Make a probability tree

As your exams approach, you’ll probably be feeling stressed out. If you’re lucky enough to have a teacher who uses probability trees to teach theorems, then this is the section for you. It’s a quick overview of probability trees and how they can help you revise difficult theorems.

Making a probability tree is one of the most important ways to understand how probabilities work. A probability tree lets you visualise the relationship between the outcome and a given parameter that we’re interested in.

Draw a diagram

Drawing a diagram is a really easy way to understand something. If you’re stuck on a question, try drawing it out and see if that helps.

Even if you don’t solve the problem, at least you will learn something that may come in handy later on. Often in exams there are 2 marks for “showing” your work and an added bonus mark for getting the right answer.

Make short notes of each topic covered in GCSE maths

The first thing you should do is make yourself a list of all the topics that are covered in GCSE maths. You must be thorough and make sure you’ve listed everything. If the exam board has made their syllabus public, use that to check if anything has been left out. If not, then get hold of the textbook and go through that thoroughly to make sure nothing was left out.

Once you have your list, highlight all important points from each topic in different colours. For example, for algebraic equations and inequalities use one colour, for geometry use another colour etc. Note down as many things as possible for each topic. You have to understand that hiding behind every question will be one or multiple basic concepts or formulae which will help you solve it easily if you recall them quickly when required during your test. So make sure no concepts are left out from any topics! This can be done by going through past papers and noting down the types of questions asked on each topic over the years because they repeat themselves quite frequently.

Make a flow diagram

How to create a flow diagram:

• Write the name of the topic you are revising in the middle of the page
• Write down each sub-topic that is covered under this main topic (these should be things like formulae, methods or concepts that you need to learn)
• Draw lines from the main topic to each of your sub-topics.
• Look at your revision notes/textbook and see if there are any specific order in which these topics are covered (e.g. a formula will only work with two variables). In such cases, draw arrows from one to another so you remember the order they should be studied.

Write down the key definitions

• Write down the key definitions in your own words

In math, a definition is a statement that explains the meaning of a term. Definitions are important for understanding the subject and can help you focus your study. A good definition should be simple and clear, so write down or print out all of the key definitions to help you remember them. This will also help you understand and explain what each word means.

Find out the maximum number of marks you can score for each question

This may sound obvious but if you want to get the best results possible, you need to know how many marks each question is worth. This means that:

• You can work out which questions are worth spending more time on.
• You can find out which questions are not as important and can be done in a shorter amount of time.

Go through past papers

Go through past papers. This can be one of the best ways to revise for maths. Doing as many past papers as you can will help you gain confidence in answering questions and also give you an idea of what to expect on the actual exam.

There are a huge number of online resources dedicated to this, but it’s a good idea to make sure that they’re official past papers from your exam board. Try to do them under timed conditions, and then go over the questions that you really struggled with later on.

Remember that each question will ask the same thing but in a different way.

You’re probably thinking, “I know that!”, but it’s important to be aware of the fact that the examiners will try and trick you. If a question pops up on the exam paper about something that doesn’t look familiar (i.e. you haven’t revised it), then ask yourself if it could be another way of asking something else you have covered in your revision.

You just need to use your common sense based on what you already know from previous topics learnt throughout your GCSE course.

Try to apply these tips and tricks for successful revision for your GCSE maths tests.

Studying for GCSE mathematics can be tricky and difficult. Follow the above given steps to boost your studying campaign. These tips can be used to improve your results as well as to study more efficiently. Follow our blog for more study tips and GCSE lessons.