Sixth Term Examination Paper · Cambridge & Warwick
STEP is the hardest school-level maths exam in the country — and it sits between most Cambridge and Warwick offer-holders and their place. It's also, with the right approach, the most teachable. That approach is what I've built over twelve years.
2 & 3
the two live papers
3 hrs
each, long-form proof
S–3
graded S, 1, 2, 3, U
Jun
sat alongside A-levels
Why it's different
Where the A-level breaks a topic into routine, signposted steps, STEP gives you a hard, open problem and a blank page. A single question can take forty minutes and demand that you choose an approach, commit to it, and write a complete, rigorous argument. The mathematics is A-level content — the difficulty is entirely in the problem-solving.
That's why grinding past papers in isolation so often stalls. Students plateau because they've never been taught how to attack an unfamiliar problem — how to find the idea, how to recover when the first line fails, how to present the argument an examiner rewards. That is exactly what we train.
Where it's the condition
Most commonly STEP 2 and STEP 3 for Mathematics. I'll confirm your exact offer condition on our call.
What the papers ask
Three hours; a generous selection of long-form questions of which you answer a handful in full. Pure, mechanics and statistics, pitched to reward depth over coverage.
The harder of the two, drawing on the complete Further Maths syllabus. The same long-form, choose-your-questions format — and the paper that separates a grade 1 from an S.
Each paper is graded S, 1, 2, 3 or U. Strong question selection is itself a skill — and part of what we practise.
The preparation
A repeatable toolkit for attacking an unfamiliar question — what to try, in what order, and when to change tack.
How to present a proof that earns full marks — the standard of rigour Cambridge examiners actually expect.
Reading a paper in the first minutes and choosing the questions that will score — a skill worth a whole grade.
Real three-hour papers marked to the official scheme, then taken apart line by line so each one moves you up.
Why me for STEP
An Oxford MPhil and award-winning LSE tutor, with twelve years specialising in admissions maths and 14,000 hours one-to-one. I've spent that time doing the one thing STEP demands and schools rarely teach: turning able students into genuine problem-solvers who stay calm in front of a hard, blank page.
STEP questions
It's demanding — but the difficulty is in the problem-solving, not the content, which makes it far more coachable than it looks. With structured training in technique and the right volume of guided practice, large jumps in grade are routine.
STEP is sat in June, alongside A-levels. Because it rewards accumulated problem-solving experience, the best results come from starting in Year 12 or the autumn of Year 13 — but a focused programme from the spring can still transform a grade.
Often, yes — but I'll only tell you the truth. On our call I'll look at where you stand and the time available, and give you an honest, specific view of what grade is realistic and what it would take.
Take the first step
Pick a time that suits you on the calendar — you'll get an instant confirmation and a video-call link in your inbox. Fifteen minutes, no obligation: we'll look at where you stand and exactly how I'd help.