Where do I start with studying for my maths exams? Tips for GCSE and A Level
LikeMaths is a very unique subject to revise for, as it doesn't involve an abundance of memorisation but requires you to sharpen your problem-solving skills. So how exactly should you prepare for a maths exam?
Creating a revision plan
Deciding what to revise and when you will do so is just as vital as revision itself, because there is limited time that you have to spend revising. If you are sitting your GCSEs there will be several other subjects you will be revising, and at A level there is so much content you need to revise efficiently by focussing your revision on areas that you struggle with.
The first step to creating a solid revision plan is to look over your exam specification, which can be found on your exam board's website, which outlines the maths content that you have been studying. To narrow down what you need to be focusing your revision time on, use a colour coding system with your specification : make a list and mark topics as red if you don't understand them and are unsure how to answer questions on these topics, yellow if you understand the topic but don't always get questions correct, and green if you feel confident that any exam question on this topic you would be able to answer. You could also do this if you have a revision guide that follows your specification, and highlight the contents page to visually see what needs the most improvement.
Now that you know where your mathematical strengths and weaknesses lie, it is time to plan out when you will be revising for GCSE and A-level maths. It's best to create a weekly timetable of after school and weekend time so that revision becomes a habit, and you are studying long term instead of cramming the night before your exams. When planning when to revise, remember to consider any prior commitments you have such as a part-time job, other subjects you are studying, and sufficient time for breaks. For example, you might want to revise in 45 minute blocks followed by a 10-minute break. At the start of the week, you can then assign topics - starting with ones that you have marked as red as moving to yellow - to each time slot for maths. Now you're ready to begin revising efficiently!
Know your maths content
When you begin revising a topic, it's important to refresh your knowledge of some of the main concepts and examples before you attempt questions, as it may have been a while before you have seen these questions and you will inevitably be looking back over your notes anyway. You may want to review the notes and examples you have looked at in your classes or look over the examples in your textbook or revision guide - make sure you can follow the examples and understand each step. If you come across a particularly difficult example question that you would have struggled to answer, you could write it down on a flashcard and make time to look over hard example questions regularly so you remember more complex mathematical techniques. When it comes to formulae associated with a topic, you may not need to memorise them as they can be given to you on a formula sheet, especially if you are studying A-levels, so check your exam board's formula book before spending time committing formulae to memory.
Exam papers and practise questions
The majority of your revision time should be spent doing practice questions and exam questions, so that in the exam you will be confident in your problem-solving abilities to tackle questions that you may have not seen anything similar to, and so that you easily answer questions similar to those you have previously seen in your revision.
When you are attempting questions and feel stuck, it can be tempting to immediately look at the solutions or mark scheme. However, it is best to keep attempting the question on your own and answering as much as possible until you are sure you cannot figure anything else out, as this is where you will develop problem-solving skills which are essential in exams. There are many questions you can ask yourself when stuck, and I have compiled a few here:
- Have I used the correct data and information from the question?
- Have I understood what the question is asking me?
- Is my algebra correct and any numerical work correct? Can I further simplify any algebra?
- Can I draw a graph or diagram that would make the problem easier to visualise?
- Have I seen a question similar to this in the past which I could take ideas from to solve this?
- What topics is this question testing me on? Is there a formula or a fact from this topic that could help me?
- If I am trying to prove a result could I work backwards from the result?
If you still cannot make any progress on a question, just make sure that when you do look over a solution you review it a few times and understand how you could have figured out the question, so that in the future when you see similar question it will be obvious how to solve them. It is important to look at exam questions because after you have answered many of them you will begin to recognise patterns in questions that are usually asked for different topics, such as at GCSE, there are often questions that combine angle facts, triangles and circle theorems together.
A few months before your exams or if you have mocks exams soon, completing whole past papers timed can be useful as they allow you to see any areas that still need improvement or that you have forgotten, and you will adjust to the time pressure. Sometimes in exams you may have questions that outside the exam you could answer, but because of the pressure to work quickly and stress, you may make easily preventable mistakes or go blank at challenging questions. Therefore, it is important to not only be able to complete exam style questions in general, but to be able to do them when under pressure. Remember general exam technique when completing past papers as well: if there is something you most definitely cannot make progress on, move on to another questions and if you have time remaining check over your answers. For A level maths especially, remember that you don't just receive marks for your answers, and that it's best to attempt working out and not get an answer than just leave a question out that you think is too hard for you to complete.
To conclude, I hope that you are successful when studying maths and enjoy it as well, even though it can be challenging it is a very rewarding subject to understand. Remember to take breaks when studying and if you are struggling with your revision there are lots of resources out there to help, and feel free to find online tutoring for GCSE and A level maths.