Back in my school days I was in the top set for maths at my state grammar school (had to get that in!) and I, along with all the other kids in said top set, did our maths GCSE in a year, sitting it at 15 and then did what was then called an AO level in maths in the second year, which is, I think something equivalent to an AS level in Maths in today's terms. 

I got an A in the GCSE, and that was then the top grade, before A*s, and I can't remember if I ever took any of the second year AO Level seriously. 

Certainly by the time we hit differentiation I'd switched off completely, along with 3 of the 4 other people I sat with and, funnily enough, 3 out of 4 of us all ended up getting a big fat U grade in the final AO exam. 

I think I'd already decided by the beginning of that final GCSE year that i wasn't going to do maths or any sciences at A-level so as far as I was concerned I'd bagged the GCSE already and it was quite nice to have 45 minutes a day off to just take it easy, chat, sleep in those second year maths lessons. 

NB it wasn't lack of ability in maths I don't think - I got 5 As and 3 Bs at GCSE and so I probably could have nailed that AO and got a B or a C at the time like one out of our 4 friends on our table did, he was more motivated going on to do more science A-levels. 

However as the years have progressed I've been thinking more and more that that fail is unfinished business and moreover, I want to learn a bit of Python and, well, maths is the root of code, so I'm feeling like doing an A-level in maths is something I quite fancy. 

Also I'm not a natural mathematician, I'm more of a prose sort of guy, and I like the idea of working this rather underworked side of my brain. 

And there's another reason - I've got a bit of money in the bank from my land sale and I'm thinking I might do a data analysis MSC focusing on social policy, there's a really interesting looking course at Exeter University, and (weirdly) I quite fancy another later-life stint at real world work for a few years. 

Even if I only did one year that'd pay for the course fees. 

NB I'm not certain if I'll do the MSC, I'll certainly have a look at the reading list and do some self-learning, it's something that interests me, whether I go the whole-hog I don't know. 

Oh the entry requirements ask for a significant element of quantitative analysis as part of one's degree which I don't have, hence another reason for the maths A-level. 

And I just fancy doing something a bit different for an hour or two a day. 

I've bought the first year's worth of text books, I've got a friend who used to teach maths A-level (he's since moved on to something more lucrative), that's once of the advantages of a near 20 year career in teaching A-levels, and he's offered to tutor me for free, and send me some free resources, so I'm pretty well set....


![20230125_193353.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/revisesociology/23zktiLQ9kMqEbC1ve4MbSFcrUjUp5KiSYq1VTPcNiFFRwE7PFdCnEv36TrMWuoikmZzT.jpg)


I've also found this great resource where some maths teacher dude has done a talk through of the entire two years worth of text books for the Edexcel specification which my mate recommended as that's what he used to teach.... the link's here if yer interested. 

https://www.mathsociety.org.uk/alevelmaths

I'll probably aim for the 2024 exams, I'm in no rush, in fact I might even wait until 2025, we'll see, my plan is just to learn and practice, practice, practice, to get so familiar with the language of maths that I can just walk in without batting an eyelid and ace that damn thing. 

And make up for my slack year 35 years ago! 

Oh, and 35 years! FUCK!