Studying Further Maths by Abigail McKee

Maths has fascinated me ever since I was old enough to be able to read. It’s logical and methodical, and puzzle solving is a hobby of mine. However, when I took Further Maths for GCSE, I was disappointed to find out that a lot of the material was in the first year of the regular A level course, so I decided to take Further Maths for A level to learn something new. The course is significantly more varied- we get to study topics such as complex numbers, matrices and polar curves, which we wouldn’t come across at all in the regular A level, which surprised me considering how well known ‘i’ (sqrt -1) is among anyone who enjoys maths. I believe that if you love maths more than anything but do not take Further, you are crippling yourself, as you would be able to learn much faster than you would normally, allowing your skills to progress quickly.

Learning Further Maths at Stamford is a great experience. We have wonderfully dedicated teachers, Mrs Dickson and Mrs Sismey, who as well as teaching us twice the normal content (Stamford teaches the whole of Maths before Further) are kind enough to organise practice sessions for university maths tests. The school merging has also been beneficial, as it has meant that I am surrounded by many more clever and ambitious students than before, which has pushed me to improve my abilities. The majority of these students are male, and our class only has two female students out of a total eight. It is my opinion that part of the reason for this divide is unfortunately due to the difference in teaching between the former schools- while the boys were encouraged to develop their maths skills outside the classroom through clubs and small competitions, the High School never had as many opportunities as they did, and I now appreciate how important informal discussion of problems can be to improve one’s confidence. Women learn better through discussion and teamwork, and problem solving sessions are full of this. Hopefully, with merging sites and the support sessions the Department Head is putting in place, the difference in standards of education can be remedied. The gender gap in Mathematics is still a national issue, with around 38% of Maths and 28% of Further female A level entrants (2023), and without pupils from other schools I would have been the only girl in a class of 7, well below this national statistic. My theories as to why this is the case include prevalence of gender stereotypes, lack of teaching support, and the narrow A level curriculum, which tends to funnel students down specific paths, especially at Stamford where the majority of us only take three A levels. It is my opinion that participation could be increased both by providing more mathematical opportunities for us (which is being done) and by encouraging students who enjoy Maths to take it for Further, as the main difficulty in the subject is the volume of work you are given, rather than the trickiness of it. Anyone who has the determination to do well in Further Maths at GCSE, taught outside of lesson time, or can easily achieve highly in the Maths Challenge, or enjoys any form of extracurricular maths, has the capacity to do well at A Level. Further Maths is highly regarded for any science-related degree, and pursuing it could lead you to jobs in engineering and computing, which still have noticeable gender divides. Most importantly, it is useful and invaluable to any young budding mathematician.