The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) mathematics examinations in the UK is challenging. Students often find the questions confronting.
To help you follow the 5 guided tips on how to revise GCSE maths. You’ll find the links to the GCSE maths past papers and tests to help you prepare for your GCSE tests.
Stationery items you will need for exams are available here: GCSE maths stationery items
How to revise for GCSE maths exam?
There is no secret to passing the GCSE maths test. It’s about applying what you learn in primary and secondary schools. But often, students forget the maths facts and processes they learn in class.
So, how can you pass your GCSE? Revise!
We want you to ace your exams with better grades. Check out the 5 practical tips for revising and passing your GCSE maths exams. And of course, pnginsightmathsexamresources.com provides the resources that are free.
Download the Exam and test papers PDF
5 tips to improve your GCSE maths exam grades
- Tips 1 and 2 are ways for gathering revision materials.
- Tip 3 provides an overview of what to do when revising.
- Tips 4 and 5 are the fundamental things you must do in the exam room.
Check out the GCSE Exam Dates and Timetable1. Revise Year 7 – Year 10 test papers
Never throw your maths test papers away. Aside from other revision materials, the test papers have the best revision questions.
The reason is simple. The end-of-the-term tests in Year 7, Year 8, Year 9 and Year 10 are topic assessments. Thus, they’ll give you a complete overview of what the GCSE maths exams are testing.
These test papers are the best revision. Keep them and use them.
2. Revise GCSE past paper questions
Maths skills, knowledge and applications are cross-cutting. They remain the same even though the maths assessment questions differ. By this I mean, an exam item can be written in different ways every time. But the maths idea (concept) that is tested always remains the same.
For example, a past paper question will ask you to find the perimeter of a regular rectangular shape. Next, you may be asked to find the perimeter of an irregular shape. In both instances, you still use the idea of the total length around a shape.
For this reason, revising GCSE part exam papers is important if you want to improve your marks. And, revising past papers is the second-best way if you want to know how to pass GCSE maths exams.
3. Practice makes perfect
When you have the past test papers and exam papers plus other revision resources, it’s time to revise.
Know what you need to revise for – prioritise! Identify the maths that you are weak in. For example, take a look at the past test papers and identify the hard questions. Target those questions and revise them head-on.
Here are some difficult areas of maths that many you may want to revisit.
- Review your 6s, 7s and 8s timetable.
- Practice questions on perimeter, area, and volume.
- Review questions on Angles and bearings where you are asked to make deductive reasoning and draw.
- Do algebra questions on solving equations, rearranging formulas, expanding brackets, factorising, etc.
- Attempt questions with 3, 4 or 5 marks that require complete working out.
- Make sure you can use your calculator efficiently.
Check out the exam revision materials here: past TEST papers and past EXAM papers.
Check out the Year 8 Maths Test Questions – quite useful4. GCSE maths exam stationery items you’ll need
This is a no brainer. You must have the exam supplies before going into the exam room. Your exam supplies will depend on whether you are doing Foundation or Higher GCSE. So, ask your maths teacher what you will need for the test.
Some supplies like rough papers and rulers are often provided. You will not be allowed to take them into the exam room.
Here are some GCSE maths stationery items you should have: A black pen, pencil, rubber, pencil sharpener, scientific calculator, ruler, protractor & compass.
5. Read the instructions carefully
The instruction will set the pace for the exam. Read it carefully. Here is a sample instruction and what you should know as you read it.
- Answer ALL the questions. That means that you should answer as many questions as you can to get full marks.
- Write your answers in the spaces provided on the question paper.
- You are not allowed to use any other paper.
Ensure that you know the answers to these five questions, as you read through the instruction:
- Have you got the correct paper?
- How long do you have to do it?
- Are all the numbered pages there?
- How many questions are in the exam?
- What are the total marks for the GCSE maths exam?
GCSE maths revision tips
Skim through the exam papers from the cover page to the last page and every other page in between.
The marks next to the question give you an idea of how many steps are required in the solution. Where there are 3 marks, you show all workouts.
- Cross out any mistake neatly.
- Include the units where required.
- Check the time every 20 or 30 minutes.
- Work through the easy questions, do not spend too much time on the hard question.
- Check that your answers are reasonable. If you work out the value of x, make a substitution to confirm the value is right.
- If you have time in the end, come back to the hard question and attempt it.
- Check and double-check every question in case you missed any before handing in your maths exam paper.
What exam markers are looking for
A clear and logical flow of work is an important factor as far as marking exam papers is concerned. Remember examiners are marking thousands of questions.
So, if your work is clear, logical and reasonable, the markers will have fun marking them, and you get full marks.
- Show the right answer clearly.
- Draw neat graphs and label them accurately.
- You must strive to do the following when answering the GCSE maths exam questions.
- Set out your work so that it is logically so that it is easy to follow and understand.
Download GCSE Maths revision
You can download the past GCSE exam papers online. Here are some websites that many students prefer to use.
- Maths Genie
- Maths Watch
- Dr Frost maths
- Cobette Maths
- GCSE maths in four weeks
Conclusion (Pass GCSE maths exams)
Practising how to revise and pass GCSE maths exams is all you need to do to do well. 5 ways to revise and examiners’ expectations you should know to do well. These are proven ways to pass your maths exams.