Preparing for your GCSE Maths retakes can feel daunting, but it’s also an opportunity to turn things around and achieve the results you really want. With the right strategies and a focused approach, you can build on what you’ve already learned and improve further on areas where you struggled the first time around.
Whether you’re aiming to secure that crucial pass or push your grade even higher, these 10 tips will help you tackle your retakes with renewed confidence!
Identifying and addressing your past weaknesses not only boosts exam confidence, but also gives you an opportunity to devise a step-by-step approach to tackle them. We advise keeping in mind these tips according to the scopes of study you’ve covered in your GCSE Maths course, which are the same no matter which exam board you’ll be taking:
1) Number
Focus on mastering calculations involving fractional and negative powers, as well as surds. Create flashcards for common fraction-decimal-percentage conversions to increase your speed and fluency.
Many questions will also ask you to explain your findings, which in turn helps you identify misconceptions more easily. This practice not only consolidates your knowledge, but also facilitates the process of troubleshooting and correcting errors. The AQA released a document purely geared towards the Number topic which will help you brush up on your skills.
2) Algebra
Concentrate on simultaneous equations and quadratic equations by completing the square and using the formula when you come to practise with past paper questions. Forming equations from word problems or rearranging formulas will also increase mastery. It’s important to remember that all quadratic equations can be written in the standard form of ax2 + bx + c = 0 as this handy BBC guide details.
3) Ratio, Proportion
Ratio and proportion oftentimes lead to multi-step and contextual problems which can involve other concepts like speed, density, and recipe scaling. Pick out proportional expressions from the problems by understanding the relationship between values: when one value increases and the other decreases, they are inversely proportional, written as a ∝ 1/b.
A visual way to represent ratio can be the part-part-whole method, which I’ve written about previously when speaking about teaching Primary Maths. This method can help us determine the ratio that compares a part to a whole pictorially.
4) Geometry and Measures
This section largely covers Pythagoras’s theorem and trigonometry which means ensuring that your grasp of the sine and cosine rules is solid; here’s a quick refresher on when to apply each from Newcastle University. Remember that the application of trigonometry can also be considered in non-right-angled triangles!
5) Probability
Pay special attention to problems involving combined events and brush up on your understanding of whether events can be considered independent or dependent. Complex GCSE-style scenarios can also involve probability trees: a handy tip is to remember that the outcomes should total 1 (otherwise you’ve probably made an error!).
6) Statistics
Practise interpreting graphs accurately by looking at past paper questions which contain misleading graphs and comparison of data sets. I like using the National Curriculum’s list of objectives for this topic as a checklist to see what areas may need more attention than others.
We’ve also underlined 4 important tips which can help you across any topic you’re tackling:
7) Prioritise High-yield Topics
As you know from your first attempt at the GCSE Maths papers, some topics do seem more frequently tested than others whilst some topics carry higher marks. Be sure to review your exam board’s specification and website to get a sense of what the balance of questions has been in previous years.
8) Consider Different Ways to Solve a Problem
Adding on to my last tip, I find that looking at your exam boards’ website very helpful as many will offer bundles of free resources like past papers and candidate exemplars. Studying these exemplars, you come to consider the different problem-solving tactics other students employ.
OCR has many published and posted on their website from recent years, and the examiner comments that come with them provide an invaluable insight. In the case of AQA, this document they’ve published breaks down questions and provides answers, whilst commenting on the effectiveness of students’ strategies.
9) Practise and Practise Again
Mastering past papers on a regular basis under timed conditions will simulate the pressure you’ll be facing. This will also help you to analyse your mistakes to identify patterns in errors: whether it’s misinterpreting questions or calculation errors!
We recommend finding a tutor if you feel that your attainment isn’t reflecting the effort you’ve put forth. A tutor can identify where you’re going wrong and work on target areas to boost your performance! A tutor can also reinforce foundational skills and work at your pace.
10) Perfect Time Management Techniques
Were you unable to answer all the questions the first time around? Allocating time proportionally to the marks available for each question is one technique which ensures that you cover as many questions as you can. For example, rather than spending 10 minutes on a 2-mark question, move on and come back to it later if you’re stuck.
Leaving time at the end of your papers to review your answers (particularly checking for missed questions or careless errors) will help you secure those marks!
Blog Post Crafted by Cheryl
Cheryl manages our Admin Team, and is a qualified teacher with 5 years' experience in schools across England and Canada.
Cheryl graduated from University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Education. She tutored secondary school students in English for over nine years in Canada.
Cheryl speaks Cantonese, English and French, and in her spare time, she can be found illustrating and reading children’s books for inspiration.
Comments