GCSE maths exam techniques and tips
GCSE maths exam techniques and tips
- By Darren Fernandes
- On Feb 04 2022
- All
‘What are examiners expecting to see?
1. Presentation and organisation is essential
Ensure that your work is neat and, I can’t stress this enough, tidy.
Make sure that you work down a page, not across it and that one point leads to another.
2. Different methods for the same question – Don’t use the answer line
If you're in the situation where you try two methods and you aren’t sure which one is correct, don’t put an answer on the answer line. If you do, the examiner will ignore the working that doesn’t lead to that answer.
If you leave the answer line blank, the examiner will mark both methods and award whichever one is lower.
Only put an answer on the line if you are sure it’s right!
3. Cross out working neatly
Cross it out with a single line (preferably using a ruler) and do not scribble it out.
You can still get marks for crossed out work, if they can read it!
If you cross it out and then do some more work which turns out wrong,
you can still get method marks for the parts you have crossed out.
If you cross it out and do some more work which turns out to be right, the exam marker will ignore the crossed out work.
4. Always show working for the follow through marks
Let’s assume you are doing a 4-mark question, if you, for example, made a mistake on line 1, you would inevitably get the final answer wrong. If, however, you showed all your working and had used your mistake all the way through, you would lose a mark for the mistake and the answer mark, but you could still gain all the other marks!
5. Never show obviously incorrect working.
Never put working that contradicts your answer. It's not true you can write the correct answer and you'll get an answer mark irrelevant of what you put down in the main section.
If your answer is correct but comes from working which is obviously incorrect (or you have the answer but have shown no working for multiple mark questions), you will probably get zero marks!
6. Subsequent working can be ignored
Consider the following example; let's assume you are working out a fraction, but you then cancel it incorrectly. You would still gain the mark as the examiner will ignore subsequent working.
A small tip; this only applies if what you put afterwards doesn’t change the intention of the answer. So for example, if you were simplifying an expression, if you collected the terms but made a mistake (for example, saying that 8x + 9y + 3x + 5y = 10x + 14y) you would gain some marks, if you then collected the alike terms to get 24xy, you would lose the marks as you have substantially changed the intention of your answer.
7. Always state your answer when solving a linear equation
Linear equations may appear on Foundation and Higher Tier papers and often they offer a relatively easy way to gain marks.
Sometimes, you may 'spot' the solution, especially if it is an integer. However, always state your answer, rather than embed it by evaluating:
Marks will be awarded
3x + 8 = 20 x = 4
Marks may not be awarded
3x + 8 = 20 3(4) + 8 = 20
8. Multistage questions often have a range of answers.
This is common in either graphs or multiple stage questions.
In graphs, when you are reading off values, the examiner will always take your answer from a range of answers.
In multi-stage questions, if you round in the middle of a question, the examiner may take this into account and will have a range of answers that will be allowed. It is always best, however, to play safe and never round in the middle of a question.
