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Maths GCSE November 2013 - retake advice.

Hi,

I've just paid to resit my maths GCSE in november (so only 5/6 weeks away). I left school 3 years ago and I've just finished college. I've deffered uni until next september so that I can improve my maths grade (I got an E grade at GCSE - I was with AQA and got a C & D for the 1st 2 unit papers and then unmarked for the last paper - so left me with a terrible overall mark).

I can get into a university (as I do have an unconditional). But I'd like to go somewhere else ideally and they do require (as do most) a C in maths OR level 2 functional skills. I'm starting college for the functional skills next Thursday.

Anyway, back to my point of topic : I'm sitting the Edexcel higher maths paper in November and it's a pretty much last minute last ditch attempt to try improve my GCSE grade before relying on the functional skills.

I've began revising today, and didn't realize how much I'd forgotten/didn't know. I then looked on bitesize at the the higher question paper and wondered if anyone knows if they've simply compiled a paper of (in my opinion) hard questions to push peoples boundaries or those are the sort of questions that are throughout the whole paper?

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/maths/mocks/mathsmockh1_nocalc.pdf

I looked on the edexcel website for past papers, but they don't allow you to download them unless you have a log in - does anyone know where I might be able to obtain a higher edexcel paper just so I have an idea of what might be expected of me?

I would say my strong points are general maths eg. addition/multiplication/division/subtraction, statistics. My algebra is very poor, but i've also noticed shapes appear to be a big part of the exam too?

Not too sure how to tackle the revision to give myself the best possible chance, so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!
Trigonometry, Pythagoras' theorem, sine cosine and everything shape related are often close to the back of the paper. Algebra is ALWAYS, and when I say ALWAYS, I mean it. There is at least one full page of Algebra questions eg. expanding brackets, factorising and even indices are on there most of the time. Some questions even have certain topics mixed in one. Stratified sampling, percentages, scatter graphs, cumulative frequency, ratio etc. I can't list everything but those were the topics that came up last exam.

I would say the higher paper is pretty easy to achieve a C or above. I sat my first ever GCSE paper in June, which was the Edexcel higher maths and when I sat that I was in Year 9, and I got a B. I'm pretty damn sure you'll get well above a C. Good luck to you.

If you look through the maths section, I remember someone posting last year's paper on there.
Reply 2
The GCSE Maths book I just bought is "Letts GCSE in a Week Revision Guides - Maths to A*" which breaks down the revision to 15-25 minute segments. At the end of each topic there is a quick quiz and a couple of exam questions which help you understand what you just did. From what I've read so far it seems a great way to revise in a short amount of time (it includes a revision planner that shows you a recommended way to revise the whole content within 7 days). It's an exam board-neutral book so it should cover most, if not all, of the topics for your exam board.

What I should note is that the book comes in two editions which is "Maths" and "Maths to A*". I believe the latter is designed more for people already working a B/A looking to push towards A* however flicking through the contents of this book (A* edition) it seems to cover everything I've learnt since Year 9 so it's likely it's still relevant for what you're trying to do.

UPDATE: I just had a quick browse at the contents of the standard "Maths" edition and it seems to miss out some of the higher end topics, so as you're doing the higher paper I'd recommend you get the "Maths to A*" edition.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 3
@Alan-K;44567951

@rich1334;44568848

Thanks guys. I purchased the 'letts maths GCSE in week' book earlier - unfortunately I didn't get the A* one; however I may purchase it as extra anyway.

I've also got the most recent Edexcel higher revision guide coming in the post hopefully in the next few days. Think I've got mathswatch somewhere from school too.

Appreciate the advice, makes me feel a little more confident. I'm just hoping 5-6 weeks isn't too little time to prepare for the exam!

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