Help - Resitting Exams..

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

Okay so I will share two of my grades with you guys..

First of all I got a C in Business Studies.. Really dissapointed as I got an A (2 maks of A*) in coursework and kept getting B in my mocks. I feel as I didn't do too well in the exam so was expecting a C but then as coursework is worth quite alot I thought I would get a B..

I got accepted into sixth form and I can do all the subjects I want to do, including Business.
My question is..
1) Can I re-take Business Studies while doing it in AS level?

And...

2) Has anyone done Maths AS level with a B GCSE grade - If so what did you think of it? - The head of 6th form told me I should consider doing another subject instead (but he said he will put me down for it), I don't like anything else they have.. I struggled to pick m 4th choice as it was!
3) I was looking through some universities entry requirements for Economics and most of them include Maths A level. I told the Head of 6th form (scary guy =| ) that I wanted to take it because I want to do Economics in University and one of the requirements is Maths. He then said it is not essential.. I have been told this quite a few times and I don't understand WHY?! All these uni sites say it is a requirement and here my teachers are saying it's not.. I would like to ideally go to UCL or somewhere like that (not Oxbridge standard afterall ) and they require Maths.. So will someone please explain why my teachers keep saying that?

I will have more questions later as I think about it so yeah.. But thanks for now! x

[di marco]

well done on those 2 grades spicy

in answer to your questions:
1) i dont know if your school will let you retake business studies, you would have to ask them as each school is different, although i think its probably unlikely they will let you retake, especially if you want to redo the whole course and sit through the lessons while also taking 4 AS subjects. however, if you dont want to redo the whole course and lessons but just retake the exams then if you ask, the school might let you pay for your retakes and sit the exams at school. if not, you might have a college near you which will let you pay to resit your exams
2) at your school is the requirement to do maths alevel a B? if so, the school cant stop you doing alevel maths even if they advise you not to do it. if you dont mind me asking, did you do the higher paper? as my school told us that they think you would struggle if you didnt do the higher paper as you wouldnt have learnt all the stuff which would help you for the alevel. i did alevel maths and found the first module easy as it was basically stuff we did at gcse (although i did get an A* for gcse so cant really answer your question on how difficult it would be after getting a B), but after the first module it did get a lot harder (although it probably would have been slightly easier if id actually tried and done the work instead of not bothering! ). someone in my class got a B for maths in gcse and took it for alevel and then dropped it after about 3 weeks cos she thought it was too hard, however i wouldnt necessarily judge her on how difficult it will be cos she then went on to replace it with 2 other subjects and dropped them both and also dropped 2 more of her original subjects and only ended up doing 1 alevel in the end! if you still want to do alevel maths then i think you should do it, if you dont like it after about a month or so and think its too difficult then you can always switch subjects then, but you wont know how difficult youre going to find it unless you try it, you cant really compare how youre going to find it to other people
3) i dont really know about the requirements for economics but usually if the uni requires you to have got certain grades/subjects to do the course then it would be a good idea to do those subjects. although they sometimes make exceptions and let people in who didnt get the grades, its always better to try and meet the requirements, especially if you want to go to quite a competitive uni/course

hope that helped

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

I was thinking about re-taking it in college but now I am just going to see if I can retake the exam instead!
And yes I did do the higher paper in Maths I think I will stick with it, get a tutor and give it a go!
Thanks dm! xx

[Bryan]

at the end of the day i doubt you need half the stupid maths stuff that you're meant to learn, to do Economics, so it might not be the be all and end all not to take it at A level if your college don't let you.

Maths has got sooo ridiculous, where is the need for algebra? triginometry? quadratic equations? it's all stupid guff invented up by boffins, i don't see why kids are forced to learn it. I've been away from school 3/4 years now and never have i used any of this stupid bull i was taught at GCSE maths, it's so ridiculous. All you need to know from maths in my opinion is what you can do on a calculator!

[Abi]

You will need Maths A Level to do Economics at uni. I have two friends going to LSE in September to do it, and they both needed it. In fact, they had to have Further Maths, so that is something you should definately look into doing as well as A Level maths.

There is no point retaking GCSE buisness, while doing it at A Level. A Level is a higher standard, so if your school will allow you to do it, then retaking a lower level is a waste of time. Just concentrating on getting an A in A Levels (Cause you need AAA/AAB to get into good unis to go Economics).

Remember, Economics is a small part of a large field. There are lots of other similar courses, which may have less maths content.

