Maths students make the most of STEP session
Students taking Further Maths at Gower College Swansea enjoyed a stimulating morning recently when they attended a STEP (Sixth Term Examination Paper) master-class, organised by the college in conjunction with the Further Maths Support Programme Wales, using facilities provided at Swansea University.
These STEP II and STEP III master-classes are open to all Year 13 pupils who are studying Maths and Further Maths and two people had travelled from North Wales to benefit from the programme!
STEP is a well-established Mathematics examination, designed by Cambridge University to test candidates on questions that are at an undergraduate Mathematics level. The STEP is used by some universities as the basis for conditional offers and this is becoming common practice, particularly with Russell Group institutions including Cambridge, Warwick, Imperial College, Bristol and Bath.
Students enthused about the opportunity to stretch their abilities in this intensive session, with feedback including comments such as: “The sessions exposed me to the kind of Maths I had always dreamed of”, “It was the perfect Maths lesson!” and “I enjoyed working at a faster pace – it has boosted my confidence.”
More frequent and longer sessions were requested - this from students who had worked without taking a break for three hours...
The STEP programme is led by Mira Peric and Theresa Hendy, Maths lecturers at Gower College Swansea, with Dr Sofya Lyakhova from the Further Maths Support Programme Wales. The sessions will continue to be held once a month, on Saturday mornings, with possibly more frequent sessions closer to the A Level exams.
The class was taught by Mira Peric, who explained: “STEP is suitable for students who wish to progress to study mathematics, engineering, physics and other sciences at university. The skills acquired in solving STEP problems are very beneficial during interview for courses at Russell Group universities.”
For further information, contact infoFMSPWales@wimcs.ac.uk or telephone 01792 606845.