Be familiar with the examination format and coverage

Becoming acquainted with the format of each paper, their coverage and weightage of each topic saves you from any unpleasant surprises on the day of the examination! For O-Level Mathematics Number and Algebra typically has the highest weightage in the examinations, while Probability and Statistics has the least weightage. Paper 2 contains one question which “focus(es) specifically on applying mathematics to a real-world scenario, and involves justifying a decision. This real-world  scenario question is not limited to financial arithmetic.” Both papers will contain questions involving everyday life applications including selected questions in travel plans, transport schedules, sports and games, recipes, floor plans, navigation, personal and household finance, including simple and compound interest, taxation, instalments, utilities bills, money exchange, etc.

Be exposed to Error Analysis and recognise the six types of commonly made mistakes

Error analysis is the process of reviewing your work to identify patterns of misunderstanding and identify the cause of mistakes you make frequently. Go through this process and learn to identify commonly made mistakes. Errors like misreading the question and test-taking errors like not completing the last step, missing questions etc. and careless mistakes can be prevented when you identify which ones you are prone to making. This will make you a more mindful test taker and prevent you from losing marks unnecessarily. Identifying errors conceptual, application and study errors can help you find gaps in learning that need to be bridged.

Milk the Ten-Year Series

There is a reason this is one of the most common pieces of advice given to O-Level students every year! Making full use of the Ten-Year Series to practice, revise and recap is especially crucial for mathematics as it helps you become familiar with the different types and categories of questions. Practise the topical ten-year series, so you are familiar with the types of questions under each topic. Get acquinted with the Latest Trending Questions and how to answer them. Practice for perfection and aim to cover a wide range of questions and topics instead of being selectively excellent!

Time management is key

Practice makes perfect, but only if you are timing your practice sessions! Timed practice is crucial and heps you gain experience in completing test papers within the set duration. A guiding principle you can use to gauge how long to spend on each question is 1 mark – 1.5 minutes. Generally, do not spend more than 15 minutes on a 10-mark question. There is also no need to do the graph plotting question last. With sufficient practice, graph plotting can become routine and a low-hanging fruit question. Good time management will also help you avoid careless mistakes by giving you enough time to check through your work step-by-step.

Ensure that you have built a strong foundation in Lower Secondary topics

By now, you should know that the O-Level examinations cover all topics taught from Secondary 1 to 4. Poor foundation in S1 and S2 topics may pose challenges in scoring well in S3 and S4 topic. For example, if a student has not adequately mastered algebraic identities, fractions, and formulae in lower Secondary, he would have problems tackling more complicated algebraic equations, and applying them to solve problems in Upper Secondary. Mathematics follows a sequential learning process. Prior concepts are required when acquiring new knowledge. Hence you must ensure that you have mastered the low-hanging fruits before proceeding. There is also a trend of students losing marks on Secondary 1 topics because they underestimate the difficult of those questions, have not recapped those topics in a long time.

Sharpening strategies to solve Problems in Real World Context

Most students face problems with Real World Context questions due to lack of exposure. You can avoid being thrown off by these question by getting as much practice as possible via Ten-Year Series, specimen papers, and example questions in school textbooks. The first two or three parts of these questions are worth 1 – 3 marks each. The last part on decision making is worth 6 – 8 marks. Read the context thoroughly for the first few parts because they are easier to score in. This helps you warm up to the context before tackling the last part. For the last part on decision-making, remember that method marks are still awarded for correct methods even if the final decision is incorrect and think of reasonable assumptions when making your decision.

Focus on Accuracy, Presentation and Units

Identify the common presentation errors that many students make such missing out units, and omission of essential workings. Be familiar with the instructions to candidates – “if the degree of accuracy is not specified in the question, and if the answer is not exact, the answer should be given to three significant figures. Answers in degrees should be given to one decimal place.” Keeping these in mind while doing practice papers will help you remember them when sitting for the actual examination.

Know your tools, and use them to optimise your performance

The main tools as your disposal when you are in the exam hall are your calculator and formula sheet. Know your calculator’s capabilities and functions and optimise it to check answers such as the solutions of Quadratic and Simultaneous Equations, as well as the mean and standard deviation for grouped and ungrouped data. Ensure the correct mode (DEG or RAD) is set for trigonometry questions. With regard to the formula sheet, take note of what is in, and what is out of it so you know what you will need to be very familiar with. For example, formula of sphere is provided, but not the volume of pyramid. Cosine rule is provided, but not sum of interior angles of polygons.