You've got A-Levels on your mind - they're coming soon. Probably, you have a UCAS offer with target A-Level grades. You're not sure if you're doing the right thing. So, what should you be doing, when, and how?
Here's some advice that is tailored for Maths A-Level students in the UK, but still may be useful for all students of Maths and A-Levels:
What's the best way to revise?
When taking an exam, your goal is to score as many points as possible. For the two years of an A-Level course, that's what you should be thinking about the whole time. When you are looking at any topic in class, think about what a good question would look like, and how you could be challenged to prove your knowledge in an exam.
Ideally, of course, you should know everything about every topic the course (if this is realistic for you). But, you also need to know how to deal with the right style of questions and have some experience of 90-or-so minutes of sitting in exam hall. Being an expert at dealing with exams can benefit you just as much as topic knowledge.
What's the best way to use A-Level Past Papers?
Past Papers are now available on this website for AS-Level Maths, A-Level Maths, AS-Level Further Maths, A-Level Further Maths for all England and Wales exam boards, for the syllabus since 2018.
Past Papers in Exam Conditions
Your own exam board's questions are by far your most important resource. You should aim to maximise this benefit by doing them in exam conditions, and also to get through them all before the dates of the exams.
Aim to do these in perfect exam conditions. That means:
- schedule the right amount of time,
- time yourself,
- sit somewhere you'll be comfortable and won't be distracted,
- don't give yourself access to the internet or notes,
- have the calculator you will use in the real exam,
- aim to get a teacher to mark, and to give you feedback.
You could decide to do the older exam papers more casually, just to see what the questions are like, but keep working on getting as close to exam conditions as possible. Some people like to go further, and try to recreate the conditions of their school exam hall. For example:
Once you're done with each paper:
- Take some extra time to review and understand what was needed,
- Questions where you scored well - could you still answer these in a more efficient way?
- Take a note of any topics where you didn't get full marks, and consider doing some revision questions on these topics.
- Read through the #Mark Schemes and Examiners' Reports
In order to get the right experience and get through these papers, you should have started working regularly on timed past papers by around the Easter holiday before the exams.
Mock Exams
The most recent year's Past Papers are usually locked down by exam boards, so that schools can use them for mock exams. I'd recommend not looking at these before this, so you can use the mocks to get a realistic experience. Your school's mock exams are a great way to test yourself and see what you still need to work on. Try to avoid the urge to please your teacher or beat your classmates via mild cheating - resist giving yourself a high score and do these authentically.
Other A-Level Exam Boards Past Papers
Other exam boards follow almost the same syllabus for A-Level Maths in the UK. There may be small differences in the content, and some differences in the style of the questions, but these give you an extra opportunity for less formal practice. If you're looking to ensure you have a broad knowledge of topics, this is a great bonus task.
International A-Level Exam Board Questions
The International A-Levels (and pre-2018 UK syllabus) have a quite different syllabus from the UK A-Level syllabus and considerably different topics. These are somewhat less useful for diligent exam practice - you might be preparing for the wrong exam!
However, the questions here are definitely worth checking, especially if you are looking for some extra revision of a particular topic.
AS-Level Papers
If you're part way through an A-Level course, the AS-Level papers can give you a taste of what to expect from exams, without spoiling the full A-Level papers. This can be a good thing to do earlier in the course, since they're normally accessible after the first year, giving you a preview of the styles of exam questions. It's obvious that they will be less suitable later on - they will be lacking in half the topics you need to know.
Great to build your experience of dealing with timed exams!
Mark Schemes and Examiners' Reports
Another great resource! With some dangers!
Don't look at the mark schemes and examiners' reports until you are completely done with a paper in timed conditions, and have checked it through. There's a risk that you will cheat yourself here - looking at the mark scheme and thinking "I could have done that" is a bad way to assess your own skills.
Mark Schemes
Remember! The Mark Scheme is not designed for you - it's for professional markers and examiners to know where to give you marks in a consistent way. In some places, it may be difficult to interpret which marks you will actually get, especially for you as a student (even teachers can sometimes get this wrong). Always aim to get a teacher to mark against the mark scheme and give you feedback - people with some experience of professional marking will have the best idea of how to mark accurately.
Having said that, one way to get a high score in the exam is to write everything exactly as it says in the mark scheme, neatly, and with not too many extra lines. If you know the mark schemes well enough, it's easy to predict what they will say. And, if an examiner sees exactly what they are looking for, it's easy for them to give you more marks - and your primary goal is more marks.
Examiners' Reports
Examiners' Reports are a written description of how people did in each question of a past exam. These can be easier to read and highlight common mistakes that you may have overlooked, including subtle points that may not be obvious from reading the mark scheme. Examiners' Reports are definitely worth your time. They can also describe deliberate traps set for you: traps that the examiners are proud of.
Out of everyone taking Maths A-Level, the average grade is a B, and in Further Maths A-Level it's an A. If you're aiming for this or higher, you should be doing your best to avoid falling into the traps that the examiners describe in the reports.
What's the best way to use A-Level Questions?
The best way to use A-Level questions is simple - use them as real exam revision, as part of full practice exam papers.
This means that I probably don't recommend regularly doing "Questions by Topic" made of recent Past Papers questions. You may be spoiling your best resource by previewing questions from past papers, and you may tend to over-estimate your ability - the real exam won't tell you what topic to expect.
What Questions should I revise from?
Let's say you have done a couple of past papers and notice you need some more revision in one topic. Where should you find these questions?
Or, let's say you have a bit of time to revise, but not enough time to schedule a full past paper:
Revision with Textbook Questions
In general, textbook questions are a great resource. Don't neglect these! The textbooks tailored to your course are likely to have questions in the right style of the exam, that take you through what you need to know. Look for Mixed Exercises or Review Exercises as a focussed way to revise.
Don't go through the whole textbook again, as this is a huge waste of time that will cost you. Instead, pick out topics that you are struggling with, where you have lost marks in your practice Past Paper exams, and work through a key exercise that will immediately benefit you.
Rarely, a particular textbook does not cover all the material for a particular topic, or misses the point somehow - this is one of the things you will realise when you try some exam questions. It's rare, but it can happen.
Revision with Questions you have seen before
Making sure you are fluent with questions you have seen before is a good idea. There's no risk of spoilers, and you can check your knowledge is still good and improving.
I've got 12 hours to revise before my exam, what do I do now?
Right before an exam, you should aim to do tasks that will keep your confidence up while reminding you of key ideas.
I recommend doing an 'easy'-ish past paper that you've seen before. Time yourself, but go easy on yourself - your goal is to gently refresh the skills that you will need. You may want to do a little review of topic questions which you already know but sometimes forget, but don't stress yourself 😃😅
Make sure you get plenty of rest, and sleep well. Stay hydrated and eat well. Consider doing some light exercise to keep you mentally fresh - maybe this means taking a chill walk. Be in the right place for the exam in plenty of time. Chill with friends if that benefits you, or take time to be alone, if that's what you need. Don't try anything new - only if you normally drink coffee, then drink coffee. If you don't normally drink coffee, then exam day is not the right time to start. (I am not necessarily talking about drinking coffee!)
Good luck!