How we prepare the questions

Where they come from

The questions are from past WAEC, NECO and JAMB mathematics papers, included for study. We type them out again and redraw the diagrams so they are clear on any screen. Stepwise is not affiliated with WAEC, NECO or JAMB.

The answers and solutions

Every solution is worked out step by step and the answers are checked by calculation. Where a published answer key is wrong, we give the correct answer.

Where textbooks use slightly different methods for the same thing, such as finding the quartiles of a short list, we use one method everywhere on the site, the one used in WAEC's own answers, so the lessons and the marking always agree.

✱ Adjusted questions

Some sources are not perfect: a number is misprinted, part of a copy is hard to read, or a question cannot be answered exactly as printed. We set those questions out in the clearest form that can be answered, keeping the answer the question intends.

These questions are marked with a ✱ next to their title. If you compare one with a printed paper and notice a small difference, that is why.

✱✱ Questions from a single copy

For some papers we have only one copy, and part of a question was hard to read or had to be pieced together from the marking notes. We have set these questions out carefully and worked out every answer ourselves, but we have not yet been able to check the wording against a second copy of the paper.

These questions are marked with ✱✱. They are complete and answerable, and they appear in practice and mocks like any other question. When we find a second copy, the mark comes off.