Hello everyone! Hope you are all well, following on from my advice for chemistry I decided to do maths today as I know some of you are about to start Y12 and want some advice to get off on the right foot.
Before jumping into the advice, let’s discuss whether or not you should take the subject because I have seen too many people who did well at GCSE and think taking maths would be an easy ride. I personally think that if you got anything above a 6 at GCSE you should be fine at AS provided you put in the work. I personally got a 7 at GCSE (definitely messed up the exam sadly) but I still got an A at the end of the year because I put in a lot of work in the subject throughout the year. Do not take the subject if you hate maths, I mean you don’t have to be a prodigy but you have to at least enjoy it to some level. Let’s jump in!
- Review your GCSE content. I said the same thing for chemistry and I will say it again, no way in hell can you start Y12 if you can’t do the basics from GCSEs. The vast majority of the topics start off with GCSE content and then build on from there. So if you know now that you aren’t good with quadratics then spend some time before school starts doing some practice questions. I would recommend ExamSolutions or the CGP Headstart book for this (links below)
- Make good notes in class. That means write out any equations used, draw graphs and write down examples. Trust me it makes life easier when you are coming back to review a chapter because I don’t know about you but I don’t tend to make summary notes for maths after each lesson and sometimes the textbooks overcomplicate things.
- Do practice questions after each lesson. Normally you’ll be set homework, but do more than what is set if you want a top grade. What I would do is throughout the week I would textbook exercises or worksheet questions I had printed out, and once we get towards the end of a topic I would move onto topic past paper questions. This ensures you have a solid foundation and understanding and now you are going to apply your knowledge.
- If you do not understand something, ask! I got better at this throughout the year, but I would immediately ask in lesson if I wasn’t sure about something, it helps when you are at the front but don’t feel like you are stupid because chances are someone else also is confused. So you are helping out a fellow friend! What I will say about this is try not to depend on asking too much, for example, when you are doing a question try and solve it first before asking for help. This will improve your problem solving and make it easier in exams to get unstuck. (Plus people do get annoyed if you ask them 24/7, trust me do not be that person)
- Applied maths may be more difficult at the start, but I promise it improves. I was lucky that I did physics so mechanics was easy but when I tell you the bane of my existence was statistics I am not joking. I think it just requires more time to understand than pure, but watching videos and doing a lot of questions really helped.
- Past papers everyday! I made a list of all the past papers I wanted to do and when I tell you it became my saviour in the lead up to exams. I did a lot of the old spec solomon papers and bought notebooks to complete them in. I would also recommend the the IGYB papers as they are tailored towards the new spec and provide a good challenge, which makes the actual exam seem easier in comparison.
Let’s get into the resources I recommend for future mathematicians
- Edexcel Pure Maths Textbook – I must admit I haven’t tried any other textbook but that just goes to show how good this one is, yes sometimes they are mistakes but it comes with a solution bank with full working out https://amzn.to/2ZlWdjl
- Edexcel Applied Maths Textbook – Same as above! https://amzn.to/33QIQLf
- ExamSolutions – Videos and exam questions, great if you want to review a chapter as it is all in one place https://www.examsolutions.net/
- Math Genie – Again a mix of videos and questions all tailored towards the new spec which is great https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk/
- MadAsMaths – Probably my favourite resource, they have so many questions that go from a range of difficulty, and they have the new spec IGYB papers which really improved my exam technique https://www.madasmaths.com/
- Physics and Maths Tutor – Although they haven’t updated their website for the new spec, they still have a great range of resources including the Solomon worksheets and papers https://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/
Okay that’s all the wisdom I have to share, last piece of advice, do not give up. xx
Studytheist 