Having worked as a maths teacher, and a Justin Craig maths tutor for several years, I use the end of June and the first two weeks of July to mark GCSE Maths exam papers for the two largest exam boards. I won’t name them, but we only have four and two of them are much larger than the others.

It is from my perspective that I would like to offer GCSE maths candidates some key advice for how to maximise your marks. In the last 4 days, I have marked over 3,000 questions and unfortunately, I have seen lots of marks given away due to poor technique and a lack of attention to detail.

Attention to Detail Points:

• Failure to show working out for higher value questions. If there are only 1 or 2 marks available then just writing down an answer is okay, although I would still advise showing a calculation even if it is a trivial one.

For 3 or 4 mark questions, do not just write down an answer. Whatever steps you went through to get that answer, PLEASE write them down.

• Failure to show working when explicitly asked to do so. If a questions states, “Show how you get your answer.” you MUST do this otherwise you will be penalised.
• Put your answer on the answer line. We will mark a correct answer wherever we find it, but get into the habit of writing your final answer on the answer line once you have finished your working out.
• Scruffy or tiny writing. I am genuinely shocked by the state of some of the handwriting I see. I know you are in a hurry and in a stressful situation, but PLEASE try to write clearly, neatly and maybe larger than you might normally write. The examiner will not have your actual paper. They will be working online and looking at a scanned image of your work. Give yourself the best chance by making your work readable by someone who does not know you.
• Guide the examiner. If you write something you later think is incorrect. Cross it out neatly and replace it with what you think is correct. Feel free to use a comment or arrow to guide the examiner to what you want them to mark. Use extra paper if need be. Ask yourself if some who doesn’t know you could follow your work.
• Failure to state units. If a question asks you to state the units of your answer, writing 24.5 instead of 24.5 cm will cost you a mark. You will also be penalised for incorrect units. Please remember to use linear units for lengths and perimeters, square units for area (including surface area), and cube units for volume.
• Failure to answer a question. You may get a question that says something like, “Robert’s year group has 180 students. 45% of them have pets. He says that this is 80 people. Is he correct?” A yes or no answer without any supporting maths will not score, even if you guess correctly. You either work 45% of 180 and compare that value to 80, or you turn 80 out of 180 into a percentage and compare that value to 45. After doing your calculations, you MUST state a yes or no conclusion. It is not enough to hint at it in your answer. You need to be explicit.

Make sure you know some key basics.

Here is a short list of some things that GCSE maths candidates simply have to know:

• Name and recognise the parts of a circle
• I see lots of candidates make mistakes with division and subtraction. Make sure you master these skills
• Name and recognise acute, obtuse and reflex angles
• Know what co-interior, alternate and corresponding angles are
• Know how to use a protractor to measure angles.
• Be able to measure lines accurately
• Know the angle sum of a triangle and a quadrilateral
• Know what equilateral, isosceles and scalene mean
• Understand and apply angles on a straight line and angles at a point
• Make sure you can convert between metric units
• Convert backwards and forwards between fractions, decimals and percentages

These are just a few, but they are some key areas where candidates lose marks through not having a good enough grasp of basics.

An examiner’s perspective on technique and basics helps candidates avoid losing marks unnecessarily. Good luck with all your study, revision and exams.