My teen kids used Exam Solutions to help them with their UK curriculum A Level Maths studies and I’ve also used it as a reference when researching ways to introduce new topics to my tutees.
I was therefore delighted to connect with Michael of Air Maths Tuition who also helps to run and update the Exam Solutions website. Michael loves tutoring and sharing his love of maths as much as I do, so I’ve invited him to share in the ins and outs of this popular UK maths resource with my Maths Insider readers.
– Caroline – Maths Insider
ExamSolutions
Are you looking for help with maths? I’m sure if you ‘google it’, you’ll find several resources out there.
But one of the few standout resources for maths is ExamSolutions. ExamSolutions is a free maths resource that specialises in video tutorials for AS and A level maths. It helps British and International students and teachers across the world. Since it started in 2006, there are now over 4000 video tutorials, crafted solely for the purpose of making high quality support available to all students, for FREE.
As a resource that has served students and teachers for almost 14 years, it has become a brand. You may know the man behind the voice in all the videos as, ‘the ExamSolutionsGuy’, but his real name is Stuart Sidders. He is a fully qualified maths teacher with over 40 years of experience teaching in state schools.
The Team
I was just one of the many students who used Stuart’s videos to help me through my A levels. All those years ago, I remember struggling to understand integration. After searching around on google, I stumbled across a video by ExamSolutions (Watch the same video below).
The video was short, easy to understand and there were plenty more examples for me to practice my new skills. This was truly the turning point for me. I began to use the videos instead of my textbook and was able to achieve an A at the end. Between then and now, I have achieved a First-Class honours degree in Maths, had a stint in the City of London as a Stock Trader and taught several students at different levels in Maths. I am now working alongside Stuart to open things up on the GCSE side. Between us, we have a combined 50 years of teaching experience.
So what’s on offer?
Videos
When it comes to resources for AS and A level Maths, you’re probably going to be spoilt for choice with ExamSolutions. We have over 4000 bite – sized maths videos, with various topics for you to choose from. To find the help you need, just type in YouTube [your topic] followed by ‘ExamSolutions’. You can also choose from a selection of topics on the Pure Maths index, Statistics index and Mechanic index pages on our website.
Even better, the video tutorials teach you exactly how it’s done from scratch and carefully explains each concept. There are also several examples which help to expose you to the different types of questions you may come across in the exams. With over 500 topics, we cover such an extensive range that many students use our videos instead of their textbooks.
Are videos better than textbooks?
Statistics show that videos are 12 times more popular (in terms of social media shares) than text.
But, why?
Here are 3 reasons why our videos are so effective and why we spend most of our time making videos for students:
- Videos are more memorable – After all, the idea of learning is to be able to recall key points and methods and apply them to problems.
- It’s an easier watch – studies have shown that the brain processes videos much quicker than it does with text, making harder topics easier to absorb and understand.
- It’s quicker – Whether it is cooking, cleaning, or learning, we all want faster results!
Our videos help students to take on information in a very short time span. Compare 10 minutes of a clear and concise video tutorial to an hour-long classroom and it seems like a no brainer.
GCSE Worked solutions to Past papers
We also produce handwritten Worked Solutions to GCSE maths past papers. We believe these are more ‘user friendly’ and detailed than mark schemes. Imagine revising from a past exam paper where you not only get answers to the questions, but you also get worked solutions with annotations, useful definitions, comments, labels and colour! Learning from questions this way is unique and arguably one of the more practical ways of learning mathematics at this level.
Writing the solutions by hand also provides its own cognitive value for students. This raw approach makes the idea of being able to write their own solutions more achievable. Naturally, when you see that someone else can do it, it helps you to believe that you can also do it.
We’ll be putting out more of these resource for iGCSE’s soon so look out for this on our IGCSE past papers page. You can also find past papers and mark schemes on our website.
Livestreams
During the peak of the Covid-19 crisis we produced live streams for students whilst they were off school, again all free, and judging by the feedback received at the end of sessions, were very successful. You can get to see us teaching LIVE here.
What teachers and students say about ExamSolutions
In conclusion, ExamSolutions has helped hundreds of thousands of students and teachers over the years.
There is no better reward than to learn that we are helping to change people’s lives. It’s the support from students and teachers that drives us do more.
To get an idea of the impact this resource has made in people’s lives in the last 3 years, view our testimionals page.
By Michael Olagunju
Director of Air Maths Tuition