Top tips and methods to revise for A-level Edexcel Maths

 A-Level Maths (Edexcel) consists of three papers that are divided into pure maths, statistics and mechanics. Studying for each of these components requires different strategies and the time distribution will also vary; this is because statistics and mechanics combined make up one-third of your grade. Below are tips and methods I used to achieve an A* in A-level Maths.

Revising for Mathematics:

1.      Complete the exercises from the textbook after you learn the topic in school. There are many questions in the textbooks, which will be similar to the exam. This will help you understand the concepts that will be assessed. Whether you do every single question or not, you should now be at a point where you have learned the fundamentals.

2.       The next step is to find worksheets to do for each topic, which will contain many more types of questions that are not mentioned in the textbook. My favourite websites to find worksheets were PMT and Jethwa Maths, but there are many more free resources available to explore online. PMT provides cheat sheets for all topics, so you can read a summary before attempting questions.

3.       When you are familiar with enough topics, you are in the position to work through past papers in timed conditions. I recommend going through papers from your exam board starting with the latest one and working your way backwards.

Statistics and mechanics:

These components are quite different to pure maths. Firstly, there is more memorisation required and concepts are often entirely new to students, rather than an elaboration or extension of previously known concepts, such as trigonometry or algebra.

For statistics, before attempting questions, I found it useful to make flashcards or summary sheets of each topic with vital information that I had to commit to memory. For example, the data collection chapter of AS statistics had a lot of key information which I memorised using flashcards. On one side of a flashcard you may write a sampling method, say random sampling, and on the other side of the flashcard, you may write its advantage and disadvantages. There is also information you must know about the large data set. So you may make flashcards with data collection methods and relevant notes, for example, its units.

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After learning the content, you should follow steps 1-3 to become familiar with questions and practice exam techniques. I followed a similar approach for mechanics, with flashcards followed by textbook questions, worksheets and past papers.

Summary (TLDR):

1.       Doing a mix of worksheets and topic tests from multiple sources (textbook, PMT, etc.) will expose you to a range of questions from various exam boards and past papers.

2.       Use flashcards where there is more content and less maths.

3.       Keep track of which topics you are comfortable with and where there may be weaknesses that you need to review again, using an Excel sheet as follows:

4.       Use spaced repetition and try different techniques, such as mnemonic devices or visual aids.