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STEP Support Programme

STEP Support Foundation modules

These Foundation modules are designed to develop your problem solving skills and provide an introduction to solving STEP (and STEP-like) problems. Most of the questions are taken from old STEP 1 papers, with some STEP 2 questions appearing in later modules. The assignments also introduce mathematical ideas beyond the syllabus with lots of opportunities for extra reading.

Please note that STEP 1 has now been discontinued, and the last STEP 1 paper was in 2019.

A lot of these assignments only require GCSE or AS knowledge (though they will ask you to use it in unusual ways!), and the first 10 to 15 Assignments are aimed at year 12 students. If you think there is a possibility that you will be sitting STEP 2 or STEP 3 in the summer of year 13 then we strongly advise that you start working on these assignments in year 12, or in the summer before you start year 13.

There are 25 Foundation modules, and the intention is that you work through them in order. There are also three collections of STEP questions (one each for pure, mechanics and statistics) which can be found after Assignment 25. Once you feel ready, you can move onto the 21 STEP 2 and STEP 3 modules.

If you have any questions about the assignments, or STEP in general, or feedback about our resources you can email us at step@maths.cam.ac.uk, or contact us via twitter @stepsupportcam.

There is more information about the different module types here.

STEP Support - Assignment 21

This module introduces a couple of functions that might look familiar, and asks you to sketch some regions involving the modulus function. Previous assignments can be found here, but you can do this one without having done the others first.

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STEP Support - Assignment 22

This module derives some more differentiation results and asks you to sketch some graphs. Previous assignments can be found here, but you can do this one without having done the others first.

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STEP Support - Assignment 23

This module introduces the chain rule and asks some questions about coordinate geometry. Previous assignments can be found here, but you can do this one without having done the others first.

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STEP Support - Assignment 24

This module involves integration and an 18th century series problem. Previous assignments can be found here, but you can do this one without having done the others first.

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STEP Support - Assignment 25

This module introduces integration by substitution. Previous assignments can be found here, but you can do this one without having done the others first.

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Mixed Statistics STEP 1 questions

A selection of Statistics STEP questions, which are based on the 2019 STEP 1 specification.

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Mixed Mechanics STEP 1 questions

A selection of Mechanics STEP questions which are based on the 2019 STEP 1 specification.

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Mixed Pure STEP 1 questions

A selection of Pure STEP questions based on the 2019 STEP 1 specification.

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Useful Links

Underground Mathematics: Selected worked STEP questions

STEP Question database

University of Cambridge Mathematics Faculty: What do we look for?

University of Cambridge Mathematics Faculty: Information about STEP

University of Cambridge Admissions Office: Undergraduate course information for Mathematics

Stephen Siklos' "Advanced Problems in Mathematics" book (external link)

MEI: Worked solutions to STEP questions (external link)

OCR: Exam board information about STEP (external link)

AMSP (Advanced Maths Support programme): Support for University Admission Tests (external link)