As part of the transition back to exam normality, the Government announced a 'package of support' for pupils sitting GCSE and A level exams this summer. Three aspects are particularly relevant to those that are sitting maths exams:
More generous grading
Formulae sheets in the exams
Advance information on the topics in each exam
The last of these is the big one. The information on what is in each exam was released by the exam boards on 7th February 2022. At first glance, most of the course content is in there. However, what it does offer is a revision list that is going to be absolutely spot-on for each exam. Let's look at an example from Edexcel GCSE Foundations. Within 'percentages', pupils will be questioned on:
Paper 1: % of amount; % increase
Paper 2: convert decimal to %, % profit, depreciation
Paper 3: convert % to fraction, one quantity as % of another, % decrease, reverse %
Dealing with percentages with and without a calculator are two quite different skills. Knowing that the conversions are both on calculator papers is helpful (although I note that there is an ordering fractions/decimals/percentages question on Paper 1). Also we can guess at some of the context of the questions. Paper 2 is likely to be percentages in the context of money given the reference to profit and depreciation. Check that pupils understand the vocabulary; make sure they link it to percentages.
Perhaps the biggest advantage is in the mindset though. Knowing that what is being revised will be examined makes pupils engage much more actively with exam revision.
Click on the links below to access the GCSE revision lists. Make sure you pick the right exam board!
Arc Maths App supports all these exam boards. Use it for 10 minutes a day as part of your ongoing revision process.