Whatever your purpose for studying mathematics, whether you are searching for the intrinsic truth of number and pattern, or exploiting those phenomena to build space rockets, the mathematics department will be your guide. As you progress on your journey to becoming a university student, you will be enriched, challenged and well prepared.
Mathematics is a compulsory component of our programmes of study. It is generally expected that all students will study Mathematics and Further Mathematics to A level.
In the foundation year, we follow the FSMQ Additional Mathematics specification. Geometry, including trigonometry, circle theorems, three-dimensional shapes, curve-sketching and transformations. Algebra, including algebraic fractions, inequalities, polynomials, functions and sequences, including limits to infinity. And a lot more besides!
This course ensures students have a well rounded understanding of the topics required to be successful at A-level.
In the first year, we complete the programme of study for A Level Mathematics with Edexcel, which we divide into foundations, calculus and applications. Pre-calculus focuses on the geometric and algebraic fundamentals of mathematics: trigonometry, coordinates, functions, exponentials and logarithms, sequences and proof. Calculus focuses on rates of change and accumulation, and we learn the techniques of differentiation and integration. In applications, we learn about the many ways these ideas can enrich physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics itself.
In the second year, we study A Level Further Mathematics with Edexcel. The course is split into pure mathematics and applied mathematics. In the pure side, we delve deeper into the abstract world of patterns and relationships, studying complex numbers, infinite sums and expansions, hyperbolic trigonometry and further calculus. The applied part focuses on mechanics and statistics, and how mathematics can help answer questions which have puzzled people for centuries. The more we learn, the connections between the abstract and the real become even more mysterious and beautiful.
Students take part in either the UKMT Challenge or the UKMT Team Challenge each year, with students who do well advancing to the Kangaroo and Olympiads. The college also partakes in the CEMC Euclid and Hypatia competitions, which provide very rich and rewarding problems for students to solve.
We organise several trips throughout the year, and we are very grateful to the universities of Warwick, Birmingham and Coventry for the opportunities they offer our students. The teachers in the department are all first-class degree holders and are very knowledgeable about their subject – they will help you with any problem you can find, and you are encouraged to speak with them about mathematics inside and outside of class time.
An independent sixth form boarding and day college specialising in A-level STEM subjects. For students aged 15 -19, aiming to study at the world’s leading universities.
© The National Mathematics and Science College
