In Matric Maths, most of the marks are for the steps, not the final answer. An NSC marker works through the official memo with a tick for each step: the formula, the substitution, the factors, the simplification and only then the answer. Get the method right and a calculator slip at the end may cost you one mark instead of five.
The catch: markers can only award marks for working they can see. Here's how to make sure every step you know is a step you get paid for.
How NSC Maths marking works
- Each tick (✓) in the memo is one mark tied to a specific step, such as ✓ standard form, ✓ factors, ✓ substitution or ✓ answer.
- Consistent accuracy (CA): if you make a mistake early, the marker carries your wrong value forward and still awards later marks when your method is correct.
- Answer only: some memo questions give full marks for a correct answer alone, some give partial marks and some give none. You won't know which in the exam room.
- Statements and reasons: in Euclidean geometry (Paper 2), a statement without its reason often earns nothing.
1. Write the formula, then substitute
Writing the formula and then substituting your values usually earns a mark before you've calculated anything. In finance, write F = x[(1 + i)ⁿ − 1] / i, then show it again with your numbers in place. If you then press a wrong button on the calculator, the marker can still see you knew what to do.
2. One step per line
Markers look for specific steps. Make them easy to find. For example, solving 2x² − 5x = 3 should look like this:
- 2x² − 5x − 3 = 0 (standard form ✓)
- (2x + 1)(x − 3) = 0 (factors ✓)
- x = −½ or x = 3 (answers ✓)
3. Keep going after a mistake
If you get the turning point wrong in 4.1, use your answer in 4.2 anyway. Consistent accuracy means the marker follows your values, so a single error doesn't wipe out the whole question. Learners who give up after one wrong answer lose far more marks than the mistake itself cost them.
4. Treat 'show', 'prove' and 'hence' as instructions
When a question says 'show that', 'prove', 'hence' or 'from first principles', the working is the answer. Writing only the result you were given earns nothing. When you use a calculator, write the expression you typed in before the answer it gave you.
5. Use correct notation
In first-principles questions, write lim h→0 on every line until you actually take the limit. Memos commonly deduct a mark when it's missing. Use the notation the question uses, either f′(x) or dy/dx, and state restrictions such as x ≠ 2 when you divide by an expression.
6. Round only at the end
Keep full calculator values through every step and round only the final answer, to two decimal places unless told otherwise. Rounding early, especially in finance and probability, can push your answer outside the memo and cost you the accuracy mark.
7. Don't cross out work you haven't replaced
NSC marking guidelines say that if you cross out an attempt and don't redo it, the marker marks the crossed-out work. If you answer a question twice without crossing one out, only the first attempt is marked. So cross out only when you've written a replacement, and do it with one neat line.
8. Label sketches and name your rules
On graph sketches, intercepts, turning points and asymptotes each carry marks, but only if they're labelled with coordinates. In probability, write the rule you're using, such as P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A and B), before substituting.
Practise marking yourself like an examiner
Write a full paper from our Matric Maths past papers page, then mark it with the official memo, tick by tick. Count how many marks you lost to missing steps rather than wrong maths. For most learners that number is bigger than they expect, and it's the easiest number to fix before the exam.
If Paper 1 is next on your list, follow our Matric Maths Paper 1 revision checklist.
See every step the way the memo wants it
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