Top Tips To Acing Your Maths Gcse

Mathematics. We have been learning it since we were only four years old, all in preparation for the seemingly insurmountable GCSE exam. Not just that, but it is considered one of the most important qualifications to have under your belt. Many university courses and employers will use it as a criterion when deciding to take you on. Many people, stress due to the sheer importance and the difficulty of the exams. Not to worry, as with consistency and optimism you can achieve the top score in the country. With these points to consider, not only will it become easier, but you will actually start to enjoy what you study!

You can target preparation via many angles. These indirectly boost your performance and are more holistic as they benefit you in every aspect of your day, INCLUDING in maths. First would be from the non-academic side:

1. Ensuring you get enough sleep. This would mean you are refreshed and ready to start the day. Enabling you to focus in class, and when you get home, you can make time to do further revision or homework.

2. Socialising and Gaming. This is not an issue in and of itself, contrary to what our parents tell us! Rather, it is that pupils overdo this aspect of their life which in turn can neglect their studies. Putting some time aside during the day to hang out with friends, whether it be online or in real life, is good for maintaining mental health and prevents you from burning out.

3. Eating well. Overeating or eating too little can make you too lazy to work. Try to leave a little room in your stomach and avoid fast food, carbonated drinks and strive for a balanced diet.

Preparing is mainly done directly. Here are the Academic ways of boosting your competency in mathematics.

1. Complete your homework as soon as possible. This gives you time to see your tutor or teacher if you have any issues. It also means you can put more effort into it. Leaving it to the last minute means it will be rushed and little benefit can be derived from it.

2. Make the most out of your teacher/tutor. Always ask questions, try not to distract the class you can always ask after class for extra work or to have topics clarified.

3. The internet is a great place. Take advantage of the free and paid resources. (If you can afford) I used so many websites containing question banks and past papers because I was bored of the work being set in class I did not feel like it was enough. At the end of the article I will share the best online resources I know for GCSE Maths.

4. Always do consistent practise. The issue with many pupils is that they neglect this, as this is the KEY to remembering everything. I do not advise people to make notes in maths generally speaking. Just 30 minutes a day can accumulate greatly over a year s worth of work.

5. The answer sheet is a double-edged sword. From personal experience I have noticed that pupils, when revising or doing homework, have the answer sheet open right next to them. This fosters laziness as your brain does not adapt to solve problems, and it is not representative of the real exam, of course. If you are truly stuck on a question, been if you have been working on it for 20 minutes, it is still far better to figure it out, via small clues from a teacher or tutor, a friend, or by referring to the book for a similar example, than it is to just give up straight away and look at the mark scheme. Of course, use it when you are marking and looking for places to improve, and take yourself back to work to better yourself further.

6. PUSH YOURSELF. You are all a lot smarter than you think, you just need to be patient and optimistic. Set yourself the hardest questions once you find the standard ones too easy. Practise all the past papers you can find.

I hope this article motivates you all to study hard and aim for grade 9s.

Good luck and enjoy studying!