A-level statistics: a quick revision guide

The A-level statistics syllabus presents various challenges for students to overcome, from getting to grips with notation and terminology to developing data literacy and calculator skills.

With exams just around the corner, we’ve put together this short revision guide to provide a recap on:

• Some of the fundamental topics and concepts within A-level statistics
• How to approach challenging statistical problems
• The benefits of doing practice papers
• Useful statistics revision tools and resources

A refresher on some key elements of A-level statistics

Some of the fundamental A-level statistics concepts you should feel familiar and comfortable with ahead of your exams include:

• Data presentation and interpretation: Including the distinctions between quantitative and qualitative data, discrete and continuous data, and different sampling techniques.
• Probability: Basic probability rules, Venn diagrams, probability trees and use of set notation are among the essentials in this area of A-level statistics.
• Statistical distributions: You can expect to come across exam questions on binomial and normal distributions, as well as discrete uniform distributions.
• Hypothesis testing: You need to be comfortable with concepts such as null and alternative hypotheses, significance levels, and one-tailed and two-tailed tests.
• The large data set: You might come across exam questions that refer to the large data set, which you will have been introduced to during your A-level maths course. It’s a good idea to refresh your memory on it as part of your statistics revision.

Tackling difficult statistical problems

A key piece of advice – not just from us, but from educators and maths experts such as Seb Bicen of Bicen Maths – when it comes to tackling difficult statistical problems is to know your calculator.

In his video covering everything you need to memorise for A-level statistics, Seb points out that being familiar with calculator operations is essential when completing tasks such as calculating cumulative probabilities.

Casio graphic calculators offer a huge range of functionality to help you unpack even the toughest statistics questions, including the ability to calculate and graph both discrete and continuous distributions in Distribution mode.

Other good practices that can help prepare you for challenging problems in your exams include:

• Shoring up your knowledge of the most common terminology and definitions used in statistics, such as standard deviation, significance and correlation
• Regularly practicing exam-style questions and using the mark scheme to check your work
• Using common errors to focus on areas and topics you need to brush up on

Using practice papers to help you succeed

Practice papers are available in plenty of places online. On Maths Genie, for example, you can find past papers from all the main exam boards, as well as mark schemes, model answers and other useful materials.

One of the key benefits of using past papers as part of your A-level statistics revision is that it can help you get used to working under timed conditions and allocating your time appropriately, based on the number of marks available for certain questions.

It’s also useful for getting to grips with common exam question formats and what they’re really asking you, in terms of the underlying theory and how it’s applied.

Exam day strategies for A-level statistics

On the days that you will actually be sitting your exams, there are some simple steps you can take to make your life easier, not just for statistics but for all elements of A-level maths.

• Make sure you know how to put your graphic calculator in exam mode. This involves a specific process on the fx-CG50 that you might want to complete on the morning of your exam.
• Check that you have a fresh set of batteries in your handset, and pack some spares for peace of mind.
• Remember that you’ll be given a formula booklet containing formulae for probabilities, standard deviation, discrete distributions and more. While you might want to memorise these, it can be useful to refer to the booklet when checking your work.
• Always try to allow time to review your answers and return to questions you found particularly tricky to check your methods and solutions.

Useful resources and tools for revision

The aforementioned Maths Genie and Bicen Maths are both excellent sources of help and support for your statistics revision.

On the Bicen Maths channel, you can find videos covering various aspects of statistics, including:

• Regression and correlation
• Conditional probability
• Statistical distributions
• Data handling
• Binomial hypothesis testing

Casio Education will be hosting an A-level applied maths revision webinar on June 16th, which will focus on how to use graphic calculator apps such as Statistics and Distribution to answer exam questions.

You can find the details and sign up on our webinar page.