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STEP Exam marking

Hello, in regards to how the STEP paper is marked, as I cannot find anything for it online, how is a question marked, and does it relate to the amount of working written down (More geared towards moderate showing of work vs extreme showing of work, after all the right answer with no working it a bit suspect). For example, if you have a piece of work that gives you the correct answer, and it is clear what you did and how you did it to get there, or is it like A level maths, where you need to write out every single step, no matter if it is clear to see how you got to an answer?

Reply 1

davros

Original post by MathsEnjoyer

tbh you'd be better off posting this question in either the Maths forum or the Maths Exams subforum of the Maths forum where there tend to be more present / past STEP applicants hanging out.

Broadly I would say that STEP is "more rigorous" in the sense that you have to be careful how you justify your arguments and set out your work, but that doesn't mean there is a set format for each question. It's more about learning how to lay out a proof or a sequence of steps in some working so that your thought processes are clear to the examiner and you're not trying to "cut corners" or be too "hand wavy" about things :smile:

The Maths Exams subforum has some examples of previous years' STEP discussions and unofficial answers, although the forum is a bit swamped with A level threads at the moment!