[Thrug]

(Original post by james22)
Has the style of STEP questions changed over time? I just did STEP 1 on monday and it went terribly, but right now I'm doing some older STEP 1 papers and finding them really simple, almost trivial in some cases. It seems that the older one have much less alegbraic manipulation in them.

Monday's paper was particularly messy (algebraically speaking).

[GreenLantern1]

(Original post by SimonM)
Under construction!

Please note that this thread is not designed for discussion of STEP exam questions or techniques. If you have a maths-related question to ask (rather than a procedural question), please make a new thread in the maths forum. If you have a non-mathsy question isn't answered in the links in this first post or in the rest of this thread, feel free to post it here.

This thread is designed to help you find the STEP threads you need. Loads of them have been made over the past year or so, there's been a lot of effort put into them on everyone's part, and it's only in our best interests not to lose them. If you see a broken link, let me know. If you find something that should be a link but is actually just plain text, that probably means that thread doesn't exist, or we don't know about it. If you find, or create, a thread that should be here, nudge me by posting in this thread and I'll sort the links out for you. Oh, and if you think of a slightly more tasteful thread title, please do share.

Complete Solutions in bold

• Worked STEP solutions.
  
  • Solutions written by TSR members:
    1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008
  • Solutions from external sites:
    Priorexams.com (1999 - 2003).
    http://www.mathsexams2.tk/ (1997 - 2005).
    Meikleriggs (2001-2006) - requires (free) sign-up.
    STEP Maths
• STEP discussion threads
  
  • 2007:
  • 2006:
• STEP past papers
  
  • http://www.stepmathematics.org.uk/downloads.html (official website: papers I, II, III from 1998 to 2007)
  • http://rapidshare.com/files/81215071...-2007.zip.html (big zip file containing 1990-2004 and 2007)
  • http://stepmaths.com/step/STEP.zip (another zip containing 1987-2007 and the siklos booklets)
• STEP tips and tricks
  
  • http://thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?p=8881331

Could you please link the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 STEP pages on here please!

[tiny hobbit]

(Original post by GreenLantern1)
Could you please link the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 STEP pages on here please!

Go to the STEP website for the papers, hints and solutions and examiner's reports:
http://www.admissionstests.cambridge...st+Preparation

[GreenLantern1]

(Original post by tiny hobbit)
Go to the STEP website for the papers, hints and solutions and examiner's reports:
http://www.admissionstests.cambridge...st+Preparation

Oh fair enough. Did you stop becuase they have amde official solution documents for these?

[Rahul.S]

(Original post by GreenLantern1)
Oh fair enough. Did you stop becuase they have amde official solution documents for these?

i think there are still some tsr threads for those years....just search them and see if they exist w.e. I was stuck I preferred looking at TSR solutions rather than the official sol doc as you could just go to the part of the question your stuck with without spoiling the rest of the question

[GreenLantern1]

(Original post by Rahul.S)
i think there are still some tsr threads for those years....just search them and see if they exist w.e. I was stuck I preferred looking at TSR solutions rather than the official sol doc as you could just go to the part of the question your stuck with without spoiling the rest of the question

Yeah. The TSR one's go into a bit more detail for each stage if you are stuck, as well!

[GreenLantern1]

(Original post by Rahul.S)

BTW I am not going to do the STEP papers till Year 13. Just looking at it now though

[GreenLantern1]

(Original post by Rahul.S)
you going to do step g? your in y12 now init?

at your age I was going to the booth and recording diss tracks on the regular.

Oh yeh and how was STEP III?

Looked like a fairly easy paper to me... and there was nothing missing in Q1. You just had to derive it from the differential given after making an obvious supposition... what noobs. Did you get it lol?

[Rahul.S]

(Original post by GreenLantern1)
Oh yeh and how was STEP III?

