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STEP is a set of long-form mathematics papers sat in June and used chiefly by Cambridge, and also by Warwick and Imperial, as a condition of an offer already made. Unlike most admissions tests it comes after the offer, which means it decides whether a place is taken up rather than whether it is given.
We also build cookie, which has a free guide to the admissions tests Oxford and Cambridge courses ask for, including where STEP fits as a Cambridge offer condition rather than a test sat before interview.
Read the admissions tests guideA STEP paper offers a dozen or so questions and expects six to be attempted in three hours. Questions are long, multi-part and built so that early parts set up later ones, and marks come from a complete, rigorous argument rather than from an answer.
A student who reliably scores full marks at A-Level can score very little on their first STEP paper and this is normal. The gap is stamina and rigour rather than knowledge.
Because STEP is an offer condition, a student sits it in June alongside their A-Levels knowing their place depends on it. That is a different psychological situation from an autumn admissions test, and part of what a tutor is useful for is pacing the preparation so it does not consume the A-Level revision it sits next to.
Slowly, and starting early; most people begin in Year 12 or the summer before Year 13. The work is doing whole questions properly, writing the proof out in full, and then having somebody read it who can tell the difference between an argument that is right and one that merely reaches the right answer.
That reading is the part that cannot be done alone, and it is why STEP tutoring tends to be fortnightly over a long period rather than intensive over a short one.
Most Cambridge Maths offers ask for STEP 2 and 3; some courses and universities ask for one. Your offer letter is the authority.
Year 12 or the summer before Year 13. STEP rewards accumulated practice more than intensity, and it is sat in June alongside A-Levels.
For STEP 3, effectively yes, since it assumes Further Maths content. STEP 2 is largely built on standard A-Level Maths.
Yes, and it is the usual experience even for students with full marks at A-Level. Scores climb steeply with practice at writing complete arguments.
STEP is long-form proof sat in June as an offer condition; the TMUA is multiple choice, sat in the autumn, and used to decide whether to make an offer at all.
Fortnightly over several months works better than weekly over a few weeks. The work between sessions is where the progress happens.
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