How To Level Up Your Studies For The Sec 2 Math Exams

As a student, you may find that revising for the math end-of-year exam is very daunting – especially if you are in an important year like Sec 2, where your results will affect your subject streaming. The year-end exams is also the biggest exam of the year, with the highest weightage and containing all the topics that you have learnt so far.

So, if you are a Sec 2 student who wants to learn how to revise for the math year-end exam, read on to find out how our secondary math tutors help students in Singapore during this revision period, and gain some insights on how you can level up your own study sessions!

1. Focus on the tricky topics

Why waste your time on topics that you already know? In our tuition classes, most of our students struggle with topics like Simultaneous equations (Linear and Non-Linear), Algebraic Expressions II (Algebraic Fractions), Congruence and Similarity, Linear and Quadratic Graphs, Mensuration, and Trigonometry. So, closer to the exams, we spend more time revising these topics.

If you are still struggling with the basics, we advise that you build up your foundation first. For students like these, we will provide more practices on algebra, guiding them to develop confidence in expansion, factorisation, equations, and graphs. There is no point trying to conquer the harder topics now because it will build upon foundation topics.

If you have a decent foundation and your main issue is in one or two of the tricky topics, focus your efforts on those. Your tutor can help you identify gaps in knowledge and skills, and work on polishing up those topics.

2. Make learning relatable

When our students tell us that they have trouble understanding lower sec math topics, it is often because they struggle with the abstract nature of these topics. Compared to primary school math, secondary school math is harder to visualise.

As tutors, we have developed ways to make these concepts more ‘visual’ to students. Whether it is applying them to real-life scenarios or drawing diagrams, we find that students understand better when they can see meaningful connections, not just random letters and numbers.

In your own revision, you can also find ways to make math more relatable to aid in understanding and remembering. You may look back at recorded lessons or lesson notes where your tutor has provided good analogies.

3. Watch out for common mistakes

Just think about it: In your cohort, 80% of students are making the same mistakes. If you can just learn to look out for these traps and avoid making these mistakes, you stand a good chance at getting ahead and being in the top quartile!

That’s why our tutors do something called ‘error analysis’ in class. We go through students’ answers and ask students to spot the mistakes themselves. This develops their eye for catching their own mistakes – teaching students what to look out for when they check their own answers and do their own workings.

The advantage of doing this in a tuition class is that your tutors already know what these mistakes are, and they have a lot of past data to show as examples. If you are trying to do this yourself, you can do so by analysing the answer scheme carefully and comparing your answers to them. Don’t just look out for the final answer, but check which working steps are necessary for the working marks.

4. Consult your tutor

If you have tried everything but still feel like you are not improving, it may be due to a blind spot that you haven’t discovered. Your tutor is likely to be able to help you, as they have taught many students before and they are familiar with the common weaknesses and issues that students face.

You can show your tutor your past tests so that they can help you point out patterns like repeated mistakes or inefficient methods. If you have specific questions, you can also ask them and they will be able to clarify the concepts with you, or advise you on how to practice and sharpen your skills.

Conclusion

Whether you are trying to level up your own study sessions or seek support from a dedicated IP Math tutor, it is possible to score well in this year-end’s Sec 2 Math exams if you just know the right study techniques! Of course, this still requires hard work, consistency, and time – so don’t wait until it’s too late to begin.

If you need more help with secondary school math or other year-end exam subjects, don’t hesitate to explore the classes at our tuition centre in Singapore to equip yourself with the knowledge and exam skills to excel!