How to revise A level maths

How do you revise for the new spec a level maths? The questions in the textbook, past papers and even specimen and sample papers are nothing like what comes up in the actual exam in terms of the styling of the new questions. Today, I had a mock and it was the 2019 pure paper 1 which was so much harder than any of the old spec papers! It's like there's no way to prepare for this new spec because the questions are just so heavy and focused on problem solving and thinking outside the box!

I feel your pain!! I am in year 13 and doing Edexcel and last years paper seems so different from every questions we have done previously. Personally I am focusing a lot more on the mixed exercise questions in the textbook (as they seem to be closer to the new style of questions) but the new questions do seem to be a lot more just applicant and very strange wording, I think the more you fundamentally understand a topic and practice different/harder ways of the questions being worded you will get better. I have been struggling too but have kept just doing every question I possibly can and when it gets to the exam trying to think logically and identify the topic I need in the question and just trying to treat it like I would any other question. It’s definitely a tricky one though! Hope this works for you and all the best for your exams Caleb

If you are going to be doing the 2020 A-Level Maths Papers you should know that there are a new pattern and syllabus in place for 2020 and there are going to be certain changes to paper style and questions. Newer topics include the transformation of graphs and circles for pure maths (use studywell.com to practice Edexcel questions on it which is quite similar to ours when it comes to graphs and circles) and limits in differentiation.
Personally I would still suggest you practise as many past papers as possible starting from old ones down so that you not only have an idea of the type or pattern of questions but also have an in-depth understanding of the topics and can be quicker at your work.
Also, practice the 2020 specimen paper and watch out for the 2020 February march paper when it comes out too!

There's a 2020 specimen paper?! Is it out on the website because I actually haven't seen it

Check the official Cambridge website!

Hii, I did the new A-level maths last year and got an A. I gave advice to another person in yr 12 who was struggling with it. If you want to check my post on my profile feel free (they’re too long to repeat!). However, since you’re in year 13 and not much time left to the exams, I would say make sure you do every question in the textbook and unit tests, as they expect this to be the minimum you should attain to. Make sure you understand a topic thoroughly, not just remembering what steps the teacher has told you to do. Do all the past papers you possibly can. Also, you have to remember, everyone is in the same boat as you and I gather you’re not that much more prepared for the level of difficulty of the new spec than we were, so just work hard and master the textbook and you’ll get an A, I promise!

Would this be applicable for those doing Edexcel A level Maths? I thought there was a 2020 set of practice papers released.

Wooow, firstly well done!
Would you say Maths was always something you naturally kinda got as well? How did you revise for Mechanics and Stats - people say just past papers but I'm just like I don't even understand it even after doing questions....

Thanks! I honestly don’t know how I did well because I’m pretty sure I left half the paper out! I just did better than others I guess which is what matters. I wouldn’t say I’m a maths genius, nor do you have to be, but after all it is more difficult for some to grasp than others and I would say I grasp maths relatively quickly. I was honestly helpless with yr 2 mechanics, I literally got 40% in my jan mocks before the exam and the questions weren’t even that hard lmaooo. For mech I stepped up my game after that, so this was my strategy I would recommend. Go through textbook examples by first covering up the answer then compare answers afterwards. Do this before going onto textbook questions as the examples cover almost every style of question you will come across. Then do end of chapter and unit tests. If you get a question wrong, go back to you notes, figure out for yourself why you got that question wrong and try again without looking at the solution bank! For stats, just memorise and past papers. Make sure you learn the little facts for the large data set.

How do you revise for the new spec a level maths? The questions in the textbook, past papers and even specimen and sample papers are nothing like what comes up in the actual exam in terms of the styling of the new questions. Today, I had a mock and it was the 2019 pure paper 1 which was so much harder than any of the old spec papers! It's like there's no way to prepare for this new spec because the questions are just so heavy and focused on problem solving and thinking outside the box!

Do you have the MS for the paper? i just did it and the questions were so weird! wanna see how **** i did haha but the ms isn't available anywhere

Would this be applicable for those doing Edexcel A level Maths? I thought there was a 2020 set of practice papers released.

Wooow, firstly well done!
Would you say Maths was always something you naturally kinda got as well? How did you revise for Mechanics and Stats - people say just past papers but I'm just like I don't even understand it even after doing questions....

Thanks! I honestly don’t know how I did well because I’m pretty sure I left half the paper out! I just did better than others I guess which is what matters. I wouldn’t say I’m a maths genius, nor do you have to be, but after all it is more difficult for some to grasp than others and I would say I grasp maths relatively quickly. I was honestly helpless with yr 2 mechanics, I literally got 40% in my jan mocks before the exam and the questions weren’t even that hard lmaooo. For mech I stepped up my game after that, so this was my strategy I would recommend. Go through textbook examples by first covering up the answer then compare answers afterwards. Do this before going onto textbook questions as the examples cover almost every style of question you will come across. Then do end of chapter and unit tests. If you get a question wrong, go back to you notes, figure out for yourself why you got that question wrong and try again without looking at the solution bank! For stats, just memorise and past papers. Make sure you learn the little facts for the large data set.