Is it necessary to study maths in school, master it and score A+ in SPM examinations? Maybe your career aspirations are not maths related, therefore you find this subject boring and irrelevant.
You are not alone if you feel this way. This is commonly what plays in the minds of students today. A common assumption by students is that mathematics will not be applicable in their future careers. They generally consider this subject not worthy of their time. However, every career incorporates some elements of mathematics. Furthermore, good maths skills can help build future careers.
Apart from a career, when you step into adulthood, there will be many responsibilities that need to be fulfilled in your personal life which will need mathematical skills. A good and common example of this can be seen in the salary you earn. The salary you earn needs to be spilt to pay bills, buy necessities, support your parents and many other commitments. If you have good maths skills, it can somewhat simplify the process of managing your finances.
Mathematics is one of the most important subjects for students, especially for those who will face the SPM examinations soon. Students definitely want the best score for this subject. Apart from mastering this subject, students not only need to understand how to answer the questions according to the standards that have been set but also do so within the allotted time.
Benefits of Attempting Mathematics Reference Papers
In order to ensure that students get excellent marks in the SPM exam, they need to practice continually. This is especially true for mathematics.
This will sharpen a student’s understanding which will greatly help them when they sit for the exam later on. SPM reference papers such as the actual SPM examination past year papers, trial examination papers from different states and practice questions papers will help build a student’s confidence, teach them how to manage their time to answer all questions within the allotted time and overall be better prepared for the actual SPM examination.
Here are some of the benefits you can gain by using Mathematics reference papers:
Understand the Exam format and Questions Pattern Well
When students make an effort to attempt past year's actual SPM questions and trial exam questions, they get the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the exam format. For example, if they have attempted the SPM trial maths exam paper 1, they will be aware that there are 40 objective questions and the allotted time is 90 minutes.
Moreover, these reference papers will help them have an idea of the types of questions that may appear in the actual SPM exam. Students will also be able to keep track of the latest format and familiarise themselves with the latest question patterns which will lead to good examination performance
Excellent Performance Evaluation
When students attempt SPM maths reference papers, they will be able to identify their weak areas and work on improving them. For example, if a student scores 60 marks overall for the maths past year paper, this indicates that the student’s performance need to improve.
The student now has a chance to check where he or she went wrong and focus on improving themselves in the relevant topics. So, attempting maths reference papers is a good self-evaluation for students to see and understand where they stand in terms of performance. This provides them an opportunity to work on improving their skills which will directly improve their results.
Build Confidence
Attempting various mathematics reference papers helps build students’ confidence to answer questions and reduces anxiety. If students have attempted a wide variety of questions, they will be exposed to various patterns of questions. Once they are able to answer the questions with little difficulty and score well, it will boost their confidence and provide them a higher chance of success in the actual exam.
Where to Find SPM Maths Reference Papers?
Mathematics is a calculation based subject. If you only read formulas and calculations, you will not get far. Therefore it is essential to attempt maths practice questions regularly in order to avoid forgetting formulas. This also trains the brain to actively work in the process of calculation operations.
These days, you can find almost anything on the internet. Since SPM is the main national exam under the Malaysian National Curriculum which determines the future academic path of many Malaysian students, there are ample resources available which make it easy for students to find study materials, practice questions and revision materials.
Here are some of the reliable resources available for you to explore:
Trial Examination Papers
Trial SPM questions are either set by the State Education Department together with the schools or the school itself constructs the questions. These trial examination question papers differ according to states, Sekolah Berasrama Penuh (SBP) or Fully Residential School and Maktab Rendah Sains MARA (MRSM).
This is why there are many trial examination papers available from various states and schools. This provides students a great platform to practice before the actual SPM maths examination.
Most of these questions are prepared by an experienced panel of teachers, who are examiners of the actual SPM Maths examination paper. This makes the answer schemes very useful to students as they are able to see, study and understand what is expected of them when they sit for the exam. Therefore, these question papers follow the correct format and serve as a final evaluation of student’s performance as the trial examination is one of the last examinations students sit for before the actual SPM examination.
