The 2012 STEP Results Discussion Thread

Original post by TRLMaths

Completely agree. Even the calling out in lectures was worth it..... :') Which "group" were you in? I'm Tom btw haha...

Calling out in lectures? Oh you're talking about Rahul's boy right? :wink:

I'm Hassan (this is not to you tom obviously :tongue:

). If anyone spoke to me then message me on here and I'll add you on Facebook :smile:

Reply 1583

shamika

Original post by dugdugdug

Whilst the standard of A-Level (Maths or even Further Maths) has dropped, with content taken out over the years (affecting the STEP and S-Level / AEA syllabus as well), has the overall standard of STEP or AEA remained the same?

I'm not the best person to ask, because ideally you want someone who is revising for them properly (i.e. practicing papers under exam conditions) to see whether they notice a difference. Its one thing picking out questions here and there (and there's usually two or three questions on each paper that are 'easy')) and another trying to maximise your score in a time limit.

Thoughts from DFranklin/everyone else?

On AEA: the S paper questions from the 90's are definitely in the same style as the AEA questions I've seen. I actually sat the AEA not really realizing its significance. It was just another random paper we were asked to do in Year 12 and no one had heard of it...

Reply 1584

DFranklin

18

As far as the old entrance paper goes, it's perhaps worth pointing out that there were *four* other maths papers of ascending difficulty: papers 501-504 (although 504 (the most difficult) was taken solely by people looking for scholarships and the like). I don't have any of those papers any more, but my recollection is that the questions were noticably harder than on the corresponding STEP paper. They were also different in that many questions required significant post-A-level knowledge. On the other hand, you were not expected to do as many questions (3 questions completed to 15/20 standard on paper 503 guaranteed admission, IIRC) and you had a lot more to choose from.

As far as the comments on that page go: I'm gonna agree with those who said it was completely unrealistic to compare fourth term students from comps to seventh term students from private schools.

Reply 1585

DFranklin

18

Original post by shamika

I'm not the best person to ask, because ideally you want someone who is revising for them properly (i.e. practicing papers under exam conditions) to see whether they notice a difference. Its one thing picking out questions here and there (and there's usually two or three questions on each paper that are 'easy')) and another trying to maximise your score in a time limit.

Thoughts from DFranklin/everyone else?I think the overall difficulty has stayed pretty much the same - it feels to me the questions now are more consistent, so the easiest questions from 10 years ago are easier than the easiest now, and the hardest questions from 10 years ago are harder.

At the same time, the required scores have (generally) been creeping up, which would overall make things harder.

One thing that I think is a really significant change: back in 1987 there were no resources like TSR, or google. If you were in a typical comprehensive, you'd get 2 or 3 past papers for STEP (or the CCE), and you'd try to work out your own solutions. If you were good, you might find solutions to something like two thirds of the problems, but many wouldn't be optimal. There would be other questions that you just had no idea how to do, and you'd never find out. You'd be lucky to get feedback from a teacher who could actually judge what you were doing.

Now, you have many years of past papers available as well as multiple solutions to pretty much all the questions, and lots of sources for help

Overall, I think this is great - I feel it has definitely levelled the playing field compared with when I did the exams, and you'd be competing against private/grammar schools that had specific classes for CCE preparation (and sl e of these schools would have libraries of past-papers/worked solutions going back decades). But I think it's pushed the boundaries up (*).

(*) Not to blow my own trumpet (and I don't think it was *just* me - I think it was a bit of a freak year), but the year I joined TSR, we had a concerted attack on the STEP papers from the 90's, and I did a lot of critiquing of solutions and explaining other methods etc. (unfortunately I don't have time for that now). The number of people on TSR getting S-grades that year was probably high enough to affect the overall boundaries.

Reply 1586

TheMagicMan

15

Original post by gff

Not bad those papers.

This wasn't bad also

\displaystyle \int \sqrt{\cos(4x) + \cos(2x)}\ dx

.

