School of Mathematics Teaching
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Year 1

How to build your degree, including optional courses from within the School of Mathematics and elsewhere.

To choose your courses you should:

1. Establish what your compulsory and core courses are.

You can do this using the University's Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study (DRPS).

2. Calculate how many optional course credits you have to take.  

You should complete 120 credits per year, balanced across the two semesters - so 60 credits (or 3 x 20 credit courses) per semester.

3. Browse PATH to choose your optional courses.

Log into PATH using your student ID to view optional courses that are available to you. Year 1 undergraduate students should select courses at level 7 or 8 (from limited Schools).

Alternatively, you can look on your Degree Programme Table. You can find courses in the ‘Level 7 and 8 courses in Schedules A to Q, S, T, W and Y’ section.

4. Input your selected combination of courses on PATH.

Look out for the PATH colour coding system:

  • Subjects in blue are available for you to choose
  • Subjects in red are unavailable for you to choose
  • Subjects in green are courses that you have selected and meet your programme requirements
5. Once you have made your selection in PATH, send your completed selection to your Student Adviser.

Your Student Adviser will process your enrolment and will be in touch if there are any issues with your course choices.

(Sometimes, courses in other Schools will be full. If you are selecting courses from other Schools, you may want to note any back-up choices in the comments box of PATH before submitting.)

6. If you need further advice about course choice, please talk with your Student Adviser or Academic Cohort Lead during Welcome Week.

Welcome Week is the week commencing Monday 9th September. You can find more details on our events page. You can contact your Student Adviser by emailing studentsupport@maths.ed.ac.uk. If they are unable to help with your query, they will direct you to other sources of help and support as required.

 

Compulsory Maths Courses

On most Mathematics degree programmes, you must take these courses in Year 1:

Introduction to Linear Algebra (Path course lisitng)

Calculus and its Applications (Path course listing)  

Proofs and Problem Solving (Path course listing) 

If you are on a combined degree programme, you will have compulsory courses in your other subject too.

Optional Maths Courses 

Introduction to Data Science

Introduction to Data Science (Path course listing)

This is an introductory course in data science and statistical thinking where you will learn to explore, visualize, and analyze data to understand natural phenomena, investigate patterns, model outcomes, and make predictions, and do so in a reproducible and shareable manner. Gain experience in data wrangling and munging, exploratory data analysis, predictive modelling, data visualization, and effective communication of results. Work on problems and case studies inspired by and based on real-world questions and data. And do it all with R!

Fundamentals of Algebra and Calculus (FAC)

This is an introductory course in University Mathematics covering topics not covered in the previous education of many incoming undergraduates. Please check the details below to find out if you can and are advised to take this course. 

Fundamentals of Algebra and Calculus (Path course listing)

Is FAC suitable for me?

What entry qualifications do you have?

If you have SQA Highers/Advanced Highers:

  1. We strongly recommend you take this course if you do not have Advanced Higher Mathematics or you have Grade C or below.
  2. You may take this course if you have Advanced Higher Mathematics at Grade B.
  3. You may not take this course if you have Advanced Higher Mathematics at Grade A.

If you have A-Levels:

  1. We strongly recommend you take this course if you do not have A-Level Mathematics at Grade A*, or  A-Level Further Mathematics at Grade A or A*.
  2. You may take this course if you have A-Level Mathematics at Grade A and A-Level Further Mathematics at Grade A.
  3. You may not take this course if you have A-Level Mathematics at Grade A*.

If you have IB:

  1. We strongly recommend you take this course if you do not have Higher Mathematics at Grade 5 or better.
  2. You may take this course if you have Higher Mathematics at Grade 5.
  3. You may not take this course if you have Higher Mathematics at Grade 6 or above.

If you have other qualifications, you should discuss whether or not it is appropriate for you to take FAC with your Academic Cohort Lead and be guided by your diagnostic test score (see below).

What is your diagnostic test score?

We ask all incoming students to take a diagnostic test on entry, and this can also help to inform decisions around taking FAC.

If you have taken Scottish examinations, A-levels or IB, your decision should be based primarily on your exam results as above. However, attention should be paid to the diagnostic test to help you decide if you are in the “may take the course” category.

Analysis of students’ performance in the test and subsequently in Year 1 mathematics has led us to recommend the following:

  1. Score greater than 70% - you probably should not take the course.
  2. Score between 50 and 70% - taking the course is likely to improve your Year 1 maths performance.  For scores in the range 50-59% particularly, taking the course is recommended to help you perform as well as you can in the compulsory Year 1 maths courses. 
  3. Score less than 50% - we strongly recommend you take the course.

Outside courses

When thinking about your outside courses:

  • You may want to choose courses that are close to mathematics, such as physics or computer science.
  • You may want to choose courses aligned with a particular career, such as business. 
  • You may want to develop new skills and strengths.
  • You may want to keep your options open for transferring to a different degree. For example, if you had trouble deciding between Maths and Physics when choosing your degree, taking core/compulsory year 1 Physics courses could keep the possibility of a Physics degree open to you.
  • You may just be really interested in learning a particular subject - something you liked at school, or something you have never done before. Or you may want to take an outside course with a group of friends...

Search for Year 1 courses on Path

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