Bio
Details: 22, Watford, London
Imperial Course: BSc Physics
Previous Education: A-Levels (Maths, Physics, Chemistry)
Clubs and societies: Working class network
Job: Packer in a warehouse
Tags: Home, UG, FoNS, Phys, mature, commuter, carer
Motivations and Frustrations
Motivations
Andrew left school at 16 and took his A-Levels at sixth-form college over three years (one per year) while working to help support his family. He was encouraged to apply for university as they told him he was academically gifted. He selected Physics because it interests him, and he hopes that it will lead to a well-paying job in the future. He has been using the resources in the Maths Catalogue since he applied to Imperial, so he knows what to expect and to help him cover some of the material in A-Level further maths which was not offered at his college.
Frustrations
He is concerned that he will be disadvantaged because he did not study further maths as he knows many of his peers did. He feels lost in lectures because many of the maths topics are covered quickly and there is no time within the course for consolidations. He also struggles for time as he commutes from Watford so he can care for his mother, who is often unwell, and his younger sister who is doing her GCSEs. He is also working less to make time for his studies so is further worried about family finance.
Andrew's Stories
Andrew is about to start his BSc Physics at Imperial. He is a mature student and completed his A-levels over several years at a further education college while he was working. He will still be working when he starts at Imperial, and he wants to make sure he is as prepared as possible. He doesn’t have A-level further maths because it wasn’t offered at his college, so he is using the Introductory Maths Catalogue to make sure he has all the maths knowledge he needs to be able to keep up with his first-year courses.
This is what Andrew has to say about the catalogue
“Knowing what concepts will be taught in each module will really help me plan what I need to do”