David Pegler

I worked through GCSE Maths, GCSE Further Maths, GCSE Geography, and took both Maths and Geography at A-Level. At Durham, I see the Economics and Politics of my PPE degree as a continuation of Maths and Geography.

Throughout my pre-university experience, I always found that the most effective teaching was through supported past-paper practice. All of the content in the exams is covered, but such practice also helps with becoming more comfortable with the format of the exam, making it less daunting. Geography courses are cumulative (for example you need to first understand Global Political Structures before understanding how they interact with each other) and so I would go through exam subjects with the goal of moving to primarily past-paper practice. However, Maths courses are less cumulative (a student may struggle with graph problems but understand nth-term equations perfectly) , and so I think past-paper practice is a great place to start, with more in-depth explanations and sessions on particular subjects cropping up from what students struggle with when completing past-papers.