Entry requirement
This is a one year course and is taken to supplement 3 A Level or BTEC subjects, It should not be taken as one of your 3 main subjects. A G5 is ideal but students with a G4 will be considered.
Core Maths is a whole option block.
What does the course involve?
Students follow the AQA specification and will work on the following topics using a variety of real world examples to apply Mathematics in context:
• financial maths – the fundamentals of loans, mortgages, savings, investments
• understanding risk, probability and statistics
• using estimation to aid decision making
• making and evaluating assumptions when modelling or problem solving
• understanding sources of error and bias when problem-solving
• working with data – critically analysing news headlines and data publications
What can the course lead to?
Studying Core Maths helps students develop their quantitative and problem-solving skills. These are invaluable skills to support A levels in many subjects such as psychology, geography, business-related courses, sports and social sciences, and natural science courses. Many universities (for example Bath, Sheffield and York) offer reduced entry criteria for a range of degree courses for students with Core Maths qualifications e.g. offering AAB instead of AAA. For those universities that accept UCAS points Core Maths contributes points equal to half an A level.
The content you will study is designed to improve financial literacy and encourage you to be critical, logical, problem solvers. These skills will help prepare you for the demands of adult life such as running your personal finances or a business.
Good Mathematics is not about how many answers you know... It’s about how you behave when you don’t know.