Decoding & Problem Solving

Decoding & Problem Solving

Making sense of the question before trying to solve it

For some students, the hardest part of a maths question isn't the maths - it's working out what the question wants them to do.

Decoding & Problem Solving is an eight-session Saturday series designed to help students slow down, unpack mathematical language and develop practical strategies for tackling wordy, unfamiliar and multi-step questions.

It is suitable for all GCSE and IGCSE exam boards, and is particularly useful for Foundation-tier and lower-confidence students who may know the underlying mathematics but struggle to recognise it when it appears inside an exam problem.

Across the eight sessions, we break problem solving into manageable components, including:

1. Decoding the language – identifying key information and what the question is actually asking.
2. Choosing the maths – recognising which operation, topic or method might be useful.
3. Representing the problem – using diagrams, tables, sketches and annotations to make information visible.
4. Breaking down multi-step questions – finding a sensible starting point rather than trying to see the whole solution immediately.
5. Reasoning and explaining – developing mathematical arguments and communicating thinking clearly.
6. Working backwards and using what you know – finding alternative routes when the obvious method isn't apparent.
7. Exam problem-solving strategies – knowing what to try when you're stuck and how to collect marks along the way.
8. Putting it together – applying the strategies to mixed exam-style problems.

The aim isn't to give students another list of tricks to remember. It is to help them develop a repeatable process for approaching questions that initially look overwhelming.

The eight-session programme runs in Autumn, Spring and Summer series, so students who miss the first series can join a later one.