So you're applying to Cambridge/Warwick for maths, and you need to take some STEP papers at the end

of the year. This page should give you some hints on preparing for, and dealing with STEP.

What is STEP?

There are 3 STEP exams: I, II & III. For Cambridge, if you are doing further maths, you must take II

& III, else take I and II. For Warwick, I is OK, and maybe II if you're doing further maths. STEP I &

II are based on A-level maths material, and some of STEP I can indeed be answered just off GCSE

knowledge. STEP III is based primarily on further maths.

What is it for?

STEP exams are considerably more difficult than A-level ones. They are set to distinguish between the

top students. In general, STEP is aimed at the top 2% or so of A-level maths students. They are also

good practice for university maths - you won't just apply some basic algorithms you've learned in

class (you more or less know what will be on the paper in A-level exams); rather you'll have to think

for yourself - though don't worry about this: this is what maths is really about (e.g. problem

solving). In general, a STEP question will take maybe 40 minutes, as oppose to <10 minutes for an A-

level question. But don't despair: everybody finds STEP hard!

Structure of the Papers

Each paper has 13 questions: 8 pure, 3 mechanics & 2 statistics/probability. You will get marked on

at most 6 questions though, and you have 3 hours for each paper. A lot of people stick to pure

questions - indeed I did in the exams - but don't disregard the others: there can sometimes be easy

questions lurking in the applied section! Each question is marked out of 20, so the total marks

available per paper is 120. However, a grade 1 only requires in the region of 4 good answers (good,

not perfect). There is a higher grade again, S, and two lower grades, 2 and 3. Below that, you are

unclassified. So, unlike A-level, you get quite a bit of choice as to what you want to answer.

Cambridge in general ask for a grades 1 & 2 (sometimes 1 & 1), and Warwick less: so you don't

necessarily need top grades in STEP (though do try!). You are allowed a formula book & stats tables,

but you're NOT allowed a calculator (but you won't need one, so don't worry about that).

Preparing for the Exams

So I've made STEP out to be pretty tough - but in fact with some work it's not all that bad. You'll

want to start working on STEP early; I personally started in January (with the exams in July). First

things first, you need to get some past exam papers (as many as possible). A good idea is to set

yourself a daily target (say, 2 questions a day; though maybe more closer to the exams), and stick to

your target. What's more, you'll only learn how to do STEP by getting through questions - don't give

up because you got stuck for 5 minutes: try thinking of things a little differently, or look at the

wording of a question. A lot of STEP questions have an easier first part, to introduce you to some

new idea, then a harder second part, where you can use this idea to some effect. However, once you

have finished the question (or really are stuck, and need some help), there are some very good online

answers at http://meikleriggs.org.uk/ . This site is VERY good; use it wisely - I did. You can also

get help from real people (or look at old forum threads) at NRICH,  http://www.nrich.maths.org.uk/.

There is also a good STEP booklethttp://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/undergrad/advancedproblems and another

similar booklet is also available. Cambridge run a STEP school during the Easter holidays, which is

well worth attending (I did), if you are eligible.

The Exam Itself

The first thing to do is to spend 5 minutes reading through the paper, working out which questions

you might want to answer. It's a 3hr exam, so it's well worth spending 5 minutes ensuring you answer

the questions that will get you the most marks. My main bit of advice for the exam is to try to

complete questions: a full answer carries many more marks than a fragmented attempt. If you get 4

good answers out (and that's 45 minutes a question - so don't rush and make silly errors), you've

done very well.

All that it remains for me to say is good luck!