TMUA & STEP for MATHS? Is it possible to achieve a good Step score after an average TMUA?

[Cratos]

Hi Everybody,
My DS received an average score of 4.3 for TMUA today. He wants to study Maths and he applied to Cambridge, Warwick, Bristol and Bath. (He has 2 offers, one of them for Maths&Stats)
He is doing really well at College and all his GCSE s were 9. He is currently studying Maths, FM, Physics and Econ A levels with AStar predictions. He is a very organised and hard working pupil.

Is it possible to achieve a good Step score after an average TMUA like this ?
Or is this score an indicator of his future potential now? Should he still pursue Maths ?
We are all a bit confused since he has been doing so well etc. I guess ultimately it is his decision but I wondered if anybody has gone through a similar experience or if any experts out there can provide some advice.

Thank you very much.

How hard STEP is for anyone of course depends on their ability, etc.
But the reason it’s set up that only half of the people with offers pass it - is that it is much harder than A-levels materials. Virtually all holders of offers will have A-stars predicted for Maths/FM, and all would have passed academic interviews.

So - you can draw your conclusions from that.

Given he didn’t do well on TMUA - he will need to dedicate significant time to STEP preparation - and that is to have 50% chance of passing generally (or even less, if TMUA score is indicative of ability).

So - yes - purely pragmatically/strategically - he needs to maximise his chances.
He does not need econ - i’d move on dropping it ASAP.
He can start doing STEP prep in Jan and decide if it looks realistic to get 2.

But mostly - I’d focus on making the grades for the offers he does have.

Different unis using STEP make different STEP offers. Cambridge writes and administers the exam and sets the grade boundaries.

I think Cambridge generally make the most demanding STEP offer with Imperial second. Nowadays I think (almost?) everywhere except Cambridge allow an alternate exam; STEP is generally thought the hardest.

The grade boundaries are set so that only about 50% of Cambridge candidates will make their offers. The success rate lower down the ladder may be higher but I don’t know.

Facility with STEP problems would be a great thing for any UG maths student in a strong programme. Not that UGs will be doing this type of problem, but it is invaluable for them to know that work can be very difficult even when the lecture material seems straightforward and there is no substitute for rolling up your sleeves, metaphorically, and plunging in.

I cannot imagine anyone has a prayer of doing well unless they are really mastering their A level material, so A levels come first. As long as A levels are being prioritised, I would expect that preparing for STEP would reinforce A level Maths and FM (and possibly some Physics), in that it amounts to overtraining.

Does that make sense?

I’ve been asking DH and can name some excellent British maths professors who never were COWI students so again, whatever happens the most important thing is that DS make the most of himself wherever he ends up :)

From previous experience and unless he had an off day, you’re looking at getting above 7.7 in TMUA to have a good chance at the STEP.

Might differ this year as results change depending on the cohort so it’s not always easy to say what’ll happen from previous experience. I read that not many home students scored above 7 this year anyway.

Having gone through the process with YP who had the same list on UCAS as yours last year I echo the very good advice above, particularly on honing in on 3 A levels and securing the necessary A stars in maths and FM. The grade boundaries for the latter can be especially tricky.

For now, focus on interview prep and as advised switch to STEP prep as needed in January. I would also add that narrowly missing the most competitive (in your YPs case, Cambridge) places is sometimes the right outcome. Ours had 4 offers and an interview but no offer for C which tbh was the correct outcome. They’re now at a COWI (prefer not to explicitly out but it’s not hard to guess which) and the pace there is incredibly fast and the workload is very high. I imagine C is a step up from that again. There is plenty of challenge for your obviously very bright YP at other unis.