maths and did OK in it - it was certainly the subject I was most worried about when I got my results back. Really if you are doing Physics as well you do most of the lower level maths twice and the extra stuff is reasonably basic higher level stuff. Sit with old papers and example questions and go through them over and over until you get them down pat and understand the method of solving the question. Granted I didn't do stats (thankfully - though I wish I did as I have trouble with it now ) and only did mechanics and pure.

I was talking about Science degrees being different. I don't really know that much about Engineering and was going by what I heard in a talk where we were told that Maths wasn't required.

Physics of any stripe almost certainly will require A-level maths, as will some Computer Science courses. Other less maths intensive sciences probably will not require A-level but will usually have GCSE maths requirements (a quick look though Sheffield's sciences seems to generally want a B or in a couple of cases a C).

I went to uni and did Music Tech. Music performance, sound recording etc.

First lecture?

Electronic and Mathematical Fundamentals.

PredaKhaine wrote:
I went to uni and did Music Tech. Music performance, sound recording etc.

First lecture?

Electronic and Mathematical Fundamentals.

Op-Amps and signal processing?

Well... Math is more than just 2+2=4.

Learning math also teaches you HOW to think. That's why it's so prevalent in just about every educational level.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
Maybe it's just my school but just about everyone in my year who didn't do additional is failing or not doing as well as they need to be. I think that recently they've taken away the requirement of maths at A-level for engineering to try and get more people to apply.

Nope, engineering very much requires Maths, as demonstrated. Virtually all Engineering courses will require an A-level in Maths. Any university worth going to will require it anyway, even pants universities with entry requirements of EEE or something equally pointless probably will.]

There's people in my class and year who have been told by Universities that they can study Engineering there and they aren't doing A-level maths.

As to everyone failing - not sure why that would be the case. I am not the best at maths and did OK in it - it was certainly the subject I was most worried about when I got my results back. Really if you are doing Physics as well you do most of the lower level maths twice and the extra stuff is reasonably basic higher level stuff. Sit with old papers and example questions and go through them over and over until you get them down pat and understand the method of solving the question. Granted I didn't do stats (thankfully - though I wish I did as I have trouble with it now ) and only did mechanics and pure.

Physics actually ended up making it harder for me as our physics teacher did it a different way so I ended up getting both ways confused . My main problem though was that the exam board changed it's syllabus, so all the past papers are full with useless questions.

Physics of any stripe almost certainly will require A-level maths, as will some Computer Science courses. Other less maths intensive sciences probably will not require A-level but will usually have GCSE maths requirements (a quick look though Sheffield's sciences seems to generally want a B or in a couple of cases a C).

I just looked up the course requirements on an actual Universities website (had been using UCAS) and you're right maths is required, that's the last time I use UCAS.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

PredaKhaine wrote:
I went to uni and did Music Tech. Music performance, sound recording etc.

First lecture?

Electronic and Mathematical Fundamentals.

Op-Amps and signal processing?

AARGH! don't take me back there! I won't go!

They called it E&M FUN for short - I think that should be punishable with trade descriptions at the very least!

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:
There's people in my class and year who have been told by Universities that they can study Engineering there and they aren't doing A-level maths.

Interesting and also scary

Physics actually ended up making it harder for me as our physics teacher did it a different way so I ended up getting both ways confused . My main problem though was that the exam board changed it's syllabus, so all the past papers are full with useless questions.

The syllabus shouldn't have changed that much, surely?

I just looked up the course requirements on an actual Universities website (had been using UCAS) and you're right maths is required, that's the last time I use UCAS.

What are you thinking of doing?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

PredaKhaine wrote:
AARGH! don't take me back there! I won't go!

They called it E&M FUN for short - I think that should be punishable with trade descriptions at the very least!

Hehe

That is an excellent title

The syllabus shouldn't have changed that much, surely?

It's changed a fair bit, the exam board were told to make the exams harder so it was a whole overhaul and any past paper questions are easier compared to what you get now. The exam board also changed the grade boundaries, so everything's a bit confusing.

What are you thinking of doing?

I'm considering doing medicine, but if I don't get the grades I'm hoping to do Human Biology and try and do a post graduates in medicine.

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:

I'm considering doing medicine, but if I don't get the grades I'm hoping to do Human Biology and try and do a post graduates in medicine.

Medicine is a good goal but hard to get into. Are you doing anything to distinguish yourself? Contact local hospitals, gp surgeries etc and see if you can get some placements. Your own gp might be a good choice to give you an in. Also have a look at medical companies as well - you never know.

 SilverMK2 wrote:

 gianlucafiorentini123 wrote:

I'm considering doing medicine, but if I don't get the grades I'm hoping to do Human Biology and try and do a post graduates in medicine.

Medicine is a good goal but hard to get into. Are you doing anything to distinguish yourself? Contact local hospitals, gp surgeries etc and see if you can get some placements. Your own gp might be a good choice to give you an in. Also have a look at medical companies as well - you never know.

Yeah I've been to work experience in my local hospital and a G.Ps and volunteering in the hospital and a Hospice. Some of the people you're up against is crazy though, there was one personal statement I read where the writer was a captain of five sports team in his school and captain of the U16 England Hockey team.