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Students on campus at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
Coventry

Current maths students: did you do better in STEP or AEA?

The title pretty much explains it. I know most people say that overall the AEA is easier, but a distinction requires a higher mark than a 2 in STEP (plus you need to be good at those horrible vectors questions :colondollar:), so I was wondering how people's performance in the two compared...

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Reply 1
A lot people won't have done both so it's hard to compare. I assume STEP is a lot harder though.
Students on campus at the University of Warwick
University of Warwick
Coventry
Original post by Mike_123
A lot people won't have done both so it's hard to compare. I assume STEP is a lot harder though.

I always thought a lot of people (most?) did both to increase their chances :confused: Was that naive of me? :colondollar:
Original post by bluebell_flames
The title pretty much explains it. I know most people say that overall the AEA is easier, but a distinction requires a higher mark than a 2 in STEP (plus you need to be good at those horrible vectors questions :colondollar:), so I was wondering how people's performance in the two compared...


I got a distinction in AEA and a 2 in STEP I (although I was 2 marks off a 1). I'm not sure which I would say was better though. But I did feel more comfortable with my performance on AEA than STEP though.
Original post by brittanna
I got a distinction in AEA and a 2 in STEP I (although I was 2 marks off a 1). I'm not sure which I would say was better though. But I did feel more comfortable with my performance on AEA than STEP though.

Thanks for the reply :smile: (and well done!!) When you were revising for them, did you spend the bulk of your time on STEP rather than the AEA?
Original post by bluebell_flames
Thanks for the reply :smile: (and well done!!) When you were revising for them, did you spend the bulk of your time on STEP rather than the AEA?


I think I probably spent a bit more time on STEP than AEA (as there are more papers and more questions).

I think I alternated them so that one weekend I would do a STEP paper (and try and do the other questions throughout the week) and then the next weekend do an AEA paper. Although this was only from about two months before the exam.

Before this, I just attempted STEP questions mainly.
Original post by brittanna
I think I probably spent a bit more time on STEP than AEA (as there are more papers and more questions).

I think I alternated them so that one weekend I would do a STEP paper (and try and do the other questions throughout the week) and then the next weekend do an AEA paper. Although this was only from about two months before the exam.

Before this, I just attempted STEP questions mainly.

Thanks a lot for this :smile: I'll probably do something similar (although I'm considering doing STEP II as well, so that will probably affect how I distribute my time).

I'm so sorry, but one last question: may I ask why you didn't try STEP II? Were you just fairly confident that you wouldn't need it to meet the offer, or did you decide that it wasn't worth the effort as it is harder than STEP I?

I'm very sorry for all of these questions, it's just really helpful to hear from someone who has actually gone through this whole process :colondollar:
Original post by bluebell_flames
Thanks a lot for this :smile: I'll probably do something similar (although I'm considering doing STEP II as well, so that will probably affect how I distribute my time).

I'm so sorry, but one last question: may I ask why you didn't try STEP II? Were you just fairly confident that you wouldn't need it to meet the offer, or did you decide that it wasn't worth the effort as it is harder than STEP I?

I'm very sorry for all of these questions, it's just really helpful to hear from someone who has actually gone through this whole process :colondollar:


That's fine, feel free to ask as many as you want :smile:. When I registered to take the exams, I thought that it wouldn't be worth it as I was struggling enough with STEP I, and didn't think I would do very well. But when I was preparing for STEP I, I tried a few STEP II questions, and quite a lot of them seemed quite nice and so I regretted not registering for STEP II.

I also saw that it was on the same day as chemistry, and so I tried to justify not taking by saying I wanted to focus on chemistry.

So is it Warwick that you need STEP for? I would definitely advise taking AEA and two STEP, as there's no harm in doing the extra STEP paper.
Original post by brittanna
That's fine, feel free to ask as many as you want :smile:. When I registered to take the exams, I thought that it wouldn't be worth it as I was struggling enough with STEP I, and didn't think I would do very well. But when I was preparing for STEP I, I tried a few STEP II questions, and quite a lot of them seemed quite nice and so I regretted not registering for STEP II.

I also saw that it was on the same day as chemistry, and so I tried to justify not taking by saying I wanted to focus on chemistry.

