So, you've done the Mathematics Pure Paper 1 today and... it didn't go well. At all.

You are disappointed and feeling devastated by the fact that you spent these last months solving loads of papers, you were lately getting top marks on them after using the official mark schemes, and then the one that YOU had to sit, the one that actually mattered... had to be different, more difficult and with awkward questions. Not fair, and specially not a good start for this exam series.

If you resonate on this description, you are not alone. Actually, after listening to my student's feedback and searching the internet, you are part of a huge international club. And for a good reason. After paying attention to the descriptions my students gave me, I can tell it wasn't particularly easy, to say the least. Like one of them said, it was doable, but it had questions that required a good dose of self-control and self-confidence to be identified as "normal" questions in disguise; a disguise that made them look like alien to the great majority of students.

There are two very important considerations that I want you to retain from this:

The first one is that unless there are syllabi changes, CAIE needs to tick all the Assessment Objectives boxes described there. They cannot just put on exam topics or procedures that are not part of the syllabus. This means that, whatever the AO the question is pretending to assess, you probably already proved yourself on that AO on previous past paper questions. And this is a very powerful idea you must crystalize in you. If you did the proper work, you know your stuff. You will never be assessed on things you haven't learned. Of course, this doesn't mean there is no such thing as a difficult question. Of course there is, and this paper had a few. But you must not panic. If you are stuck in one question, stay calm and try to identify the topic or content the question is trying to assess; then mentally create a list of everything you know about that topic; as you do so, look at the information the question is providing and what you may need to unlock more things. Probably the key for this is on that mental list. If this doesn't work, then just move on to the next question, knowing that momentarily leaving a blank question is perfectly normal. Just continue doing the paper. At the end, after having a general picture on all the things you have been assessed on, maybe this will guide you to that particular topic that you were not tested yet, and this may unlock the answer for that question. One thing is for sure: never leave it blank. At the very least you'll be able to understand what the question is trying to assess, on which case you should write everything you know with the relevant values. You definitely know more than one blank answer.

The second one regards the near future: “ok, this paper didn't go according to plan and my grade is going to be lower than my expectations” (well, let's wait for the thresholds first, but as a rule of thumb it's always a good idea to keep the expectations low and then have a good surprise, than the other way around). This must not affect your next exam! Mathematics is one of the hardest subjects and it is also always one of the first papers. What you are feeling is normal and be assured most of the people in your condition is feeling it too. Just have a good night sleep and wake up tomorrow revigorated and self-assured: you have worked hard, and you know your subjects. You have solved enough past papers to have straight A*s, As, Bs (or whatever your target grade is) consecutively in a few of them. Be reminded also that you still have 40% of your total AS grade in your statistics or mechanics paper to compensate for any unpredictability.

Above all, you need to understand that you can't control what's in the past, but you can learn from it and use it to control the future. This season is just starting, and you need to face it as the very capable person you are.

You got this!

Mr. Miranda