Programme of Study & Syllabus

Contents

Introduction

Mathematics

Course Aims

The Syllabus, Examinations and Assessment

Your Textbook and Resources

The Structure of the Course

How Your Work is Assessed on the Course

The Transition from (I)GCSE to AS and A Level - Some Tips

Happy to Help

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Introduction

Welcome to your Wolsey Hall Cambridge A Level Maths with Statistics course. Please take the time to read carefully through this page as it explains how the course is structured, how to get the most out from your studies and how your work will be assessed. At the end of this page, you will find details of the reading you will need to do from your textbook and also how each module links to the CAIE syllabus and the final examinations.

This course will lead you step-by-step through the syllabus by way of video links, resources, assignments and, of course, the textbook, so that by the end, you will be confident and fully prepared for your final examinations.

Mathematics

‘The study of mathematics, like the Nile, begins in minuteness but ends in magnificence.’ Charles Caleb Colton.

A level Mathematics is an interesting and challenging course which extends the methods you learned at (I)GCSE and includes optional applications of mathematics, such as Statistics and Mechanics. Statistics – Collecting and analysing data and using this to make predictions about future events. Many subjects make use of statistical information and techniques. An understanding of probability and risk is important in careers like insurance, medicine, engineering and the sciences. Mechanics – Modelling and analysing the physical world around us, including the study of forces and motion. Mechanics is particularly useful to students studying physics and engineering.

The mathematical skills you learn in A level Mathematics are also of great benefit in other A level subjects such as physics, chemistry, biology, computing, geography, psychology, economics and business studies.

A level Mathematics is a versatile qualification that is well respected by employers and universities alike. Employers highly value mathematics qualifications because mathematics students become better at thinking logically and analytically. Through solving problems, you develop resilience and can think creatively and strategically. The writing of structured solutions, proofs and justification of results help you to formulate reasoned arguments. And importantly you will have excellent numeracy skills and the ability to process and interpret data. For most science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree courses A level Mathematics is a requirement.

Course Aims

The aims of this course are to enable students to:

Develop their mathematical knowledge and skills in a way which encourages confidence and provides satisfaction and enjoyment;
Develop an understanding of mathematical principles and an appreciation of mathematics as a logical and coherent subject;
Acquire a range of mathematical skills, particularly those which will enable them to use applications of mathematics in the context of everyday situations and of other subjects they may be studying;
Develop the ability to analyse problems logically;
Recognise when and how a situation may be represented mathematically, identify and interpret relevant factors and select an appropriate mathematical method to solve the problem;
Use mathematics as a means of communication with emphasis on the use of clear expression;
Acquire the mathematical background necessary for further study in mathematics or related subjects.

The Syllabus, Examinations and Assessment

This Wolsey Hall course is designed to prepare you for the Cambridge A Level Maths with Statistics examinations which you will sit at a Cambridge exam centre. It is vitally important that you become familiar with the syllabus which can be found below:

READ - Syllabus 2023-25 (CAIE) Download READ - Syllabus 2023-25 (CAIE)

READ - Syllabus 2026-27 (CAIE) Download READ - Syllabus 2026-27 (CAIE)

The examination code for AS and A Level Mathematics is: 9709

In addition to Paper 1 and Paper 4 taken at AS level, to complete your A Level in Mathematics you will sit the following two papers:

Paper 3: Pure Mathematics 3 – This paper is worth 30% of your overall A Level grade. Length: 1 hour and 50 minutes. This paper carries 75 marks in total and consists of approximately 9 to 11 structured questions based on the Pure Mathematics 3 subject content.
Paper 5: Probability and Statistics 1 – This paper is worth 20% of your overall A Level grade. Length: 1 hour and 15 minutes. This paper carries 50 marks in total and consists of approximately 6 to 8 structured questions based on the Probability and Statistics 1 subject content.

All components are externally assessed.

The syllabus is examined in the June and November examination series. This syllabus is also available for examination in March for students in India only.

