Can I really get a guaranteed A or A* at A-level?
“Guaranteed A or A* at A-level!” Have you seen an ad on social media for a course promising you (or your child) an A or A* at A-level, or your money back? Have you been tempted to sign up? Before…
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How to revise GCSE Maths: 12 tips to help you succeed
With some subjects, reading your notes and making mind maps and more notes about the content works well. Maths isn’t like that. Read on for some tips on effective ways to revise GCSE Maths. Tip 1: The best way to…
Understanding Vectors for GCSE Maths (Foundation Tier)
Vectors for GCSE Maths is one of the topics that people tend to find hardest. Some questions are very challenging even for the strongest students, but getting to grips with the basics isn’t so difficult. In this article we’re going…
What’s the difference between GCSE and IGCSE Maths?
Are you unclear on how GCSE and IGCSE Maths differ from each other? This article aims to help you understand the differences between the English GCSE Maths qualification and the Edexcel International GCSE. Note: The Cambridge IGCSE, although briefly mentioned,…
GCSE Maths resources – mostly FREE – to help you smash it in 2022!
The Internet is awash with GCSE Maths resources, many of them free. Read on for key information about the course, the exam and how it’s graded, and a selection of GCSE Maths resources that will help you to get a…
How does the English school system work?
This article is for anyone who wants to get a better understanding of the English school system. For example, if you’re moving to England from overseas (or even just from another part of the UK!) and have a child of…
Functional Maths | GCSE | Maths | Skills | Tutorials
How to apply the Rules of Divisibility
Can you tell, just by looking at the number 31845, whether it can be divided by 5 without leaving a remainder? How about rules of divisibility for 3 or 9 or 15: will there be a remainder if you divide…
A-level | Core Maths | Edexcel IGCSE | GCSE | Maths | Skills | Tutorials
Fractional indices: Essential skills for GCSE and A-level Maths
This article is Part 2 of a two-part series. Part 1 covers all the Foundation content – basics, laws of indices, negative indices – and you can find it here. In this post we’re picking up where that one left…
A-level | Core Maths | Edexcel IGCSE | GCSE | Maths | Skills | Tutorials
Indices 1: Essential skills for GCSE and A-level Maths: Basics, index laws, negative indices
What are indices, and what do I need to know about them? “Indices” is the plural of index. An index is another name for a power, also sometimes called an exponent. It’s a small number written as superscript, such as…
How to make a flying start to A-level Maths
Are you starting sixth form this year? Want to know how you can make a flying start to A-level Maths? Here’s some guidance to help you ease your path and make a success of your studies! As anyone who’s done…
How to work with upper and lower bounds
Once you’ve got to grips with the basic techniques involved in rounding numbers, as covered in my recent blog post, the next step is to deal with upper and lower bounds. The section down to the embedded video is required…
How to round numbers for GCSE Maths
For both Foundation and Higher GCSE – and also for other Level 2 Maths qualifications – you need to know how to round numbers: How to round numbers by place value The first two categories could also be described as…
A-level | Core Maths | Maths
How to choose your sixth form subjects: A-level Maths or Core Maths?
You’re in Year 11 and your GCSE Maths is all going swimmingly – a few bits of it are tricky, but mostly it’s fine. You should easily get a Grade 6, hopefully a 7 or maybe even an 8, then…
How to achieve a Maths qualification as a mature student
Are you someone who always struggled with maths at school, and has tried to avoid it ever since… but now you find that you really need to become a mature student, or adult learner, and get a Maths qualification to…
Adult learner | GCSE | Maths | Tech
Introducing Maths Courses from B28 Maths Tutor
This article gives you an introduction to my sister site, mathscourses.co.uk, where you’ll find – as the name suggests – a range of maths courses to help you achieve your goals. Maths courses on the site Below are some of…
A-level | BTEC L3 Engineering | Core Maths | Edexcel IGCSE | Functional Maths | GCSE | Maths | Tech
Clueless about calculators? Get more clarity here!
You might be a little unclear on which calculators are appropriate for which exams. The short answer is that if a calculator is permitted in an exam – at least in England – then ANY calculator is fine*, as long…
How to make a DIY visualiser for free using an old smartphone
Ever wondered if it’s possible to make a DIY visualiser (document camera) out of kit that you already have at home? It’s actually pretty simple; there’s really no need to spend £50+ on a Hue or similar camera if it’s…
Master online tuition with Zoom and BitPaper in 2021
There are a huge number of software options for delivering online tuition but I use Zoom and, in my 1-to-1 online tuition, BitPaper. I favour Zoom over Google Meet, Skype and the rest because it’s the only one I know…
How I check a new GCSE student’s basic skills
Basic skills check When I take on a new 1-to-1 tutee for GCSE Maths, the first thing I ask them to do is a basic skills check. They shouldn’t view this as a test; they can look things up and…
Confused by BIDMAS / BODMAS / BEDMAS / PEMDAS? Try GEMA!
Remind me again, what’s BIDMAS? If you grew up in the UK then it’s likely that you’ve been taught BIDMAS or BODMAS to help you remember the order of operations – what order you should do things in – in…
How to animate a jigsaw puzzle in PowerPoint
I’ve been playing with animations for the purpose of promoting my Membership Programmes. Having managed to animate a jigsaw puzzle quite successfully, I thought I’d share how I did it. I was inspired by the instructions I found at https://blogs.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/build-a-puzzle-animation/…
A-level results U-turn
Well, what a palaver! A Government U-turn on the A-level results. Very glad to hear that Ofqual has capitulated and will, after all, be awarding the centre-assessed grades (CAGs) rather than the “Computer says no” grades generated by their algorithms….
A-level results day
So today was A-level results day, the day that this year’s candidates have awaited with trepidation for months now. If you got the grades you were hoping for then that’s brilliant news – congratulations and well done! If, on the…