Some examples:
- UCL - Statistics, Economics and Finance
- Queen Mary - Economics, Finance and Management
- Royal Holloway - Economics and Management
- University of Southampton - Economics and Finance
- University of Surrey - Business Economics
- University of Sussex - Economics and Management Studies

I've stuck to top 20-ish southern universities, as that seems to be what you are after. But you get the idea. Don't get too stuck into just Economics, look at all the options. Pure Economics is one of the most competitive courses out there, whereas the combo courses are less so, and still lead to the same kinds of jobs (Investment Banking, etc)

[Trinity]

Spicy, check the UCAS website re. the requirements for economics courses at different Unis.

www.ucas.com


Regarding resiting a subject you intend to do at AS - why? AS trumps GCE.

Good luck.

[Trinity]

at the end of the day i doubt you need half the stupid maths stuff that you're meant to learn, to do Economics, so it might not be the be all and end all not to take it at A level if your college don't let you.

Maths has got sooo ridiculous, where is the need for algebra? triginometry? quadratic equations? it's all stupid guff invented up by boffins, i don't see why kids are forced to learn it. I've been away from school 3/4 years now and never have i used any of this stupid bull i was taught at GCSE maths, it's so ridiculous. All you need to know from maths in my opinion is what you can do on a calculator!

My hubby always says, 'Maths is the truth'.

I am surrounded each day at work by people who use maths on a daily basis, it might not help with script writing, but for economics, physics, computing, actuarial studies and most science based courses it is a corner stone.

[Kim]

My school stressed at an A Level Maths presentation that you could take A Level Maths with a B, but that they'd prefer it if you had an A. The head of Maths then went on to say that's there's absolutely nothing wrong with taking it with a B which came from the higher paper, as long as you're willing to put in the hard work to catch up with the topics that those who got A*'s and A's will already be able to do.

[di marco]

at the end of the day i doubt you need half the stupid maths stuff that you're meant to learn, to do Economics, so it might not be the be all and end all not to take it at A level if your college don't let you.

Maths has got sooo ridiculous, where is the need for algebra? triginometry? quadratic equations? it's all stupid guff invented up by boffins, i don't see why kids are forced to learn it. I've been away from school 3/4 years now and never have i used any of this stupid bull i was taught at GCSE maths, it's so ridiculous. All you need to know from maths in my opinion is what you can do on a calculator!

My hubby always says, 'Maths is the truth'.

I am surrounded each day at work by people who use maths on a daily basis, it might not help with script writing, but for economics, physics, computing, actuarial studies and most science based courses it is a corner stone.

i often think whats the point in learning all this maths stuff as no one uses it (and i took alevel maths!) but for some professions you will need to know it so thats why you have to be taught some seemingly "pointless" stuff at gcse and more at alevel and even more if you do a degree in it. however, even if youre not going to use maths again, im sure some of it you might need to use later on in life, or you might understand something better if you know the theory of something mathematical (im not sure what, but you might do!). i dont think im ever going to really need to use the difficult equation type stuff in maths again but im sure for a lot of jobs or aspects of life things would be easier if you have even a basic understanding in maths. it might seem pointless, as most of my alevel did, but for my stage management module at uni you have to do ground plans etc and its so much easier if youre able to easily work out scales etc and i never thought id need maths to do a drama degree!

[di marco]

You will need Maths A Level to do Economics at uni. I have two friends going to LSE in September to do it, and they both needed it. In fact, they had to have Further Maths, so that is something you should definately look into doing as well as A Level maths.

There is no point retaking GCSE buisness, while doing it at A Level. A Level is a higher standard, so if your school will allow you to do it, then retaking a lower level is a waste of time. Just concentrating on getting an A in A Levels (Cause you need AAA/AAB to get into good unis to go Economics).

Remember, Economics is a small part of a large field. There are lots of other similar courses, which may have less maths content.

Some examples:
- UCL - Statistics, Economics and Finance
- Queen Mary - Economics, Finance and Management
- Royal Holloway - Economics and Management
- University of Southampton - Economics and Finance
- University of Surrey - Business Economics
- University of Sussex - Economics and Management Studies

I've stuck to top 20-ish southern universities, as that seems to be what you are after. But you get the idea. Don't get too stuck into just Economics, look at all the options. Pure Economics is one of the most competitive courses out there, whereas the combo courses are less so, and still lead to the same kinds of jobs (Investment Banking, etc)

i agree abi. i forgot to say in my other post, that your teacher might only be saying that cos for some courses you might not need maths for, but im guessing for a subject like economics if the uni doesnt require maths that it probably isnt one of the better courses