Assessment Objectives

The assessment objectives (AOs) for AS and A Level Mathematics are as follows:

AO1: Knowledge and understanding
- Show understanding of relevant mathematical concepts, terminology and notation;
- Recall accurately and use appropriate mathematical manipulative techniques.
AO2: Application and communication
- Recognise the appropriate mathematical procedure for a given situation;
- Apply appropriate combinations of mathematical skills and techniques in solving problems;
- Present relevant mathematical work, and communicate corresponding conclusions, in a clear and logical way.

Your Textbook and Resources

Wolsey Hall offers a unique model of offline and online resources to our homeschooling students – a model which we have developed based on our many years’ experience of providing homeschooling courses to students.

Textbook

Each subject specialist team carefully selects the best textbook for you to use as you study. The textbooks for the A Level Maths with Statistics course are:

Cambridge International AS & A Level Mathematics: Pure Mathematics 2 & 3 Coursebook, by Sue Pemberton et al., (Cambridge University Press, 2018); ISBN 9781108407199

Cambridge International AS & A Level Mathematics: Probability & Statistics 1 Coursebook, by Dean Chalmers, (Cambridge University Press, 2018); ISBN: 9781108407304

Throughout the course, we recommend that you complete all of the questions and exercises in the textbook – the table below will highlight which pages you should read for each module.

Resources

In addition to your textbook, we have sourced a range of additional resources to support your learning. The resources are clearly marked out in the module pages and you should make use of these alongside your textbook to ensure that you get the very best out of your course.

You will also find a range of key resources in the General Resources section of the course. These are items which relate to the course as a whole, rather than to specific modules, and as such, you should make regular use of them. For AS and A Level Mathematics, these are:

Learner Guide for AS and A Level Maths (9709) (CAIE Support Materials)
Mathematics Notation List (CAIE Support Materials)
List of Formulae and Statistical Tables (CAIE Support Materials)
Command Words (CAIE)
Useful Websites

You should also make use of the extensive exam preparation material at the end of the course to help you to prepare for your final examination.

The Structure of the Course

All the files required for your course are uploaded onto our Learning Management System, Canvas. Once you have read through this page and downloaded the Programme of Study (POS) then you are ready to begin the course.

The course is divided into eleven modules: five pure maths modules, five mechanics modules and an exam preparation module. These modules will help you to get the most out of your textbook. Each module is subdivided into topics so that you can study the course in manageable chunks. Each topic is set out as follows:

Introduction – This section provides a brief synopsis of the topic.
Tasks – This section includes references to the Maths textbook to read and complete exercises. There may also be links to additional resources to supplement and increase your understanding of the topic.
Consolidate – Here you will find instructions to make revision cards that help to draw together what you have learned in the topic. You are also advised to complete the end-of-chapter review. This should enable you to complete your assignment and move on to the next module.

How Your Work is Assessed on the Course

Your progress will be assessed by completing an assignment at the end of each module. We recommend that you do NOT look at the assignments until you've studied all the topics in the module. This will ensure that you focus on everything you need to know for the exam. If you focus only on what you need to know to do well in the assignment, you will miss important elements in each module that you need to know and understand.

As in (I)GCSE Maths, at AS and A Level, showing your workings is vital. Often marks are awarded for the method used, and sometimes a correct answer alone will not receive full marks. The specimen answers to each assignment will give you an idea of how to show these workings.

The assignments have been designed to help you prepare for your final examination – many of the questions are based on past exam papers. Answering exam-style questions is crucial in developing your exam technique, understanding exactly what the examiner is looking for in each case and ensuring you are confident when you tackle the real exams. We do not expect you to complete your assignments without referring to your notes or textbook, however, we encourage you to rely less on these as you progress through the course. By your final assignment you should be able to work without reference to any additional notes.

