For the past three or four years, the AMSP in the East Midlands has run a course for Year 12 students who are preparing for MAT and TMUA in the autumn or who are considering taking STEP the following summer. The course that we’ve developed is very extensive, comprising of sixteen sessions.
The course enables students to explore extensions to A level Mathematics and A level Further Mathematics, to develop their logical reasoning, and to practise writing proofs. Students also get the opportunity to see what’s required to do well in challenging university entrance exams.
In previous years, the course has taken place in a face-to-face setting but this spring and summer, along with the rest of the education system, the course moved online.
Demand from students for the course was very large – about sixty signed up and completed the course. Because the course was delivered online, students from around the East Midlands and beyond the region were able to join. The course was run in four parallel sessions to keep numbers in each group manageable.
Feedback from the course was very constructive and overwhelmingly positive:
- “Feel very confident with understanding the content needed and the way that they expect me to answer questions.”
- “The notes that we were given before the sessions were very detailed and the questions that we were given were very useful in order to practise the style of questions in TMUA/MAT, after looking at a certain topic in the session.”
- “I liked the extra questions within the notes that allowed me to have even more practice at each topic.”
- “The sessions stretched and improved my understanding of every topic covered, featuring challenging questions from university admissions tests.”
- “The materials were challenging, fun and helped to improve my problem-solving skills. Very useful.”
- “I thought the class was a great way to meet and talk to other students who were interested in maths, and it was also a great way of expanding your maths knowledge!”
- “The resources handed out (notes, questions and solutions) are really well-written and comprehensive. It also provides clarity over topics that are implemented into the admissions tests.”
- “I have enjoyed the course thus far and feel much more confident in ways to go about different questions.”
- “I feel that I will be able to enter the exam feeling confident about the skills needed. I’ve gotten a great understanding of the topics we have covered, and my eyes have been opened to interesting new sectors of mathematics which have been wonderful to discover.”
We plan to host the course again next year, beginning in March and ending in July. Our current plan is to run the course online again. Please follow our Twitter to keep up-to-date.