I am unsure whether to take STEP1 this year. The main worry I have is that getting a low grade will hinder my applications next year, and it may (hopefully not) affect my AS results. My current AS subjects are : F Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Econ.
Also, unlike some of the other early-takers of STEP 1, I do not do A-level maths this year. So this means I will have to self-teach all the A2 core and mechanics modules, which will further add to the workload .
However, looking at some of the past paper questions, some of the STEP 1 Qs (those required no A2 knowledge) seem easily doable. This is mainly because of my experience with BMO1(and the odd BMO2 Qs) in the past.
Is it essential to declare your STEP result in the UCAS form, and can unis easily find out our scores if we have sat the exams? I understand that a grade 1 or above would certainly be positive at all unis. However, in the case of getting a 2 or lower, would I be disadvantaged when applying to unis such as Oxford (assuming there’s less emphasis there for STEP performance), LSE, Imperial, UCL and Warwick?