How To Do Well In Maths

Maths is not everyone’s forte, and that’s okay because we all have a subject that we aren’t too good at.

For example, I struggled with English a lot but after putting a lot of effort and hard work into it, I have improved so much that even I am surprised.

This is for those who want to do well in maths and improve their grades in maths because they are struggling.

Therefore, I am going to show you all the methods that I did to get good grades in maths.

Focus On The Topic You Do Not Understand

When you don’t understand something in maths, focus on mastering that whole topic first before moving onto to another topic.

This is so important because many of us are guilty of not studying or focusing on topics that we do not fully understand. After all, we just can’t be bothered. 

If we just took the time to go through the topic that we do not understand, bit by bit, you will see an improvement in your maths knowledge and your grades.

Practise

Practise, practise, practise! Do problem-solving every day.

Grab a maths workbook and do it every day.

If you practise and do maths every day, I can assure you that you will improve quite significantly.

A lot of people, who are good maths, do maths every day, which has helped them, are as good as they are today.

I’m not saying that you should do maths for hours because I am sure you do not want to do that.

Just spend at least 30 minutes on maths every day and do a couple of pages from your workbook, that’s fine.  

Maths is a subject where if you practise and do problem-solving question regularly and quite often, you will become better at it and become confident in your maths abilities.

Do Not Try To Answer The Question In Your Head Before Writing It Down

When you see a maths problem, do not try and answer the question in your head before writing anything down.

Instead, what you should do is to start writing down the maths problem.

Write down what know first from the question, then from them write down any formula or anything useful that you need to answer this question.

 This can be something as simple as BIDMAS or writing the formulae for the area of a circle.

You can even draw a triangle or diagrams for you to visually see and understand what the question is asking you to do.

After that, you will be able to solve the problem step by step more easily.  

Study And Do The Homework In A Quiet Place

When you are working or doing homework, find a quiet place.

I do believe that if you are in a quiet environment with no music or TV as “background music”, you will study more effectively.

This is because you are more focused on what you are working on and there is less of a chance being distracted.

I am not saying that you shouldn’t at all listen to music but if you want to be more focused on what you are doing, try to not listen to music to see the difference.

Teach Someone else

Explaining a topic that someone else may not understand to them is useful.

When you teach someone a topic that they do not understand, you are sharing your knowledge to them.

This will then increase your understanding of the topic as well.

Do Not Work Out Maths Problems In Pen

Do not do maths problems in pen.

When you are solving problems in maths, you are going to make mistakes.

Once you do make a mistake, you will immediately want to erase that mistake and do it again, but with a pen, you can’t do it. 

With a pen, you can see the mistake that you made. When you want to re-do the question again, you would be too focused on that mistake so much that you may not know how to answer the question again.

This could increase your anxiety, causing you to not think straight when answering the question.

Again, this may not happen to you, but it is still a possibility.

Also using pencil makes your working out neater and easier to read because you would not be seeing any crossing out.

Keep Your Solutions Neat

Keep your solutions neat.

When you are answering a question, make it neat.

For example, you work out the question step by step vertically downwards.

This will help you know what you are doing as well as the examiner to know what you are doing.

By making your solutions neat and in line, when you are looking back at you, you can easily see what you have done wrong or how you have worked out the question.

Do Not Work Out Maths Problems Very Late At Night

When you are feeling tired or sleepy, don’t do any maths problems.

This may be such a simple thing to do, but many of us are guilty of not doing this.

We tend to overwork our brains too much by studying very late at night till 12 or 1 a.m.

When you are overworking yourself, you find it hard to learn anything because you are not focused at all.

We need to listen to ourselves and know when we need to stop and do something else.

This doesn’t only apply to maths, it applies other things as well.

Don’t Miss Maths Classes/Lessons

Do not miss any classes if possible.

Most of the time if not all the time, if you are absent in a maths class, you are behind.

The teacher would have covered a whole section of the topic when you are absent.

This means that you would have to find time out of your day to catch up with what you have missed that lesson so that you are not behind.

Therefore, I encourage you to not be absent in maths because you would most likely find yourself being behind.

Let’s be honest here, who wants to take some time of their day doing some extra bit of maths that you could do in the lesson.

If You Don’t Understand Anything Ask Your Teacher Or A Classmate

If you don’t understand something always ask your teacher or someone who does understand the topic that you don’t understand.

Don’t feel shy to ask your teacher about something you don’t understand because that is their job.

Their job is to teach you something so that you can understand it.

I am sure that they will be more than happy to help you out.

However, if you don’t want to ask your teacher, ask your classmates or someone that you know understands the topic that you don’t have a full understanding of.

In Conclusion…

If you use any of these tips that I give you, I am sure you will see an improvement in your maths skills.

I know that you can do it because I believe that anyone can be good at maths if they are determined to put the effort.

I hope this was useful and good luck!

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Here are the books that I recommend you use to improve your grades in maths. I have used some of them before and I found them useful, so they are from my personal experience and from people who have used them before.

For GCSEs

For A levels

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