About
Wicked Maths has been born out of frustration. At first,
our own frustration as students of maths – there never seems to be a video of ‘the ONE that you need’.
You tend to get one generic example of how to do something and then a batch of subtly different questions to try. If you get one wrong, that happens to not be exactly the same as the worked example, then you’ve had it.
Our other pet-hate is when the answers in the back of the book, or on the screen in front of you, are incorrect! We usually assume that we have made the error and spend FOREVER trying to figure out where we messed up. It takes huge amounts of confidence to decide that we are right and that the ‘authority’ on the subject must be wrong.
Finally, in an exam, there is often more than one correct answer – it’s denoted as o.e. on the official mark schemes and it stands for ‘Or Equivalent’. This means that the examiner can award you full credit if your answer is equivalent (the same but in a different format). As students you cannot be expected to know all of the acceptable equivalent answers, or where they are applied, so they should be there in the answers for you.
So, here at Wicked Maths, we pledge to make you a how-to video for each and every question we ever write. We will endeavour to cover all the ‘o.e.’ answers just like you would have in your exam and we will always take great care to ensure that our solutions are correct by triple checking each other’s work and by replacing erroneous workings in a flash!
This is really great. My daughter has found your resources really useful, after struggling since forever with maths!
She says that you explain in using simple terms and methods that she can easily understand. I will definitely recommend your resources to other parents.
Natalie Fisher, 2019
My son showed a marked increase in engagement and confidence…he really gained a great deal from the programme, he realised it wasn’t a lack of intelligence just needing to be shown maths skills in a different more imaginative way. Many thanks Sarah for all you’ve done.
Mrs G, Devon 2018
Q: What did you like about “6 WEEKS TO GO!”?
“How beneficial it proved to be in the [actual] papers!”Q: Did you notice any changes during the programme?
“I became more determined for success.”Alex Geddes, Edinburgh 2018
Wicked Maths Commitment
The Wicked Maths App is our commitment to sharing the strategies, mechanisms and systems that we have created to help hundreds of students over thousands of hours to be successful at GCSE.
Maths is more in alignment with learning a Modern Foreign Language, a Martial Art, or a Musical Instrument, much more so than science!
It’s about building confidence around a set of skills like; learning to play scales in music, an axe kick hard enough to break a board in Tae-kwon-do or ordering lunch in French. It requires only; motivation, practice and determination to achieve success.
“It’s about attitude, not aptitude!”
Wicked Maths is for the students who’ve been let down by poor teaching, poor leadership, or who’ve missed lessons through illness or injury. It’s for those who realise late in the day that they really must pass their exam and it is for those who decide they will not accept their school/teacher’s low expectations.
If your Maths grade is lower than the rest of your subjects, then it is likely that you’ve suffered poor teaching. We see countless students who are straight 7-9 s in ALL SUBJECTS except Maths! This is not some mystery – it’s lazy teaching, poor accountability and a lack of motivation to succeed – or all three. Often it is the teacher with these problems and not the student!
Who we are
Sarah is the proud leader of a small team of mathematicians, which includes former straight A and A* students (now levels 7, 8 and 9) at both GCSE and ‘A’ Level.
With nine years of service as a private mathematics tutor, three as a classroom teacher (Deputy Head of Maths) and five years as an examiner for GCSE, Sarah and her tech-savvy young team have been able to assimilate that which REALLY makes the difference in the preparation of students for GCSE exams.
Sarah is a current GCSE Mathematics Expert Examiner for the leading exam board in the UK.
…a real upsurge in confidence. [She] engaged in a way I have never seen her do with education before. It created responsibility, accountability and ownership. A very thoughtful and young-person centred approach to learning. If schools made some of these basic and fundamental shifts in their teaching, the baselines for all young people could be met in terms of mathematics…
J Jones, 2018
I watched a few videos, you explain things in a very clear and concise way! Excellent for my daughter.
My daughter is excited to use this brilliant resource.
Your videos are the best maths videos we have seen, you give lots of tips, tricks and advice. Which is fab!
Mehwish Sarosh, 2019
Sarah has a first-class honours degree from The University of Manchester (a Russell Group University), a Postgraduate Certificate of Secondary Education in Mathematics (PGCE) with Merit and holds Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). She is a former deputy head of maths, a current GCSE Mathematics Expert Examiner and a fully independent private tutor.
Sarah has been teaching Maths (11-18yrs) for over ten years, has been an independent private tutor since 2012 and switched to 100% ONLINE GCSE Maths Tuition in 2015.
In 2018 she received an award from the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) for services to examining. Most importantly her teaching has been continually rated as ‘Outstanding’ by both Ofsted and the LEA (Local Education Authority).