Exam technique

The papers

Paper 2 is about 100 seconds per question.

Plans by target level

A student aiming for level 2 should spend more time on Section A and not feel they must attempt everything. Every target is respected.

Paper 1

1. Read all of Section B's part (a)s early. Part (a) is often the easiest mark in a long question.
2. Show working. Most marks are method marks. A right answer with no working may lose marks; a wrong answer with good working keeps some.
3. Give reasons in geometry. Each statement needs its reason in brackets, in the accepted short form.
4. Use earlier parts. "Hence" means use the previous part. If you couldn't do part (a), use its given result anyway in part (b).
5. Answer what was asked. Exact value? Surd form? 3 significant figures? Units?
6. "Explain" and "Is it true that…?" Usually: calculate, then compare, then a one-line conclusion ("…, so the claim is not correct").
7. Never build a proof on an assumption. A proof that assumes what it is proving scores 0.

Paper 2

1. First pass: answer what you can in under 100 seconds; mark the rest and move on.
2. Second pass: return to the marked ones.
3. Fair shortcuts (they are real maths, not guessing):
   • substitute numbers: if the options are expressions in n, try n = 1 or n = 2 and see which option matches;
   • check the options by putting them back into the question;
   • draw a quick sketch for graph and geometry questions;
   • estimate to remove impossible options.
4. Answer every question. Leave nothing blank (check the paper's instructions for how wrong answers are marked).
5. Geometry questions (around Q15–23 in recent papers) are often the slowest. Don't get stuck on one.

Calculator

• Use an HKEAA-approved model, and follow HKEAA's current rules on calculators.
• Know these functions before the exam:
  • degrees mode (DEG);
  • statistics mode: mean and σx (not sx);
  • equation solving (quadratic, simultaneous), for checking;
  • fractions and surds display.
• Some students use calculator programs. Use one only if HKEAA's current rules allow it, and still write the method the marking scheme expects.

Checking

• Substitute back into equations.
• Sense check: a probability between 0 and 1, a length that is positive, an angle that fits the diagram.
• Re-read the question for "exact", "nearest integer", "in terms of", "positive indices".
• Common mark losers: sign errors with negatives; radians instead of degrees; rounding too early; missing units; one root forgotten; sx instead of σx.

The night before

Many students revise the night before a test. Keep it short. For each unit, go over only:

1. the standard method in 3–5 steps;
2. one worked example;
3. the top 3 common mistakes;
4. one practice question.

Then: sleep. A rested brain recalls more than a tired one.

Questions you might not ask in class

More Form 6 maths topics