GCSE MATHEMATICS

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GCSE MATHEMATICS

• HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR GRADE THE EASY WAY

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EQUIPMENT Most students bring all the correct
equipment (Pens, Pencils, Ruler, Angle
measurer/protractor, Calculator) However there
is a lot of evidence which shows they simply
dont use it! DIAGRAMS Almost all diagrams
are NOT drawn to scale. Many students ignore
this fact. They simply measure angles and lines
without calculating them and consequently get no
marks.
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READ THE QUESTION It is recommended that you
read the question TWICE. There is plenty of
time. You can underline the important parts of
a question if you wish to
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CALCULATORS Make sure you can read a display
that is in Standard Form. No credit is given
for writing an answer as 1.6306. Make sure your
calculator is set in the DEG mode
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FAMILIARISE YOURSELF WITH YOUR OWN
CALCULATOR BRING IT TO SCHOOL EVERY DAY DONT
RELY ON THE SCHOOLS CALCULATOR WHICH MAY HAVE A
DIFFERENT LOGIC SYSTEM TO YOURS.
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METHODS Working out MUST be shown. There are a
lot of method marks available and it is
recommended that all relevant stages of working
are shown. Incorrect answer and no working
gains no marks If correct working is shown and a
careless error results in an incorrect answer you
could gain 4 out of 5 marks available
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MATHS SPECIFIC ERRORS
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PROBABILITY A very large number of answers are
still given as 1 in 2 or 5 out of 1O. These are
incorrect. Answers should be decimals, fractions
or percentages. As a general rule if the
question uses fractions then give your answer as
a fraction. Reminder A probability answer
cannot be greater than 1!
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UNITS You
will have to give your own units for at least one
question. Units of length, volume and area are
frequently mixed up by students. Learn
them. Learn common Metric to Imperial
conversions. e g 1 kg 2.2 lbs, 1 mile 1.6
Km. 1 Gallon 4.55 Litres etc. Reminder There
are 52 weeks in a year.(Many students use 50)
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UNITS Even if not asked to always write down
units at the end of a question If a question
contains mm and cm it Is a good idea to convert
all to the same
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ACCURACY Do not round
answers off until the very last line of working.
Use the calculator memory function and notation
such as 16.534.. This is especially important in
trigonometry questions. (There is a significant
difference between 23x1 .66 and
23x1.66666666) If you are asked to measure a
line and it measures 9.1cm use 9.1cm. Do not
assume that the line is supposed to be 9cm long.
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TRIAL AND IMPROVEMENT Usually there will be a
table for you to write your attempts in. You do
not need to fill in all the rows . You must have
at least one trial above and one trial below the
correct answer.
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ANSWERS If the question asks you to give the
answer to 1dp,2sf or in Standard form you will
lose at least one mark every time you fail to do
so.
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PERCENTAGE CHANGE When asked for a sale
price many students work out the reduction
correctly but then fail to take it away from the
original price losing at least 1 mark
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FORMULA SHEETS Make sure you know what is going
to be given you on a formula sheet. Intermediate
Only the area of a trapezium and volume of a
prism are given.What formulae do you need to
know?
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For borderline grade C students It is also
usually best to avoid the very hardest grade B
topics ( eg Trigonometry and Simultaneous
Equations ) These can take up a lot of revision
time. They actually aren't worth that many
marks and there are quicker and easier topics to
revise first.
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You need around 55 in the Intermediate
GCSE Maths exam paper to get a Maths GCSE grade
C.Don't just concentrate on the C grade
questions. Just as important are the earlier
(and easier) questions on the exam paper. Make
sure you have revised thoroughly these easier
grade D and grade E questions These are worth
50 of the Intermediate GCSE Maths marks.
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HIGHER PAPERS ONLY HOW TO GET GRADE A Revise
the easier questionsYou need around 60 in the
Higher Maths GCSEexam to get a grade A.Cover
thoroughly the easier grade C and grade
Bquestions, as these cover the first 50of the
Higher Maths GCSE exam
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IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT BY FOLLOWING THESE
GUIDELINES STUDENTS CAN IMPROVE THEIR MARKS BY UP
TO 10/o THE AVERAGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A gradeD
AND A grade C IS ONLY 4!!