Further/is it a really dropkick sub?

[Jemin99]

Hey
I am considering doing further next year however, so many friends of mine just call it 'a massive dropkick subject'
and that its not like a real maths subject but rather like accounting.
Is further really that easy? If we just study it as we do for any other maths subjects, would we get a good score?
Thanks!

[Sine]

Hey
I am considering doing further next year however, so many friends of mine just call it 'a massive dropkick subject'
and that its not like a real maths subject but rather like accounting.
Is further really that easy? If we just study it as we do for any other maths subjects, would we get a good score?
Thanks!

I haven't done Further personally but from what i've heard from friends is that the content is extremely easy so its possible to score probably up to a 40-42 raw (90% exams) with talent or hard work but if you are truly aiming for a 50 you will have to be extremely careful and meticulous to minimise careless errors.

[Cornrow Kenny]

To be blunt I think it is an easy 40 for a strong Maths student. However the content is different to other Maths you have done in the past so you will have to listen in class and do some work before SACs, but other than that it isn't a heavy workload. However while the content can be considered easy it is difficult to get a very high score.

[Aaron]

No, it isn't a dropkick subject and I disagree with ANYONE who thinks it is. Maths means something different to everyone and there are some that are really great at it who go on to do Methods/Spec and some that choose to just do Further (or even no maths at all). You will find that because Further Maths is the "easiest" of the three Year 12 mathematics subjects, often it is stereotyped. It's great that you get to choose which maths you want to do in Year 12.

I get the feeling that Further is separated from the others due to it's applied nature. Like the others above have said, Further is extremely difficult to score high ("high" being 45+) due to the competitive nature of the subject. Further by a massive margin is the most popular maths subject statewide and has been for quite a while, which often results in more students competing for the top spots.

Most students choose further for a number of reasons, i'll list a few below (definitely not limited to this):
- No mathematical requirement for university courses, but still want some fundamental knowledge.
- Unable/difficulty to grasp pure concepts in mathematics.

In my personal view (as a pre-service teacher in maths) I feel that students who are doing Maths Methods/Specialist should be barred from completing Further, as the subject is often abused by these students as their 'bludge' subject. I also see that you're doing 4 maths in total (inc. uni math) via your sig, something I probably would not recommend at all.

[spectroscopy]

People say it's a bludge subject because there are alot of people who are good at math and do methods and spesh as well as further and they make up a very vocal part of the population. a lot of people don't do well in further, 50% of state by definition has to get 30 or less, it's just that these people often don't like to talk about their scores or get embarrassed.

If you are good at math such that you should get good scores in methods and spesh then you will find the content in further easy to learn and your biggest concern will be the trick questions in the subject.

If you aren't naturally talented at math you can still do well in further. I knew a few people in high school who were not math kids and just did further to have a math and they completed the work and studied for sacs etc and still got pretty good scores in the subject. The top end of the bell curve is pretty clogged with the naturally good at math kids and the hard workers but usually the people who work hard to better because of the nature of the questions in further

I'm not really good at math and saw my methods tutor like 2 times a week in year 12. I got a 26 in methods thanks to a super strong cohort, learning how to use a cas really well, and getting lucky on the exam, but I got a 40 in further and for full disclosure I did the least work for further out of all of my subjects. I even beat some of the really smart math kids who got in the mid 40s for methods and scaled 50s for spesh and that's mostly because in further once you learn the content it becomes a question of answering the questions correctly and avoiding tricks which the people who treat the the subject as a joke don't do well

[HighTide]

Hey
I am considering doing further next year however, so many friends of mine just call it 'a massive dropkick subject'
and that its not like a real maths subject but rather like accounting.
Is further really that easy? If we just study it as we do for any other maths subjects, would we get a good score?
Thanks!

I'm going to take a different view here and obviously some may disagree.
In my opinion, the further curriculum was ridiculous. However, saying that, I probably regret maybe not doing it in year 11. With everyone scoring marks so easily in further, you have to be efficient at minimising your marks lost and that mainly went down to careless errors. So I would have recommended doing year 11 further, then methods and specialist in year 12.

Seeing as you've done spesh, if I were you, I'd go with uni maths. You shouldn't have any trouble if you've done spesh. But at the same time, if you feel that further will be in your top 4, go ahead. Also consider what everyone else has said about 4 maths. Even if you're really good at maths, I'd think 3 would probably be pushing it.

[brenden]

Doesn't really matter how good at maths you are tho hey... Could have a PhD in it and still misread a question that's basically set up to mislead you lol. Do that three times in Exam 1 and say laters to your 45+ lol.

[Swagadaktal]

Yeah further is a simpler subject - i probably put 1/8th the time i spent into methods into further and scored similarly in both. I found further a breeze compared to methods, however, I still spent a good amount of time in it. I spent about a week of the summer holidays going through the core topic (statistics) and then spent most classes effectively, and then probably a night before a sac studying for it. Which is considerably less than what I'd spend for methods. The questions themselves were simple, and there's literally a small cap they can place on the cycle of questions (theres only so many questions they can ask, unlike methods where they can really test your understanding of the subject)

The subject itself can get quite boring because of its simplicity, and I enjoyed studying methods more for its complexity. However, having done those subjects last year, I can say that I appreciate further much more because it's the most applicable to real life. I didn't really recognise how important this was until after year twelve, where I've spent a whole year learning the study design and not a subject.

Just a different perspective you might want to consider

tldr yes its easy if you do the work, + good shit to know for lyf

[whatevenisexams]

I would not say further is a drop kick subject because to do really well you really do need to work hard. I had a friend who was really good at maths and was in an advanced maths program in 7-9, did further, did no work in it and got consistent 50-60% on his sacs and didn't finish the exam.

I personally thought further was harder than methods but mostly because of the amount of interpretation of data and questions is crazy. The way I describe further is English comprehension with a calculator.

However, in saying that, further is totally a worthwhile subject if you're willing to put the same effort into it as methods because I personally thought it was less work than other subjects and the content is mostly comprehendible (I really hated financial maths with a passion)