Common Entrance Revision Guide

• The best way to learn (and remember) how to answer Maths questions is by practising examples of the different types of calculations you will be asked to do.  By the time you sit the examination you should have come across all of the styles of question that could come up.  This will make you feel more confident during the exam

• Don’t leave your revision to the last minute.  “A little often” is an apt motto

• Use your skills and knowledge to answer as many questions as you can in the revision period 

• Check your own work or ask your teacher to check your work and try to correct mistakes as you go

• You are more likely to remember formulae and methods by answering questions rather than just by trying to learn the formulae by rote or by reading them in a textbook

• In order to pass through Common Entrance successfully you need to be able to answer questions across the syllabus

• Make sure that you practise lots of questions on these topics as part of your revision programme

• Start with simple examples when revising and gradually try harder ones as your confidence grows

• Ask your teacher for support in these areas in the weeks leading up to the examinations

• Find questions in your text book, on practice papers or on websites on the Internet

• Correct equipment     

  • Make sure you have the correct equipment well in advance - pencils, ruler, sharpener, compass, protractor, set square and calculator

• Know your calculator  

  • Become familiar with it and use it often before the exams.  Make sure you know how to use the relevant function buttons.  Don’t buy a new calculator the week before the exams start

• Read each question twice and start with the easy ones

  • Read each question carefully twice 

  • When you start the exam, tackle the questions you are confident of answering correctly first.  If you are stuck on a question leave it and go on to answer another one.  If you simply cannot work out a question (and are running out of time) make a logical guess

• Show working and don’t rub out answers or workings

  • When asked to "show workings" or "justify your answer", don't be lazy. Write down EVERYTHING about the problem, including the work you did on your calculator. Include diagrams, calculations, equations, and explanations

  • Put a line through incorrect work and re-write the correct calculation and answer

• Make decimal points clear

• Units

  • Make sure your answer is in the units that have been asked for or given on the answer line.

• Diagrams

  • Draw sketches and diagrams to help you answer, for example, questions on volume

• Choosing the relevant information

Do not feel that you must use every number in a problem when doing your calculations. Some problems have "extra" information. These questions are testing your ability to recognise the required information, as well as your mathematical skills

Estimate the answer before carrying out a calculation.  Once you have an answer make sure that it makes sense.  Does it look logical/about right? Have you rounded to the appropriate level?

Mathematics ISEB Revision Guide (3rd Edition) by Stephen Froggatt and David Hanson  

(Maths CE Levels 1, 2 and 3)                               ISBN   978-1-907047-01-5

Available from   www.galorepark.co.uk

CGP Key Stage 3 Mathematics. The Revision Guide  Edited by Richard Parsons

                                                                                   ISBN   1-84146-103-03

CGP Key Stage 3 Maths Workbook (Levels 5 – 8)

CGP Key Stage 3 Maths Workbook (Levels 3 – 6)

All Available from   www.cgpbooks.co.uk

Maths Prep 2  (For Level 2 and some Level 3 CE) by Serena Alexander

Available from   www.galorepark.co.uk                        ISBN   1-902984-31-5 

Maths Prep 3  (For Level 3 and Common Academic Scholarship)  by Serena Alexander

Available from   www.galorepark.co.uk                        ISBN   1-902984-X