9 Maths exam tips - a good guide for kids

Ensure your child has memorised all the basic Maths formulas and know the basic concepts. Once they get the paper, they should write down the formulas on the front page, so they can always refer to them throughout the paper and even while checking.

If Maths is not your child's strongest subject, have him attempt the topics/questions that he is more comfortable with to build up his confidence during the exam. This will mentally prepare him for the tougher questions.

Your child should do all working on the paper itself as examiners will award marks for calculation. This is known as method marks and is especially important for problem sums that can have up to five marks each. Even if your child does not know how to answer the question, they should just do the calculations, as they might still get marks for their working.

Your child should not spend more than two minutes on a question the first time round. If they are stuck at a particular question, move on to the next one. This allows him to attempt all questions instead of not completing the paper due to a lack of time.

They should also take note of the marks allocated for each question, as this will give them a gauge of how much calculation and working needs to be done as well as how much time they should spend on the question.

Each problem sum will give a lot of information, so it is important your child underlines those that are relevant to the question he needs to answer.

For questions on speed, it is important to focus on the unit of measurement required. It is also better to use fraction instead of decimal as there are 60 minutes to an hour and not 100, thus minimising confusion. As an added bonus, calculations using fraction are usually easier.

Your child should not forget to convert his units. There will be questions that state multiple units, for example, 10m and 20cm, see that they convert to one basic unit to minimise careless mistakes.

Your child should check their work and write as legibly as possible to minimise careless mistakes. Careless mistakes are the bane of every math student.