So is it Warwick that you need STEP for? I would definitely advise taking AEA and two STEP, as there's no harm in doing the extra STEP paper.

Thanks and yes, I will be taking it for Warwick :smile:

And that advice is very good to hear! My maths teacher thinks I'm pretty much crazy for thinking of doing a third 'extra' exam, but I don't think my school has had a STEP applicant in at least a decade, so I'm quite wary of any advice they give me :s-smilie: So thanks :smile:
I did STEP I and AEA. I missed out on a 2 by one mark on STEP I, but got a distinction in my AEA, so I still got in to Warwick (with an A* in Further Maths, etc.).
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by A Pink Monster
I did STEP I and AEA. I missed out on a 2 by one mark on STEP I, but got a disctinction in my AEA, so I still got in (wih an A* in Further Maths, etc.).

What modules do you need to know to sit the AEA paper?
Original post by Mathsfanatic123
What modules do you need to know to sit the AEA paper?

C1-4. The FP modules can sometimes helps slightly, but knowing C3/4 is the most important.
Might as well go full on and take STEP III too :wink:. I'm taking all 4 this year with some regret lol, don't think i'll do well at all on III but I hope I can handle AEA + I, haven't seen much of II to judge.
Original post by Mathsfanatic123
What modules do you need to know to sit the AEA paper?


What bluebell_flames said :smile:
It's best to just do as many STEP/AEA papers as possible to maximise your chances.
Original post by matt2k8
It's best to just do as many STEP/AEA papers as possible to maximise your chances.


Yeah, that's exactly what I did. There's plenty of advice on the STEP forum/mega-thread thing about it though (from people who know much more about it than I do).
Original post by A Pink Monster
What bluebell_flames said :smile:

Sorry to bother you, but I have another quick question, I have at this point in time been taught all of core 1 and decision 1 and further pure 1, and a third of S1,C2. I have the next three weeks off, if I were to dedicate 6 hours a day every day to studying maths, would I be able to self teach the rest of Core 2, Statistics 1 and then teach myself Core 3 and 4 as well stats 2. Do you think that would be possible? :biggrin: Thanks in advance
Original post by Mathsfanatic123
Sorry to bother you, but I have another quick question, I have at this point in time been taught all of core 1 and decision 1 and further pure 1, and a third of S1,C2. I have the next three weeks off, if I were to dedicate 6 hours a day every day to studying maths, would I be able to self teach the rest of Core 2, Statistics 1 and then teach myself Core 3 and 4 as well stats 2. Do you think that would be possible? :biggrin: Thanks in advance


So you want to self teach yourself C2, S1, C3, C4 and S2 in three weeks? If so, you may very well be able to cover all the content, but it's unlikely you'd understand it all. Why would you even want to do it all in such a short period of time? And if you do decide to go ahead to try and do this, good luck keeping yourself motivated to spend 6 hours a day on S1.
Original post by Mathsfanatic123
Sorry to bother you, but I have another quick question, I have at this point in time been taught all of core 1 and decision 1 and further pure 1, and a third of S1,C2. I have the next three weeks off, if I were to dedicate 6 hours a day every day to studying maths, would I be able to self teach the rest of Core 2, Statistics 1 and then teach myself Core 3 and 4 as well stats 2. Do you think that would be possible? :biggrin: Thanks in advance


No bother at all. In response to your question... Maybe? You have to bear in mind that that's a LOT of content, regardless of what exam board you're on. Whilst you probably could do it if you spent 6 hours a day on it, you have to realitically question whether you'd actually be able to do that, or whether that's the best use of your time. May I ask your motivation for trying to teach yourself these modules in such a short pace of time?

Also, Brittanna makes a good point, whilst you'd be able to cover all the content, it is often really helpful to be able to go over things with other people/teachers to help give yourself a better understanding of the maths itself.

When it comes down to it (especially at A-Level) maths is all about practice, practice, practice, so if you're prepared to put the hours in, then it might be feasible, but I know for a fact it's not something I, or most people who are good at maths I know, could have done, or would have attempted.
Merit in AEA or grade 2 in STEP 1?

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