Looked like a fairly easy paper to me... and there was nothing missing in Q1. You just had to derive it from the differential given after making an obvious supposition... what noobs. Did you get it lol?

there was something missing. look at previous step questions and you will see. Go on step 2012 thread.....gave all details there. I clocked n=1 etc. and got z at the end- I think I differentiated accidently- that was my last line when time ran out I probably did that mistake- because spent some time on my plan of action

[labu01wx]

Are STEP usually taken in the summer before beginning the uni or before the application?

[tommm]

(Original post by labu01wx)
Are STEP usually taken in the summer before beginning the uni or before the application?

Usually the summer before beginning university, after being given an offer.

[Discombobulate]

Hello guys, I am thinking about doing STEP II. I haven't done STEP I but I was told that if I've done Further Mathematics, then STEP II is the one I should be aiming for. I'm finishing my Further Mathematics A level in January. My questions are:

1) Do you agree with me doing solely STEP II without having done STEP I? I will still look at the questions on the paper, but is taking the exam necessary to build my skills for STEP II?
2) When I put in STEP II (or any STEP exam) into UCAS, do universities expect my referee to put a predicted grade? My school has no experience with STEP, I would be doing it on my own, my tutor helping me. If yes, would it be ok to say that my referee has no experience with STEP and therefore cannot predict me a grade (in my personal statement or Cambridge SAQ, or both?) I'm applying for Natural sciences at Cambridge and Durham and Mathematics at Imperial Bristol UCL etc. <- still deciding about the maths unis.

[Stray]

(Original post by Discombobulate)
I'm finishing my Further Mathematics A level in January. My questions are:

1) Do you agree with me doing solely STEP II without having done STEP I? I will still look at the questions on the paper, but is taking the exam necessary to build my skills for STEP II?

No need to do STEP I first - in fact some people find the STEP I questions harder to approach than the STEP II questions because in I the solutions often rely on some sort of 'trick', where in II the difficulty is more likely to be based on the mathematics. If you use the Siklos booklet you'll find that it draws from both I and II.

(Original post by Discombobulate)
2) When I put in STEP II (or any STEP exam) into UCAS, do universities expect my referee to put a predicted grade? My school has no experience with STEP, I would be doing it on my own, my tutor helping me.

No, there is no predicted grade for STEP.

Most people sit at least 2 papers - in your case II and III. I would strongly recommend taking 2 papers so that you have some redundancy. STEP is like the opposite of A-levels - a good grade in any paper shows that you have the mathematics special sauce, even if you get a bad grade on another paper.

[Discombobulate]

(Original post by Stray)
.

Thanks for the info

[Tatetm1]

Anyone on this thread?

[theseeker]

What's the difference between each Step paper?

[Farhan.Hanif93]

(Original post by theseeker)
What's the difference between each Step paper?

2 (or perhaps 3) things:
- Content: STEP I and II are based on an "average" C1-C4, M1-M2, S1-S2 syllabus, with a few bits and pieces from FM attached (like induction, maclaurin expansion etc), whereas STEP III can test material in any module across the maths A-levels.

- Difficulty: STEP II and III are designed with the intention to be more difficult than STEP I.

(- University offers: Some universities specify one (or a pair of) paper(s) as part of their offer and ask for particular grades accordingly e.g. Cambridge usually require grades 1,1 in STEP II and III whereas Warwick have an open ended standard offer that varies between a 2 and 1 in STEP depending on whether you have further maths at A*.)

[jassi1]

Do I need to wait for all my replies before registering for STEP?

I am still waiting for Imperial and don't know if they will ask me for STEP or not and the STEP registration form asks for universities applied to that have asked for STEP.

[hassassin04]

If I am focusing mainly on STEP I should I also try STEP just in case? I am not aiming really high, need 2 for Warwick and i really got 2 months to prepare well. I did go through Siklos booklet and a few particular old past paper questions. If I am barely gonna get 2 in STEP I there is no point trying STEP 2?
Right now I am at a point where usually there are 1-2 questions I can complete fully on average paper and about 2-3 half way..but this looks like a gamblig to me. What if I dont get one or two of those I usually get right

[Mycroft Holmes]

STEP I 2006 grade boundaries - I can't find them anywhere! Does anybody have them?