Marking STEP Questions

I have now been completing past paper mocks for a while now, but for some of the older papers (and even the new ones still) I find it hard to give myself a mark out of 20 if I haven't got it 100% complete- The last parts of the question usually seem to be the harder bits and if I make a mistake there I'm not sure what mark I should be getting as I would imagine some parts are worth more marks than others. So far I have just been making a logical guess, but in order to make sure I satisfy my Cambridge offer (1,1 STEP II, III) I would like to reassure myself I am on track! If there is anyone out there with the same problem I'd be more than happy to 'work swap' and mark each others

Also I'm trying to find out whether it would be worth completing an extra first part of a question or fixing some smaller mistakes on the harder part of the other- I like giving full solutions but if I can get more marks another way that sounds more sensible!

Any help on the marking works would be greatly appreciated! (@Zacken you’ll probably know :P)

It's all a bit of a guess with STEP self grading. I have stopped work on them now - I got to the point I was answering every question completely and correct anyway. Once you get the hang of them they are pretty easy questions. Kind of like doing cryptic crosswords - pain in the arse when you first do them - after a month or two you can churn them out in minutes.

Yea in the past couple of weeks I feel like I've made a large amount of improvement, but I still often come up with solutions which aren't on the 'markscheme' or make some mistakes. I feel focusing on those small mistakes is much more important than looking at what I've already gotten right! But yea I do agree about the easiness element- The solution is always (nearly) straightforwards and right in front of you the whole time So where are you hoping to study? (If you find STEP that easy I'd guess Cambridge too).

Any help on the marking works would be greatly appreciated! (@Zacken you’ll probably know :P)

Your tag didn't work, make sure you click on a name from the drop down list in the future @Zacken

I have refused their offer - which is why I stopped even bothering with STEP. Due to family circumstances I cannot go there now. I am probably going to Stanford - I already have been accepted.

Your tag didn't work, make sure you click on a name from the drop down list in the future @Zacken

...

Can't tell if this is sarcasm or not (forgive me if im wrong), but good luck anyway!

No - not sarcasm. I am quite a bit older than you and I was going to have to sell my house and buy one in Cambridge. But I have family in the San Francisco area so moving to Palo Alto is a lot less hassle and I can rent the house here out instead of selling. Plus Stanford is a lot nicer area than Cambridge.

No - not sarcasm. I am quite a bit older than you and I was going to have to sell my house and buy one in Cambridge. But I have family in the San Francisco area so moving to Palo Alto is a lot less hassle and I can rent the house here out instead of selling. Plus Stanford is a lot nicer area than Cambridge.

Nice. tbh I can't imagine a nicer area than Cambridge, but I've never been to Stanford to compare.

Why would you need to buy a house in Cambridge? You're not allowed to stay off-College during term-time.

Thanks, fatso. <3



I can give you links to the official markschemes for STEP I, 2011 as well as all three papers for 2014 and 2015. Those documents lay out precisely where marks are given out explicitly for all 20 marks for each question. You may need to do STEP I 2011 as a mock first before you can view the markscheme!

Otherwise, I'm more than happy to mark work (without swapping!) if you post them on the STEP Prep thread/PM me/Whatever you want as well (preferably question by question instead of entire papers thrown at me) where I can give a running commentary on what I'm awarding marks on/for so that you can learn and mark them yourself (not that I'm any good at marking myself, just that I've got a good feel for how marks are awarded, so I will make mistakes and be not entirely accurate).

You're not allowed to stay off-College during term-time.

Wow! Thanks so much, that would help a lot! I'll do a mock sometime in the next couple of days and let you know but I promise not to throw mountains of work at you As the only one from my school who's doing STEP and with all the maths teachers having degrees in engineering I dont often get to have my work looked at so this will really help me

This is not true by the way.

Because I have a wife and two kids and am over 45 years of age.

I can give you links to the official markschemes for STEP I, 2011 as well as all three papers for 2014 and 2015.

Are they from FOI requests?