39 · The Boring Robot

How I pulled off A*A*A* in maths, further maths and physics in seventeen days: you don't need to think like a mathematician. You just need to write like one. The working is mechanical. It's not creative, it's not deep. Step one: write the formula or relationship. Step two: substitute numbers. Step three: simplify. Step four: write the next line. Step five: repeat until the answer. Step six: box the answer. You can learn this in two or three days of deliberate practice. Not three weeks. Days — even hours. These small tweaks just get done.

You're a clean slate, so don't make life harder by trying to rip out old habits — just memorise and embody the writing style of the model answers.

It takes too long to write out every solution in full. Think and plan the thought process instead — that way you get through more past papers far faster. Writing everything out feels productive, but it's slow.

Stop opting out of writing what the marking schemes require. Let them have what they want. Stop complaining; write what they ask and get it over with.

My bottleneck right now: the marking schemes are walls of text that are cumbersome to process. But it's unavoidable — I need to learn to write the proper answers, not just generate any answer.

General rule for six-markers: when you state a law or a situation, state the why. Why did that happen? The underlying formula — the why. And once we state the why: physical mechanism, then intermediate consequence, then observable effect. So: given the change in a variable, what is the immediate change, and, as a consequence, why does the following occur? For example — why are bright white dots formed? Because the path difference is a whole number of wavelengths; the waves from adjacent slits superpose, and the white points form where interference is constructive.

Don't get drunk on emotions. Be logical and stay that way. For Pure Maths 1, you know you can solve every question — and this is true for all the papers: pure maths, further maths, physics. The single bottleneck between you and full marks is leaking marks. The default is not building up from zero; you did the work, so the default is full marks — and then there are leaks. You rush because of fear and ego (technically the same neurotic root), and you make no progress. Take your time. Calm down. Write the answers at your own pace and let Christ work through you. Use all the time. Slow down. Misreading questions, dropped unit marks, computation errors — SKIPPING AN ENTIRE QUESTION, like you did.

You have to read the question. This is why intellect alone correlates so weakly with high scores — the habit has to be embodied. Thinking that reading the question faster saves time is stupid: you run more risk and end up re-reading the obvious over and over.

Do not obsess over finishing in a certain time. It is far better to use the full two hours and get everything right than to rush, finish in half the time, and leak small marks everywhere. This is not the CSAT — there is no fatal time attack. You can take your time.

The hard truth about pure maths: everyone taking it knows how to solve every question. The differentiator is the clumsy mistakes — rushing, forgetting to write something, omitting units, skipping questions. Remove the leaks and you win.