The Student Room Group
Learning at Imperial College London
Imperial College London
London

How should I prepare for the STEP?

I have to sit STEP II and get Grade 2.

Currently, I've been doing the foundation and STEP II modules on the Cambridge Maths website and the past papers. I've also enrolled onto this paid course from AMSP (funded by school) to help prepare for the STEP, but I've only had two meetings so far.

I feel as though I'm not making much progress with it and I'm really not good with proof. Currently, I'm getting 1 or 2 questions fully correct depending on the year of the paper and then partial answers for the rest of it.

Can anyone please suggest ways of getting better? I've got mocks for the next two weeks so I'll be busy behind that but after that, I'll just be grinding for the STEP so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
I'm also currently preparing STEP for entry this year and honestly, the only advice I can give is just do practice papers constantly and try not to use any solutions if you can but just keep going and do as many questions as you can. I've got to get a 1,1 in STEP 2 and STEP 3 and I'm probably spending around like 10+ hours a week just doing STEP but definitely make sure you balance it with your normal A Levels as well because I know I had a slump around like Christmas getting much lower grades than I'm comfortable with in all of my A Levels. Remember your offer is a levels plus step not just one of them by themselves but best of luck :smile:
Learning at Imperial College London
Imperial College London
London
Reply 2
Original post by Anonymous #1
I'm also currently preparing STEP for entry this year and honestly, the only advice I can give is just do practice papers constantly and try not to use any solutions if you can but just keep going and do as many questions as you can. I've got to get a 1,1 in STEP 2 and STEP 3 and I'm probably spending around like 10+ hours a week just doing STEP but definitely make sure you balance it with your normal A Levels as well because I know I had a slump around like Christmas getting much lower grades than I'm comfortable with in all of my A Levels. Remember your offer is a levels plus step not just one of them by themselves but best of luck :smile:
Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I'm not giving up A levels for anything - I currently have mocks rn so I'm getting a decent bit of work done and stuff is actually clicking other than Chemistry 😭 but I only need an A thankfully. I need to spend as much time as you , if not more! I feel like I'm making no progress which is a real demotivator for me but I'm committed to getting better so I'm trying.
You definitely will get somewhere, it was super slow for me at first but I definitely feel you with the A Levels slipping but just keep your head down and keep working and it'll all pay off!
feel free to keep updating on this thread and i'll reply whenever i get a chance :biggrin:
I've just realised im replying to you on the other thread too haha probably the other thread would be better to use than this one since we've already written so much more there haha. If anyone else sees this im talking about https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7427679&p=99208597&page=1#post99208597
Original post by vnayak
I have to sit STEP II and get Grade 2.
Currently, I've been doing the foundation and STEP II modules on the Cambridge Maths website and the past papers. I've also enrolled onto this paid course from AMSP (funded by school) to help prepare for the STEP, but I've only had two meetings so far.
I feel as though I'm not making much progress with it and I'm really not good with proof. Currently, I'm getting 1 or 2 questions fully correct depending on the year of the paper and then partial answers for the rest of it.
Can anyone please suggest ways of getting better? I've got mocks for the next two weeks so I'll be busy behind that but after that, I'll just be grinding for the STEP so any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Okay guys, I'm desperate for help now.
My condition is Grade 2 Step 2.
Alevels are all As, those I think are manageable if I revise on time, I was also busy this past week because of mocks but at this point I'm willing to sacrifice mocks for STEP since these papers look horendous.
Few questions:

1.

In cambridge's site do you recommend me doing the foundation STEP 1 modules, given that I don't have much time.

2.

What sources are you using to study

3.

Can I do it :frown: Is 2.5 months approximately enough to grind from no STEP knowledge to a grade 2 in STEP 2

Depends on how much time you’re willing to put in. If you find that right now you can barely tackle a step question then it’s definitely worth doing the foundation modules- you can get through all 25 in two weeks if you are consistent. Then because of time pressure I’d leave the step 2 and 3 modules because they’re more collated questions than building skills.

Because you don’t have a lot of time you probably want priotise topics and strategise how to maximise your marks- e.g some people decide step mechanics is a lot more manageable so will leave stats and just prep for step pure and mech questions.

You have a better chance of making your grade by getting really good at a few topics rather than knowing all of them vaguely. Try and practice lots of step questions of certain types that come up often like integration questions and then in a month or so focus on trying to complete a question in 30 mins and just keep going.

You definitely can do it it’ll just be a difficult 2.5 months, but it’s worth it if it’s something you want to do. Good luck!
Reply 8
Original post by Anonymous #2
Depends on how much time you’re willing to put in. If you find that right now you can barely tackle a step question then it’s definitely worth doing the foundation modules- you can get through all 25 in two weeks if you are consistent. Then because of time pressure I’d leave the step 2 and 3 modules because they’re more collated questions than building skills.
Because you don’t have a lot of time you probably want priotise topics and strategise how to maximise your marks- e.g some people decide step mechanics is a lot more manageable so will leave stats and just prep for step pure and mech questions.
You have a better chance of making your grade by getting really good at a few topics rather than knowing all of them vaguely. Try and practice lots of step questions of certain types that come up often like integration questions and then in a month or so focus on trying to complete a question in 30 mins and just keep going.
You definitely can do it it’ll just be a difficult 2.5 months, but it’s worth it if it’s something you want to do. Good luck!

Thanks!
Original post by Anonymous #2
Depends on how much time you’re willing to put in. If you find that right now you can barely tackle a step question then it’s definitely worth doing the foundation modules- you can get through all 25 in two weeks if you are consistent. Then because of time pressure I’d leave the step 2 and 3 modules because they’re more collated questions than building skills.
Because you don’t have a lot of time you probably want priotise topics and strategise how to maximise your marks- e.g some people decide step mechanics is a lot more manageable so will leave stats and just prep for step pure and mech questions.
You have a better chance of making your grade by getting really good at a few topics rather than knowing all of them vaguely. Try and practice lots of step questions of certain types that come up often like integration questions and then in a month or so focus on trying to complete a question in 30 mins and just keep going.
You definitely can do it it’ll just be a difficult 2.5 months, but it’s worth it if it’s something you want to do. Good luck!

thanks a lot, means so much!
In terms of strategy, what do you recommend since I haven't really attempted STEP 2 papers yet. I do FP1 FP2 FP3, M1, M2, S1, S2, S3 as my fm units. Should I approach pure maths and stats, pure maths and mechanics, or any other strategy?

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending