90*+ UMS A-level Maths & Further Maths?!
I have just started Year 12. I was looking at the AS and A level grade boundaries for Maths and Further Maths. They seem incredibly high. I also saw that Cambridge's average UMS for those who had an offer (Computer Science) was at around 94%.
In some Maths modules, the grade boundaries are so high that 1 mark can be 4% UMS. Even if you know everything, you are bound to make mistakes. I knew everything on my GCSE maths exams and lost around 10 marks on each paper from stupid mistakes - even after checking over them 3 times.
For those who have got UMS averages in the mid to high 90s, what methods do you use to stop yourself from making mistakes? Maths and Further maths were relatively easy for me at GCSE. What other advice would you give to someone doing Maths and Further Maths at A level?
In some Maths modules, the grade boundaries are so high that 1 mark can be 4% UMS. Even if you know everything, you are bound to make mistakes. I knew everything on my GCSE maths exams and lost around 10 marks on each paper from stupid mistakes - even after checking over them 3 times.
For those who have got UMS averages in the mid to high 90s, what methods do you use to stop yourself from making mistakes? Maths and Further maths were relatively easy for me at GCSE. What other advice would you give to someone doing Maths and Further Maths at A level?
(edited 7 years ago)
Yeaps, Further maths CIE A* raw mark will be around 185/200.
I'd advise you to start past papers as early as possible and aim to finish a paper in 45min after some practice (core modules, applied takes longer in general), in an exam this leaves you 45min to go through every question, every line of working and make sure there isn't a mistake. Use your calculator (if allowed) and substitute numbers in to make sure your answer is correct, if it isn't then redo the question in rough until you find your mistake then copy out the new method. I find this works very well compared to spending the majority of the exam doing questions and having 10min at the end to check your answers as you can be in a rush if you find a mistake in the last few minutes of the exam.
This doesn't quite work for FP modules as they require a lot more work to be done for proof by induction etc and it can be hard to finish a paper that quickly unless it's fairly easy.
As for during the year, don't let yourself get behind in work, it is quite a lot to do and if there's a topic you don't understand it can be hard to move forward in the course as your next lesson will likely build off the previous.
This doesn't quite work for FP modules as they require a lot more work to be done for proof by induction etc and it can be hard to finish a paper that quickly unless it's fairly easy.
As for during the year, don't let yourself get behind in work, it is quite a lot to do and if there's a topic you don't understand it can be hard to move forward in the course as your next lesson will likely build off the previous.
Original post by mrman2000
Thanks for the advice! What did you average in Maths and FM at AS and A level? How much did you revise for this?
Maths 99%, FM 91% (FP1 was a low A :/) and I wouldn't say I revised very much for maths, our teachers made us do papers throughout the year so by exam-time we had done majority of the papers for every module and I only had a few papers left over to do, so spent more of my time on physics&chemistry.
Original post by JN17
Maths 99%, FM 91% (FP1 was a low A :/) and I wouldn't say I revised very much for maths, our teachers made us do papers throughout the year so by exam-time we had done majority of the papers for every module and I only had a few papers left over to do, so spent more of my time on physics&chemistry.
How much revision would did you do per week? Or per day? Also, How easily did the modules come to you (did you have to go over the subjects a few times or not)? I know everyone is different, but I just want to use this as a baseline. Thanks.
Original post by mrman2000
How much revision would did you do per week? Or per day? Also, How easily did the modules come to you (did you have to go over the subjects a few times or not)? I know everyone is different, but I just want to use this as a baseline. Thanks.
Personally I don't find maths something to 'revise' for, we'd finish a module and then our teacher would set us maybe 2-4 papers as homework over a weekend so by the end of the year we had done them all.
For C3 it was taught to us in about a month, but I'd say I managed to start getting 90%+ in exams around a month after that because you need to see all the types of questions and how to do them which takes time, and you may have to go back to a topic that you get wrong often in a paper etc. It's more of a skill so once you are able to get 90% in a paper you shouldn't really have to revise anything anymore, it's just a case of doing more and more papers.
Original post by JN17
Personally I don't find maths something to 'revise' for, we'd finish a module and then our teacher would set us maybe 2-4 papers as homework over a weekend so by the end of the year we had done them all.
For C3 it was taught to us in about a month, but I'd say I managed to start getting 90%+ in exams around a month after that because you need to see all the types of questions and how to do them which takes time, and you may have to go back to a topic that you get wrong often in a paper etc. It's more of a skill so once you are able to get 90% in a paper you shouldn't really have to revise anything anymore, it's just a case of doing more and more papers.
For C3 it was taught to us in about a month, but I'd say I managed to start getting 90%+ in exams around a month after that because you need to see all the types of questions and how to do them which takes time, and you may have to go back to a topic that you get wrong often in a paper etc. It's more of a skill so once you are able to get 90% in a paper you shouldn't really have to revise anything anymore, it's just a case of doing more and more papers.
Thanks for the reply!
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