15 Top Tips To Ace the GCSEs
If you are feeling the pressure of the preparing for the GCSEs, our advice would be , “don’t fret.” While there is no ‘magic mantra’ that can help you pass the GCSE or secure an A or A* grade, smart work instead of hard work and having a good study strategy in place for the GCSE Maths paper, will help you overcome this hurdle easily.
Here are 15 tips that will help ease the thorny path of the prep for GCSE Maths.
1. Focus on the First Eight
The first eight questions are generally fluency-type questions based upon the nine basics of maths: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, percentages, scale and ratio. Here is where you need to focus on getting these basics right. They are Grade 1, 2 and 3-type questions. Take your time over these first eight questions. These are designed to help you to settle you and move easily onto the rest of the question papers.
Remember, a few errors in these first eight questions which, over three papers, will add up to quite a few easy marks lost. You can identify the gaps in your knowledge and ways to address them by signing up for a free demo at www.wizert.com.
2. Handwriting Matters!
Your answers should be readable. You may have noticed that under pressure your writing turns all scribbly and scruffy, especially when you are writing really quickly. Or your writing may be too small to begin with . Examiners often complain that in some papers that they correct the ‘numbers don’t look like numbers!’ Examiners often question whether a number is a 4 or a 6; or a 1 or a 7.
Be alert while copying numbers across from the question or the calculator or even copying your own numbers. If you make a mistake, simply cross it out neatly with a single line. Avoid scribbling out mistakes on the paper.
3. Umpteen Checks
Take your time while following the instructions on the exam paper. Make sure you are answering the right number of questions. And most importantly, check your answers over and over again. You could try and estimate the answer first – what is the answer roughly going to be?
4. Get the Right Tools
Do take some time out to put together the tools you will need for your GCSE Maths exam. These would include your geometry box. And while you are at it, do practice using the protractor and the compass. Construction of angles, triangles and bisecting angles can give you some easy marks.
5. USE the Calculator
As you know, there are two papers which include the use of a calculator. This translates to as much as three hours of exam time.
It has been noted by Chief Examiners, that students spend time working out calculations manually but they could, and should, be using a calculator. Things such as standard form and fractions work can all be done on the calculator. Therefore, practice using the calculator during your revision sessions so you can use it efficiently during the exam and save time.
6. Nail the Conversions!
You should know your conversions well before you find yourself in the exam room. Use flashcards to help commit these to your memory. Sometimes, the answer will already show the units required. Sometimes, there will be a mix of units within the question. Usually, you will be required to work with the same units, so conversions will be required, for example, from metres to kilometres.
7. Command Words
Familiarise yourself with the list of command words used in the instructions. You need to understand how to respond to words like, justify, evaluate, describe, explain etc. AQA have a command word list with definitions that is very helpful. Knowing what ‘solve’ actually means, being aware of the difference between ‘draw’ and ‘sketch’ and what ‘show that’ means, are important to success.
8. Wordy Questions
Draw simple sketches to quickly find your way around word-heavy questions. These kind of wordy questions have lots of numbers in them, so you will need a visual to get a grip on such questions. This may also help you find a way into the question.
9. Which Questions do you do First?
One suggestion for this is to actually first read the entire paper before answering any questions. Tick against the questions you like the look of first, and put a cross against those you don’t like the look of. Then attempt the ticked questions first.
Remember to look at all parts of a question, as they may be unrelated.
10. Show your working; justify your answer; prove that…
Understanding some key terms will help you answer the questions correctly. For example, ‘decide’ means a response such as ‘yes it is,’ or ‘no, it isn’t.’ There has to be a clear choice of one thing or another; usually with justification as to why the choice was made.
‘Show your working’ – this statement means that you will not get full marks if you don’t show your working. Even if the answer is correct. ‘Justify your answer’ is asking for statement of fact. ‘Prove’ means to show beyond any doubt mathematically.
11. Multi-mark Questions
Chief Examiners often highlight the fact that, the high mark questions later on in the paper are not answered so well by Grade 3 students. It appears that they avoid even looking at such questions because it intimidates them.
How should you react to a high mark question? A really good strategy that does work is to look at these types of questions – maybe a
4 or 5 mark question and ask yourself, “What would I need to do to get 1 mark; 2 marks; 3 marks?” This strategy takes the edge off a high mark question and helps to break down the requirements.
12. Multi-part Questions
Similarly, be careful while reading a multi-part questions, as they may have parts that maybe unrelated.
For example, in a multi-part question, part a) may be about a topic but then part b) may only be lightly associated in terms of the topic. Like, part a) may be a bearings question but part b) may be about angles around a point and part c) may be about angles in parallel lines. So read through each part of such questions carefully.
13. Know how the Papers are Marked
You probably know that one examiner does not mark an entire paper. An examiner gets assigned a number of questions to mark for everybody. Each question on an exam paper is scanned in and sent off to different examiners.
Therefore, try not to write or draw anything outside of the answer space. It is likely to be missed by the examiner and they will drop marks. If you need extra space to write, then you could maybe draw an arrow indicating where the extra writing is. If the examiner cannot read it, or if it is not clear where the answer is, you will not get the marks.
14. Time Keeping
The number of marks in a question are a clear indication of the number of minutes you need to spend on it. 1 mark questions require little more than 1 minute; 2 marks, 2 mins and so on. If a question is taking up too much of your time its best to move on. Then you can come back to it later.
15. Chief Examiners’ reports on the exam
These reports are a source of some very useful information. They help identify important trends like: what students do well and not so well, what might help you to focus on the key topics that they mention. It also identifies what people struggle with – it may be reading the scale on a protractor, or converting fractions to decimals. The comments are very specific and useful to access to.
We hope these tips will help in your GCSE Maths prep. Do get in touch with us for a free demo at www.wizert.com for further help , support and guidance. Our expert GCSE Maths tutors can help guide you to success in the GCSEs.