Tag: h2 math

H2 Math Bell Curve

As mentioned in H2 Maths Distinction Rate (Percentage of As), the national distinction rate for H2 Math is usually around 50%. That is, 50% of all students will get ‘A’ grade for H2 Math. (Note that this statistic is heavily skewed by the top tier JCs where close to 80%-90% of all students get ‘A’ for H2 Math.)

According to numerous online sources, such as Reddit, this year’s (2018) H2 Math paper was significantly harder than previous years. It featured many “out-of-the-box” questions that are not found in the Ten-Year-Series. The “bug” question featuring a “bug” walking in a zig-zag fashion and falling into a “blackhole” stumped many students. Certain topics, such as PnC (Permutations and Combinations) are totally left out, prompting students to say that it is a case of “PnC —> “high investment Low returns “ More like “high investment NO returns”. (Update: The “bug” question is a disguised PnC question.)

Despite all these, there are still many students who honestly think that the paper was doable, or even easy. Probably these are the students who have practiced Prelim papers of top schools like Hwa Chong or Raffles, and hence are used to such tough questions.

The usual consensus is that a high 70s mark (>75) is sufficient to get A for H2 Math. Low 70s (70-74) is quite risky and may either be ‘B’ or ‘A’ grade depending on the difficulty of the paper.

Someone actually created a poll (https://strawpoll.com/zh7r7xh7) for the H2 Math 2018 scores. It is quite possible to predict your own score accurately since the answers will be circulating online soon after the exam. Based on the poll, ignoring the typo error that is “75-89” is meant to be “75-79”, we can see that the cut-off for ‘A’ grade for 2018 should be in the range 70-74. This is based on the hypothesis that the 50% distinction rate holds.

The bellcurve for A levels is apparently set by SEAB (Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board), while Cambridge does the marking. According to an “old examiner report“, Cambridge likened grading to swimming a lap. They said that a candidate who could ‘compete a lap’ would be given due credit regardless of the number of people who also completed the lap. After Cambridge finishes marking and gives the numerical score, the bell curving will be processed by SEAB to determine the final grade, that is, ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C,’ and so on. This is probably necessary to ensure a “consistent” grade distribution so that university admissions can go smoothly, and that grades from different years are roughly comparable.

Differences in New H2 Math Syllabus (9758)

H2 Math has undergone a revamp to the new syllabus (Subject Code 9758).

So what are the differences between the new syllabus and the old syllabus (Subject Code 9740)?

Main Differences:

  1. Removal of Mathematical Induction
  2. Removal of Recurrence relation
  3. Removal of Loci (Complex Numbers)
  4. Removal of Poisson distribution
  5. Removal of normal approximation to binomial distribution
  6. The new H2 Math Syllabus specifically mentions the importance of the modulus function in inequality.

Most of the changes are actually removal, which means the new syllabus covers less content than the previous syllabus. Many of the topics are being moved to Further Math.

Despite the removal of material, students are advised to study beyond the syllabus and keep an open mind since the concepts will be useful in further studies.

H2 Math JC1 Past Year Practice Papers

Source: https://sellfy.com/p/onQJ/

Need extra practice for JC 1 H2 Maths?

Check out the Highly Condensed H2 Maths Notes, plus the H2 Math JC 1 Past Year Practice Papers (collated out of actual school papers).

Full solution included.

Topics include JC 1 topics like Functions and Graphs, Transformations, Inequalities, Differentiation, and others.

Ideal time to practice this is before JC 1 Promos / Block test, or after JC 1 during the December Holidays for revision.

URL: https://sellfy.com/p/onQJ/

Fail H2 Maths Promos or Prelims

For H2 (or H1) Maths students who are getting low marks for internal school exams, do not be overly discouraged. The current trend for schools is to set very tough internal exams (i.e. Promos and Prelims) to spur students to study hard, and (hopefully) ace the eventual final A level exams. If you look at the actual A Level Ten Year Series, you will find that the standard of questions is much easier than Prelim level.

A rule of thumb is that the eventual A level grade is 2 grades above the internal school grade. E.g., in internal exams a student getting D for H2 Maths is most likely equivalent to a B in the final A levels, provided the student continues to study hard.

Jumping from E to A grade has been done by many seniors. Do not give up, continue to believe in yourself, and keep calm while constantly revising.

Do check out this highly condensed H2 Math Notes (comes with free exam papers). The key thing to do before exams is to remember Math formulas (many students forget the AP/GP formulae for instance, and lost some free marks). Constant practice and exposure to questions is also a must.

Here are some sources of true stories:

1) https://www.facebook.com/RJConfessions/posts/220752441406251

To all the J1 and J2 kids who are struggling with math, let me share with you my personal experience. I took H2 math by the way, and refused to drop to H1 when people started dropping.

J1 CT 1: Math: U
J1 promos: Math: S
J2 CT1: Math S
J2 CT2: Math S
J2 Prelims: Math E
A levels: Math A.

