When reviewing your child’s year-end Mathematics paper, try sorting mistakes into three categories.
1. Technique mistakes
These happen when your child knows what to do but executes the method incorrectly.
Examples include:
- sign errors
- incorrect arithmetic
- wrong calculator input
- mistakes expanding brackets
- rounding incorrectly.
These usually require more accurate practice and better checking habits.
2. Problem-solving mistakes
These occur when your child says:
“I didn’t know how to start.”
The Mathematics syllabus expects students to interpret information, identify relevant concepts, translate situations into Mathematics and connect ideas across topics.
A student may know how to solve simultaneous equations but fail to recognise that a word problem requires simultaneous equations.
That is a different weakness from poor algebra.
3. Reasoning mistakes
Sometimes a student reaches the correct idea but cannot justify it clearly.
The syllabus expects students to justify statements, explain answers in context and present mathematical arguments.
This often appears in geometry and interpretation questions.
Why this matters
Suppose three students all score 60%.
Student A needs greater accuracy.
Student B needs more unfamiliar problem-solving.
Student C needs stronger explanation and mathematical communication.
Giving all three the same practice questions may not solve their actual problem.
Before deciding how much tuition or holiday revision your child needs, first identify what type of mistakes they are making.