Taking a Maths Exam

Taking a Maths Exam

Over the last thirty five years, I have had the privilege of preparing thousands of students for examinations in Mathematics and have also had the dubious pleasure of marking tens of thousands of live exam scripts at every level from KS3 SATs to Further Maths.

It is a well known fact that the students who gain top marks in Maths exams are not necessarily the best Mathematicians but are the students who are the best at taking Maths exams. This implies that they are the most skilful at performing in an exam room in the limited time available – 90 minutes or whatever the length of the exam. I remember that many of my students who would not have considered themselves brilliant at the subject coming through in the exam room and eclipsing some of their more able colleagues.

My experience is that the brilliant Mathematicians often make careless mistakes in their excitement at being able to do questions and seem to have one eye on the next question that they are going to do. By virtue of their brilliance they are sometimes guilty of showing very little working and consequently lose out on valuable method marks if they make an error.

My guidance for preparing and being successful in Maths exams are listed below.

Preparation

• Make sure you have an up-to-date specification – find it online – for the exam you are going to take. Don’t worry too much about the gobbledegook but you do need a list of topics that you need to cover. Don’t rely on your teacher to cover everything, we are all human! Many modern text books will have a summary of what you need to know at the end of each chapter. This is great because it makes your job easier.
• You need a good text book of course, preferably one that has been written recently as changes in specifications are happening regularly – don’t use your Dad’s old book. Some Maths text books are far too wordy and seem to be written only for candidates in the Maths Olympiad.
• Make notes for each topic but don’t go over the top. If you are in college or school, make sure you attend lessons, even if you find them frustrating at times, and always attempt the homework. However don’t sit up all night fretting to complete homework if you are finding it difficult. A rest and a new day are always best for solving difficult problems.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions – to your teacher, your colleague, your tutor or any other experienced Mathematician – don’t sit in the corner of the classroom and turn your toes up. Use organised revision sessions or workshops if these are available.
• Most important, make sure you have attempted some questions on each topic. I used to think that more is better but this does not seem to be the case for every student

Revision

• This is simple advice. Get hold of as many past exam papers as possible and work through them. Make a note of the questions that you find difficult and get help. Usually a few words or pointers will help. If you have taken a paper from the exam board’s website make sure you print off the mark scheme as well. This can be helpful if you are stuck but may not solve all of your problems.
• Start serious revision about six weeks before the date of the exam. For some module exams you may not have covered all of the topics at this stage but you do need to have a strategy in place at this stage.
• Be sensible about the time spent revising. 1½ to 2 hours is a reasonable session. Long sessions without a break can become boring and inefficient.
• Revising in daylight hours – difficult for January – can be more rewarding. It leaves you with time in the evenings for a life.
• Make a list of the formulas you will need to know – even if you hate using them – and learn them thoroughly. Don’t rely on the formula booklet as some of them won’t be there anyway.

The Examination

• Allocate time for marks – e.g. for a ninety minute exam worth seventy-five marks, allow a minute a mark. This gives you time for checking and correcting mistakes.
• Don’t spend ten minutes on a question worth two marks even if you think you know what to do. Leave it and come back to it later.
• Remember that many of the marks are for method so you must show a reasonable amount of working. If you use a particular formula, the method marks will be awarded when you start using the formula as opposed to just writing it down. Candidates rarely lose marks for writing down something silly - they just get nought. So you may as well have a go.
• Give yourself enough room in your booklet to answer questions. Most people make mistakes and need to correct some of the work. It can be very difficult for examiners to follow questions where the answer is in two or three sections on different pages.
• Take particular care to set out clearly any algebraic working you need. Corrections here can be very difficult to follow. If you know it’s wrong cross it out and start again.
• “Write down” means marks are for answers only and no working is required. Answers should be fairly obvious here.
• “Solve” means find the solutions (answers) to an equation.
• “Simplify” means make the expression shorter using algebra or arithmetic.
• “Prove” means start with one side of the formula and derive the other side by a series of mathematical steps. We usually go from the left side to the right side.
• For “hence or otherwise” questions always try the “hence” first. You may have done part of the working already.
• Remember that different parts of the same question are often linked.
• Always use pencil for diagrams and graphs.
• When rounding an answer, remember to round the final answer only. Premature rounding can lead to final answer marks being lost.
• Give the correct units for an answer.

 My three favourite tips for the exam room

• Answer the question that has been set – not one you would have liked to have been set.
• Please get right the questions you know how to do. Too many people make careless mistakes in “easy” questions.
• If all else fails, read the question – again.

Good Luck!