Top Tips To Getting An A* In A Level Maths

The A*in A Level Mathematics is something that most students aspire for. It guarantees access to the best universities in the country and ensures a bright future ahead. But scoring A* Grade at A-Level Mathematics is not an easy task, especially if mathematics is not something that comes to you organically. But year after year, there are hordes of students who get an A* even if though they hated maths and were not good at it. Most of these students share their experiences online and the one thing that helped them achieve this grade was a clear strategy. They all had a planned clear approach figured out on how to study for the A Level Maths examination. Below, we have shared 7 top tips that will help to ace this exam.

1. Solve the Questions

There are no two ways to this. You need to practice the questions in your main textbook every day. When you finish the questions in the textbooks then start answering the questions in the past papers. When you get stuck, do ask your teacher for help. A lot of times, students hesitate to ask for help because you don’t like to be wrong! But it’s alright to ask for help, especially where such a complex subject is concerned. You really don’t need to feel There is no shame in asking for help.

2. Know the Core 1 Topics well

The first five topics on Core 1 are a critical part of the A Level Maths course material. You really need to know these concepts like the back of the hand. These are:

• Surds & Indicies
• Quadratics
• Inequalities
• Sketching Curves
• Coordinate Geometry

Practice these again and again. It’s a really useful to put example , especially the hard ones relating to these topics on a flash card. This way you can look at the working required clearly on the flash cards every day and retain them well. These concepts are used in the most difficult problems. You also need to focus deeply on the simultaneous equations and algebraic fractions. When writing a challenging exam question, the examiner will select a use of one of the above concepts, as most students do struggle in their application in examinations.

3. Review is a must

You should review the each lesson practised the day before. This helps to consolidate what was previously learnt. For example, if you practicing C2, do also go back and practice C1 problems. Else, there is a tendency to forget the previously learnt knowledge. Revise and review on the next day or the following day or even the following week, the notes of the previously learnt lessons and try some of the questions. The trick is to remind yourself of how to do the problem. This seemingly minor practice can help to score a A*!

4. Future Review

Take time out to set some questions that you will review in two months’ time. This kind of midway review helps to create a long term memory that will help you remember concepts and problems that you studied a while ago. It also helps you see the co-relation with other maths topics and style of questions.

5. Past Papers are very important tools!

When practising past papers, remember you are simulating a mock exam. These questions actually appeared in previous exam papers. They are therefore, are completely relevant to what you will be actually sitting for. Therefore, practise the papers under exam conditions as in adhere to the time given. Try not to look at your notes while taking these mock exams. Apart from you cheating yourself, you will never know if you can remember things under pressure, if you keep looking at your notes. Mocks help you to build this confidence in yourself. They also help build time management skills.

Also, do remember to read the paper properly before you start working on the same. This will help you to quickly analyse the marks for each question and then plan your strategy on how you will have to work the problems out to achieve the given marking. When marking papers, use the mark scheme and mark rigorously. If you think you haven’t written enough to get the mark, then you probably haven’t. If in doubt, ask your teacher for help.

6. Strive for every single mark

Remember that your scoring an A* is dependent on how everybody else performs The grade boundaries are relative. Hence, it is really is best if you can try and to aim for every single mark in the exam. Get into the mind set now. Aim to score every single mark in your homework and all school tests. Aim for every single mark in the past papers. If there is a mark you did not get, find out why you couldn’t get it. Then, next time round you will know how to up your game and make sure you’d get it in future.

7. Online resources

There are lots of online resources available that can help you reach your goal of achieving an A*. The trick lies in choosing the course that suits you. You may prefer learning in a group. Or you may just be looking to download past papers and other practice papers. There are certain sites that also solve the hard questions in the A Level maths syllabus and put those up in the form of a video. You could study the approaches used by these sites as well, to clear your doubts on hard questions that you may be struggling with.

Choose what suits you the best and helps you achieve your end goal which is getting an A*. If you are unsure about the benefits of an online A Level Math tutor , you can sign up for free trial classes and try them out. You can also sign up for free personalised one-one demo class on www.wizert.com They provide tutorials that are completely tailored for your needs. They help to match students with a teacher they think can best help achieve the student’s end goal.