Candidates can take rulers, protractors and compasses into the examination. They should write their answers in black pen only, and use pencil for diagrams and graphs.
Bilingual dictionaries can also be used by candidates who don’t have English as a first language. You do not need to ask us for permission to do so. Your dictionary will be checked by invigilation staff prior to use and cannot contain any notes.
Calculators are not allowed in the examination.
Having one large answer booklet makes it easier to ensure that scripts are fully anonymised for marking and that each candidate’s answers are kept together.
We surveyed a large number of scripts, and concluded that a 48 page answer booklet is more than enough to ensure that you will not run out of space.
If you have relevant Access Arrangements you can request an additional answer booklet.
You should not use extra sheets of paper and no extra sheets should be attached to your answer booklet. If you do attach extra sheets of paper, they will be removed and will not be marked or forwarded to your institution.
No, you should write all your rough working in the answer booklet and then neatly cross it out. You should not use additional rough paper, and you should not be issued with additional rough paper.
Yes, you can answer as many questions as you wish. All your answers will be marked and then the marks from your best six questions will be added to make your final score.
However, it is not advisable to attempt more than six questions, and candidates who do so rarely score as well as those who concentrate on answering six questions.
Credit is always given for any mathematically correct solution that addresses a question directly.
However, you should be aware that if a specific method is required in the question and you offer a different method, then your answer is unlikely to qualify for many marks as it will be deemed not to have addressed the question directly in the way required.
This is correct. There is one exception to this: if you cross out work and then subsequently decide you want it to be marked. In this case you will need to indicate clearly that you want a specific piece of crossed out work to be marked.
No, crossed out work will not be marked unless you clearly and explicitly indicate that you want something you have accidently crossed out to be marked.
In this case, an examiner will briefly assess your answers and mark the one they deem to be the most substantial, that is the one that they judge will give you greatest credit. If the examiner cannot easily ascertain which of your answers is more substantial, they will mark the first answer in the answer booklet and the others will not be marked.
We strongly recommend that you set your work out neatly and systematically as this will mean it is easier for markers to follow your reasoning. Markers are trained to ensure that, as far as possible, all work you submit is assessed, including work that is not so easy to follow. If a marker cannot follow your work, or finds it illegible, they will consult others in their marking team, their marking supervisor and a mathematics assessment expert; if no further progress can be made following consultation, no marks will be awarded.
So long as your work is legible, it is not necessary, or advisable, to attempt to rewrite your answers as this will take valuable time away from your answering questions.
As STEP questions rarely require the simple recall of complex formulae, we have discontinued the use of formulae booklets in 2019.
Where a particular formula is needed, and it is not considered reasonable to expect you to recall or derive that formula, it will be included in the question.
No, all question papers must be retained by the centre at which you are taking the test. This is to ensure that, for security, no question papers are available for a period after the examination.
In many years, four questions well answered have been sufficient to secure a grade 1 in STEP. However, this is not always the case and should not be taken as a definitive statement of what is required to secure a grade 1.
No, there are no bonus marks available for answering a complete question. Each question is marked out of 20 and the markers adhere strictly to the mark scheme. Each year, after the STEP examination cycle is complete, we publish these mark schemes on our website.