Just a few pointers.
Familiarise yourself with the type of questions you will be asked. Google your exam board and download some past papers. Don’t forget to download the mark scheme too. All the exam boards will have these resources on their websites. Here’s just 1 : https://revisionmaths.com/gcse-maths/gcse-maths-past-papers/ocr-gcse-maths-past-papers
Practice. Use past papers to practice exam-style questions. This will help you identify areas where you need to focus your revision. Make sure you check the mark scheme, and make a note of any that you didn’t get right, then revise those subjects using videos from the Khan Academy, or Corbett Maths.
Read the question carefully. I know it sounds obvious but it’s so easy to misread and end up with a completely incorrect answer eg. Showing the cost of items when the question is asking for the change given. Underline the key information – that will help focus your attention.
Jot down Steps for Success. What do I mean? Well, just as you plan written answers, plan your maths answers- not for the 1-mark questions, obviously but when there are 4 or 5 marks up for grabs it’s worth getting clear in your mind how many steps there are -there’s is an example at the bottom of this page.
If you ignore everything else, remember this – SHOW YOUR WORKING OUT. There are a huge number of marks available for using suitable methods and you won’t get these marks if you try to calculate the answers in your head – if your method is good but your calculation is wrong you can still pick up a useful number of marks. Showing your working out means that if you lose focus for a moment you can pick up where you left off, rather than having to start all over again.
Have a go. Again, this sounds obvious but often we get put off if we don’t immediately recognise how to complete a question. My students will be sick of hearing me say tricky maths problems can be a bit like driving in fog – you can’t necessarily see your destination, so you drive to the next lamp post and then you can see the next bit of the journey, and so on. Sometimes we think we can only do a small part of a question, but once we’ve completed that bit the next part seems more obvious. Years ago, I faced the question: simplify sin x/cos x. I was stumped and moved on quickly. On the way home from the exam, I realised if I’d rewritten the question and tried the first part, it was actually quite simple (answer at the foot of the post for anyone who’s interested).
Always check units of measurement. A question may give information in cm but ask for an answer in m.
Remember you don’t need to answer the questions in order. If you find one tricky move on and go back to it. I usually circle the question so it’s clear I need to have another look at that one when check through.
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Example: Molly is running a carol concert and wants to give every guest 2 mince pies.2 All the tickets have been sold. There are 8 rows of 12 seats.1
Mince pies come in boxes of 6. If Molly buys 30 boxes3 of mince pies, will she have enough?4
I’ve underlined the key information, decided what steps I need to deal with each of those pieces of information and numbered the points in the order I will complete them.
1. 8 x 12 = 96 (seats)
2. 96 x 2 = 192 (pies needed)
3. 30 x 6 = 180 pies.
4. No Molly doesn’t have enough. She needs to buy 2 more boxes.
Simplify sin x / cos x
Sin x ÷ cos x = opposite / hypotenuse ÷ adjacent/hypotenuse
For dividing fractions we use Keep Change Flip, so
o/h x h/a = oh/ha
Divide numerator and denominator by h to simplify = o/a = tan x