Please refer to the links below to access the SPM Trial Examination Papers:
https://trial.spmpaper.me/?dir=./
https://pendidikanmalaysia.my/koleksi-soalan-percubaan-spm-matematik/
If you don’t want to print out these question papers but still prefer to have the hard copy, you can always buy the compiled trial paper questions which are readily available in most physical and online bookstores. The cost can range anywhere between RM 5 to RM 20 depending on how many years and states question papers are included.
Check out SPM Mathematics - Getting to Know the Syllabus to familiarise yourself on the latest SPM maths syllabus!
Actual Past Year SPM Examination Papers
Among the best resources that can be used for practice is by attempting the collection of past years’ actual SPM mathematics exam questions. There are many resources online that share these past year's papers together with the answer scheme.
This can help students to focus on important topics and identify questions that are frequently asked every year. It gives an overview of how a question is asked, as well as the number, distribution and frequency of each topic.
An analysis report of the candidates' answers is released every year by the Lembaga Peperiksaan (Examination Board). From the analysis report, the area of weaknesses can be identified. This can be used to the student’s advantage to improve on the identified areas of weaknesses to avoid losing marks. It also serves as a great opportunity for students to familiarise themselves with the exam format as well.
Furthermore, students will be able to better understand the marking scheme for this subject which will serve as a guide on how to answer questions in order to score maximum marks for each question.
Please refer to the links below to access the Actual Past Year SPM Examination Papers:
https://trial.spmpaper.me/?dir=SPM%20Sebenar%2FMatematik%20%28Maths%29
https://www.mysumber.com/soalan-sebenar-spm.html
Practice Questions
While trial and past year actual SPM exam papers are useful tools to get good maths practice, you will need to have covered all the topics before being able to attempt these papers.
If you are looking for practice questions for individual topics or you have completed all trial and past year actual SPM exam papers and are looking for more, please refer to the links below to access some of the mathematics practice questions:
https://pendidikanmalaysia.my/koleksi-soalan-ujian-topikal-matematik-tingkatan-5/
https://gurubesar.my/latih-tubi-soalan-spm-matematik/#google_vignette
What are the Best Books to Help you Ace SPM Mathematics?
The resources you use to master mathematics depend on your preference. Some may prefer to use online materials while others tend to be more comfortable purchasing hard copies of relevant books to help them score A+ in SPM examinations.
While online resources are mostly free, you really need to spend some time going through the materials and sort out what you need and if it follows the correct format. Most books that are published by reputable publishers are trustworthy as they abide to the KSSM Curriculum.
The cost of these books is within the affordable range and it usually contains at least 4 to 5 SPM Model Questions. Some of the renowned publishers that you can look out for are Pelangi Publication, Oxford Fajar Publication and Sasbadi publication.
Use YouTube to Learn SPM Maths
Whether you are looking to familiarise yourself with the latest exam format or would like some help with understanding certain maths topics, there are videos available on YouTube that can help you.
There are many videos that take the time to explain not only the exam format but give you the exact breakdown of marks to help you better understand the focus of the exam paper. These videos are usually made by experienced teachers in the field of mathematics who teach this subject to SPM students in school.
Are you looking for tips on how to score for SPM mathematics? Some teachers even take the effort to go through challenging questions and explain how to answer these questions to score maximum marks. Here are some useful Youtube channels you can check out:
Get in touch with the best tutors from Superprof today to help you ace your SPM maths papers! You will not only get the best learning experience from our top-rated private tutors in Malaysia but you will find a tutor that matches your needs.
Communicate your expectations and requirements to the tutor and discuss the schedules and lessons. You can choose to have face-to-face or virtual classes. It is according to your preference. Get in touch with a Superprof tutor now!
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