The assignments allow you to think critically about what you have learned and will enable your tutor to see how well you are progressing. Your tutor will mark your assignments and provide you with detailed feedback. Once you have had your marked assignment returned, you will be able to access the mark scheme and/or a specimen answer (an A-grade piece of work). You should always reflect carefully on your tutor’s feedback and apply it in your future assignments.

You should read the assignment questions carefully and answer them to the best of your ability, providing relevant examples where necessary. If you don’t do well in your first assignment, don’t worry; your tutor is there to provide advice.

We ask that you do not submit multiple assignments at the same time. For you to see a steady improvement in your marks, it is very important that you reflect on your tutor’s feedback before beginning each new assignment, so that you can incorporate their tips for improvement into each new piece of work.

To get the best out of your course, before submitting each new assignment, you must:

Complete all the reading, notes and activities in the preceding module;
Read carefully through all of your tutor’s comments on your last assignment;
Use the mark scheme and/or any exemplar or specimen answers provided to help you plan for the next assignment.

We cannot guarantee that tutors will be able to mark multiple assignments within the 3-5 working day window and your work may be returned to you to complete again in light of more recent feedback.

All assignments are submitted via Canvas – you should consult the Canvas Guide for more information.

Optional Mock Exam Service

At the end of the course, you will have the chance to use our Optional Mock Examination Service to complete a full set of AL Maths with Statistics exam papers. These must be completed under examination conditions and will be marked by your tutor. They provide a good opportunity for you to test your subject knowledge and exam technique so you are well prepared for the examinations.

The Transition from (I)GCSE to AS and A Level - Some Tips

Maths at AS and A Level builds directly on, and assumes prior knowledge of many topics from, Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics 0580 (Extended curriculum), or Cambridge International O Level (4024/4029). Candidates should also be familiar with scientific notation for compound units, e.g. $LaTeX: 5\:ms^{-1}$ $5\:ms^{-1}$ for $5$ metres per second. In addition, candidates should be able to carry out simple manipulation of surds e.g. expressing $LaTeX: \sqrt{12}$ $\sqrt{12}$ as $LaTeX: 2\sqrt{3}$ $2\sqrt{3}$ and $LaTeX: \frac{6}{\sqrt{2}}$ $\frac{6}{\sqrt{2}}$ as $LaTeX: 3\sqrt{2}$ $3\sqrt{2}$ ; and know the shapes of graphs of the form LaTeX: y=kx^n $y=kx^n$ , where LaTeX: k $k$ is a constant and LaTeX: n $n$ is an integer (positive or negative) or $LaTeX: \pm\frac{1}{2}$ $\pm\frac{1}{2}$ .

Knowledge of the following probability notation is also assumed: $LaTeX: P\left(A\right),\:P\left(A\cup B\right),\:P\left(A\cap B\right),\:P\left(A|B\right)$ $P\left(A\right),\:P\left(A\cup B\right),\:P\left(A\cap B\right),\:P\left(A|B\right)$ and the use of LaTeX: A' $A'$ to denote the complement of $A$ .

Happy to Help

When you study a Wolsey Hall course, you are never alone. There are lots of people who are willing to help you. Everyone is on your side!

Tutors: At Wolsey Hall, all our tutors are friendly and knowledgeable. They are subject experts and you should not be shy about asking them questions about your course. You will meet your tutor at the start of your course and you should contact them via Canvas messaging if you have any questions.
Student Progress Managers: You have already been assigned a Student Progress Manager who can help with your Assignment Schedule.
Exams Officers: Wolsey Hall’s Exams Officers are here to help students with any queries regarding exam centres.
Canvas Help Desk: Canvas is a great virtual learning environment, but we understand that sometimes, even the best things can go wrong! If you have any problems with Canvas (e.g. uploading assignments or unable to access resources) you should submit a Canvas Help Ticket.

For information about how to create and submit a Help Ticket, please refer to the Canvas Guide.

We hope you’ll enjoy your course and studying at Wolsey Hall. We wish you the best of luck in your studies and success in your examinations. Please do let us know how you get on when you receive your examination results!

The Wolsey Hall Team