Does Maths Literacy limit your options?

The difference, in real numbers

Notice the middle APS is almost the same. The gap is not that Maths Literacy students get worse marks, it is that fewer programmes accept the subject.

It depends on your other subjects

Here the simple story breaks down, which is worth knowing before anyone tells you Mathematics is always the answer. These are students who took the same three other subjects, differing only in their maths choice.

With commerce subjects, the students taking Mathematics lined up with clearly more. With several humanities combinations it runs the other way. That does not mean Maths Literacy opens more doors there. It means the students who choose each route were already different from each other before they chose, so these are descriptions of who took what, not predictions of what a subject will do for you.

So how should you decide?

• Start from the career, not the subject. Look up what you want to do and check whether it needs Mathematics. If it does, that settles it.
• Be honest about how you are coping now. A level 3 in Mathematics closes more doors than a level 6 in Maths Literacy, because many programmes set a minimum level in whichever subject you took.
• Do not pick for easiness. It is the reason most learners regret this choice, and by Grade 12 it is very difficult to undo.

Compare real subject packages and take the quiz, or browse careers that do not need Mathematics.