MATHS & FURTHER MATHS

Past papers are gold: past papers must be your source of revision. You can only get better at maths by practicing maths. You get to experience the exact type of questions that come up in the exam. Most often, they ask the exact same questions just with different numbers.

Do the past papers under timed conditions: this I wish I had done. You don't want to end up taking too long on some questions that you miss out on the higher mark ones because you didn't have enough time. 

Mark everything as if you were the examiner: you need to be strict with yourself. It's better to get something wrong while you're practicing rather than get it wrong when it counts. 

Write down everything the mark scheme/solution says: this way you memorise exactly what the examiners are looking for and you understand the optimum way to get to a solution. This would save you time, and you'll know what would score you marks.

If you don't understand a topic, do lots of questions on it: don't just do one, get it right, then leave the topic. Keep practicing it, because you might come across a different way they can ask the same question that could've been confusing.

Watch video solutions: if you see how others solve it, it may help you understand certain concepts.

Watch The GCSE Maths Tutor's hardest questions playlist: this really helps solve questions you might have had no idea how to solve. They would be the Grade 9 questions. 

Don't spend too long on one mark, two mark questions: spend more time on the higher mark questions.

If you're stuck, move on and come back to it later: you don't want to waste precious time.

ALWAYS SHOW YOUR WORKING OUT: even if you get the wrong answer, you can still get the majority of the marks if your working out is correct. Error Carried Forward is always applied by examiners. Use that to your advantage.

Don't forget your calculator for the calculator exams: you don't want to be stuck with your school's battered, broken, basic one.

Learn calculator tricks that could help you: also, I recommend getting the Casio FX-991EX Classwiz calculator. It could help you answer so many questions that you could've spent too long trying to solve by yourself.

Make sure you have all the equipment you need before the exam starts: don't be afraid to ask the invigilators if you don't have everything you need (it is all written on the front of the page). They are required to give you all the equipment to complete the exam. For example, I always started every exam asking for tracing paper if it wasn't already in front of me.

Believe you can do it: maths can be tricky and tiring. But keep going. If you're not going to take maths in further education, be encouraged by the fact that this is the last few months you're gonna need to do maths EVER.