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STEP Support Programme

Do you have to declare STEP 1 results

I am currently in Lower Sixth and am planning to take STEP 1 tomorrow. I was wondering that, if hypothetically, I have a bad day and fail to get a 1 or an S, would I still have to declare my STEP 1 mark and grade when applying next year?

I would think not but I think it's probably best to check with your school/sixth form/college. When I was applying to university, my school insisted (more specifically the sixth form administrator who dealt with UCAS applications) that I declared I was taking STEP that year on my UCAS form despite the fact I didn't want to as I didn't want universities, who didn't normally set STEP offers, to give me one.

I should add good luck for STEP I tomorrow and don't worry about this question for the moment!

Whilst what mr618 said is true, you don't need to declare STEP on your UCAS form if you're planning on sitting it for the first time that year, it doesn't quite handle the case of declaring your already achieved STEP marks on your application if you've already sat STEP. This is a fairly murky topic and half the official sources say you don't have to and the other half say you do. From my understanding (which isn't perfect) you *are* obligated to declare your STEP results and Cambridge will have access to your marks anyway, as they are the ones administering their exams. I understand that Cambridge destroys STEP scripts sometime in October but I think they retain marks and names, so your safest bet would be declaring it. I didn't do great on STEP I when I first sat it a year early and declared it, I still got in anyway.

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)