Supporting students: a teacher’s perspective

By Dan Rogan
Published 07 March 2022

Dan reflects on why teaching the right maths in the right ways, with the right resources, is as important as ever.

This exam series may seem ‘different’, but at the crux of it, that statement is still as true now as it was then, perhaps even more so.

The right ways

Recently, a colleague asked us whether it would be helpful to buy a particular revision guide for some of our lower attaining students. When I looked at the resource my colleague was asking about, I discovered there was an unhelpful emphasis on solving quadratic equations and simultaneous linear equations by various algebraic methods, when the best advice for all students is to use the calculator.

It’s even more important, following the disruption over the last two years, to make sure students aren’t spending time doing work that isn’t essential. Take a critical look at the resources you advise students to use and don’t be afraid to tell them to avoid certain sections of revision guides or textbooks. I could find many examples of really good sections in the guide I reviewed recently, so it certainly wouldn’t be fair not to recommend it, but students will need guidance on how to use revision guides, and therefore their revision time, in the best way.

The right maths

As well as making sure students are focused on the right methods, we need to make sure they’re focused on the right topics.

This year, we have advance information about the focus of the content of exam questions. There isn’t much that isn’t being assessed, but we still get the chance to concentrate on the topics and questions that will appear across our three exams.

We have to link our teaching and our use of resources to this advance information so that our students are as prepared as possible. We should make sure that any past paper questions we use addresses topics on the advance information to build students’ confidence in answering questions on those topics – not just getting the answers but knowing how to start and present a well-reasoned mathematical argument.

The right resources

Aside from past paper questions, there’s a wealth of other resources out there to support your planning and teaching, and help your students feel well prepared and confident going into their exams.

The pandemic wasn’t our own doing, but we are all in it together. We should be looking for support from one another, and from AQA. As assessment experts, AQA provide a range of resources that are particularly useful in preparing students for exams:

Commentary

• Commentary on our specimen papers
• Commentary on the 2018 papers

These two documents show the kind of questions asked in AQA’s A-level Maths assessments, and how we award marks for them, to give you a better understanding of what students need to do to be successful.

Examiner reports

AQA’s examiner reports are released after each exam series and include a commentary from the Lead Examiner on how students performed, including insights into which methods were used and which were most successful.

Read Examiners’ reports for all past papers from 2018 to 2021.

Mock exam analysers

These contain detailed comments written by the Lead examiner of each paper. For each question you’ll find the mark scheme, commentary and an example answer in one place, so students can compare their answers and identify areas for improvements.

Use our mock exam analysers.