I want to see how social science people work those two out. :tongue:

I might as well try some essays :biggrin:

Spoiler

Reply 1587

Dirac Spinor

10

Did a timed paper yesterday, STEP II 2003. I must say, it was a bit of a train-wreck as I spent nearly half the time with no solutions but pulled it back and managed to get 5 full questions out. Never the less, it revealed some massive exam technique flaws mainly involving giving up too early and choosing what turned out to be some of the hardest questions on the paper. One of the questions I didn't do took me a few minutes to do once I had a look back at the paper.
This is pretty worrying :frown:

Reply 1588

TheMagicMan

15

Original post by ben-smith

really? essays on maths or anything?

Some of those old papers Shamika posted are great. Here's one from the scholarship examination from 1961:
Given that

I(k)=\displaystyle \int^{\pi}_{0}\dfrac{sin\theta cos\theta}{\sqrt{1-2kcos\theta+k^2}}d\theta

prove that

I(k)=2/(3k^2) (1 \geq k)[br](2/3)k (-1 \leq k \leq 1)[br]-2/(3k^2) (k \leq -1)

Spoiler

Reply 1589

jukebox123

1

Hi, for STEP I 2001, question 2 part ii, is it right to multiply everything through by x^2, and solve the resulting quartic equation, finding the critical values?
I was thinking you cannot multiply by X, as this may be negative, and X^2 is always positive.

Reply 1590

username219321

Original post by ben-smith

Did a timed paper yesterday, STEP II 2003. I must say, it was a bit of a train-wreck as I spent nearly half the time with no solutions but pulled it back and managed to get 5 full questions out. Never the less, it revealed some massive exam technique flaws mainly involving giving up too early and choosing what turned out to be some of the hardest questions on the paper. One of the questions I didn't do took me a few minutes to do once I had a look back at the paper.
This is pretty worrying :frown:

You have nothing to worry about - being able to get 5 full solutions out 2 months before the exam is excellent, and you have plenty of time to improve your exam technique.

Reply 1591

username219321

Original post by jukebox123

Hi, for STEP I 2001, question 2 part ii, is it right to multiply everything through by x^2, and solve the resulting quartic equation, finding the critical values?
I was thinking you cannot multiply by X, as this may be negative, and X^2 is always positive.

That method is fine :smile:

Reply 1592

Original post by maths134

Oh wonder what that means... that they rejected some people and wanted some others, do you know what his first choice was? hmm. Did you learn a lot? Did you ask what his offer was? lol

robinson was his first choice......yh learnt alot but more importantly understood how STEP is marked and what key aspects they are looking for. I think it was 1,1.

Reply 1593

Original post by Zuzuzu

I was one of those people last year.

where you invited to the easter summer school?

if I remember right you weren't far from getting the required step grades....how you finding the first year at UCL after preparing for STEP?

Reply 1594

TheUltimateProof

8

Feeling much much better about STEP post Easter camp. Go team Pythagoras!

Reply 1595

Original post by hassi94

Calling out in lectures? Oh you're talking about Rahul's boy right? :wink:

I'm Hassan (this is not to you tom obviously :tongue:

). If anyone spoke to me then message me on here and I'll add you on Facebook :smile:

my boy is getting SS :tongue:

Reply 1596

Intriguing Alias

Original post by Rahul.S

my boy is getting SS :tongue:

I hope not :tongue:

I don't want him in my lectures (if I get in, obviously).

Reply 1597

Original post by hassi94

I hope not :tongue:

I don't want him in my lectures (if I get in, obviously).

lol.....we are lucky he spends half the time reading :tongue:

imagine if he was actually concentrating, he probably would of gone on the stage :colone:

Reply 1598

Dirac Spinor

10

Original post by Rahul.S

lol.....we are lucky he spends half the time reading :tongue:

imagine if he was actually concentrating, he probably would of gone on the stage :colone:

who is this?

Reply 1599

Intriguing Alias