Maths Exams in the Real World
- What do pupils find easier or harder in GCSE maths exams?
- Are London pupils better at maths than those outside of London? Do they find algebra questions easier than the rest of the country?
- Do advanced calculators disproportionately help advance a student’s understanding of maths?
LGfL maths Consultant (Grahame Smart) and Subject Advisor for Maths at EdExcel (Graham Cummings) explore the key challenges for GCSE students by analysing the performance of pupils from the summer 2019 high stakes GCSE Maths Exams.
Their insights to the performance of GCSE maths students can be used to help understand how to effectively support current and future cohorts of pupils as they prepare for their own GCSE exams in the future.
Are students getting better at answering exam questions in maths?
Has the ability of GCSE students to answer exam questions changed in recent years or does the data suggest that cohorts of students offer enough variability as to make the data lacking in a clear trend?
Are London school children doing better than elsewhere in Maths?
Are London School pupils GCSE exams results improving at a faster rate in comparison to elsewhere in the country?
Has the use of powerful calculators impacted on student outcomes?
Do calculators help students get the right answer faster and more efficiently or do they perform an additional role in helping check that the answer achieved by conventional techniques?
Progress over time - Are students getting better at maths over a long period of timer?
Does the trend over a longer time period indicate that students are getting better at maths or is it more dependent upon the cohort of students each year?
What were the best answered questions at GCSE level in 2019?
An overview of the best answered in the GCSE exams in 2019 with an analysis of what, why the questions were answered effectively.
What were the worst answered questions at GCSE level in 2019?
An overview of the worse answered in the GCSE exams in 2019 with analysis of what, why and how to answer the questions more effectively.