The moral of the story is simple: It can be done. My math teacher used to motivate us with stories of seniors who have also flunked their way through math in the 2 years and clinched an A at the end. I didnt really believed it could happen, but I guess I chose to believe it anyways.

2) https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/3nkq4t/jc_prelims_alevels_correlation/

H2 Math: E A

H2 Chem: D B

H2 Econs: D D

H1 Physics: U A

H1 GP: B A

The grades on the left were prelims and right were my actual results. Of course it depends on your school and how hard they set the prelim papers

H2 Maths Distinction Rate (Percentage of As)

H2 Mathematics has one of the highest distinction rates of all subjects (around 50% each year). This means that around half of all Singaporean A level candidates score an A for H2 Maths!

H2 A Level Distinction Rates Compilation (National Average)

(For year 2010)

H2 Mathematics Distinction Rate:  51.9%
H2 Biology Distinction Rate: 43.7%
H2 Economics Distinction Rate: 33.8%

H1 Mathematics Distinction Rate: 33.1%
H1 Economics Distinction Rate: 33.8%

Literature Distinction Rate: 30.1%
History Distinction Rate: 23.7%
Geography Distinction Rate: 28.3%

Source: http://ajc.edu.sg/pdf/aj_broadcast/newsroom/news_archives/linkaj_may_2011.pdf

 H2 Maths Notes and Resources

Check out the highly summarized and condensed H2 Maths Notes here! (Comes with Free H2 Math Exam Papers.)

 Is H2 Maths the easiest H2 subject to get A?

Answer: Yes, provided the student does study conscientiously and not lag behind too much. Based on the statistics above, one can easily see that based on probability alone, H2 Maths is the easiest H2 subject to get A. Since more than 50% of students get A for H2 Maths, in a sense it is easier to get A for H2 Maths than flipping a heads on a coin!

However… (Please Read)

H2 Maths is also the easiest to fail! Without sufficient practice and effort to understand the subject material, sub-30 (below 30/100) marks are extremely common for H2 Maths. Last minute cramming will simply not work, and if a student lags too far behind in terms of syllabus, it will take extra effort to just even catch up.

In Depth Analysis of H2 Maths Distinction Rate

The 50% National Distinction Rate for H2 Maths can be quite misleading to think that every student has 50% chance of getting A for H2 Maths. The truth is that H2 Maths Distinction Rate varies a lot from school to school.

For example, AJC’s H2 Maths Distinction Rate is 62.7%, which is very much higher than the 50% average National Distinction Rate.

Raffles Institution (RI/RJC) Distinction Rate hovers around 70% to 80%!

Victoria JC (VJC)’s H2 Maths Distinction Rate is around 66.6%.

Hwa Chong (HCI) H2 Maths Distinction Rate is around 80% (8 out of 10 students scored an A for H2 Maths in HCI for three consecutive years).

Upon some thinking, one will quickly realize that if so many schools have Distinction Rate significantly above 50%, there has to be many schools with Distinction Rate significantly below 50%, in order for the National Distinction Rate to be around 50%!

The only people who know the exact Distinction Rate for the above mentioned JCs would be the internal staff and students, since the school website will probably not publish the statistics for obvious reasons.

The Best Time to Study H2 Maths is Now!

For students who are in schools with super high H2 Maths Distinction Rate, congratulations, your chances of getting A for H2 Maths are very good. However, do not be complacent till the very last day, as the race is not over yet.

For students who are in schools with very low H2 Maths Distinction Rate, the odds are unfortunately stacked against the student. However, do not lose heart, as anything is possible if one puts one’s heart and mind into it.

Good luck!

H2 Maths Notes and Resources

Check out the highly summarized and condensed H2 Maths Notes here! (Comes with Free H2 Math Exam Papers.)

H2 Math Tuition

https://mathtuition88.com/

Integration by Substitution (H2 Maths Tuition)

This is a 1 page article prepared by me for students to learn how to do Integration by Substitution, a very useful technique that can integrate many functions.

This is especially useful for students taking H2 Maths, as it is one of the two tools for integration. The other is Integration by Parts. SMU First Year Students also have to take a calculus course which includes Integration by Substitution too.

This is also my first time trying out embedding Scribd into WordPress, so that users can view the document on the website itself without downloading anything. 🙂

Print version: Integration by Substitution

Featured book:

Calculus: An Intuitive and Physical Approach (Second Edition) (Dover Books on Mathematics)

Application-oriented introduction relates the subject as closely as possible to science. In-depth explorations of the derivative, the differentiation and integration of the powers of x, and theorems on differentiation and antidifferentiation lead to a definition of the chain rule and examinations of trigonometric functions, logarithmic and exponential functions, techniques of integration, polar coordinates, much more. Clear-cut explanations, numerous drills, illustrative examples. 1967 edition. Solution guide available upon request.