January seems to be a month schools like to inform their Year 10 and 11 students about post-16 career options, followed by National Career Week in March. We were privileged to be invited to Prior Pursglove 6 Form College in Guisborough, where teachers and their Year 10 students from local schools experienced some post-16 maths.
The session about matrices from Ryan, a very enthusiastic lecturer at Prior, was fantastically received. Alongside this, the AMSP offered sessions on Core Maths as well as A-level tasters. Students also gained insight into careers linked to maths and the courses needed to succeed in them.
Prior College was founded in the 17th century and has offered Core maths pathway since 2019, a qualification some teachers are unaware of as an option at post-16, in addition to A-level Mathematics and Further Mathematics.
Core Maths is the equivalent to an AS qualification, which was first tested nationally in 2016, has a lower entry-level and is accessible to students who achieved level 4 and above at GCSE. It can be studied in conjunction with three other A-level subjects. It is especially useful for Biology, Geography, Psychology and Business students at A-level, who are not studying A level Maths, to enhance their skills in interpreting graphs and data, as well as critically analysing information which we read in newspapers.
Please click here to view the previous event page and get in touch if your school is interested in us organising something similar.
By Valerija Peles-Edwards