STEP

Overview

STEP (Sixth Term Examination Paper) is a UK mathematics exam used mainly as a university admissions test rather than a school-leaving qualification. It is best known as a conditional-offer requirement for applicants to Mathematics (and related joint courses) at the University of Cambridge, and it is accepted as an alternative admissions test by a small number of other UK universities for mathematics-heavy degrees.

STEP questions are long-form problem-solving questions, going well beyond the style and difficulty of a standard A-level Maths paper. The aim is to test how a candidate thinks through unfamiliar mathematics, not just whether they can reproduce a taught method.

The exam was set and administered by Cambridge Assessment Admissions Testing until 2023. From 2024 onwards, STEP has been delivered by the OCR examination board, working with the University of Cambridge on the question content and specification.

Who can apply

STEP is taken mostly by students in their final year of A-levels (or an equivalent Level 3 qualification), alongside their main school exams, usually as part of an application to study Mathematics, Mathematics with Physics, or a closely related joint course at the University of Cambridge. A Cambridge offer in these subjects typically asks for a stated grade in STEP as a condition alongside the A-level grades.

Some Cambridge colleges have also used STEP for other courses, such as Computer Science or Natural Sciences, on a case-by-case basis, though it is not a standard requirement for those courses. A handful of other UK universities with strong mathematics departments have historically accepted STEP as one route to meet a conditional offer for mathematics degrees, alongside other admissions tests.

There is no separate eligibility test to sit STEP: any student whose school or college is willing to register them, or who can find an exam centre willing to register them as a private candidate, can take it.

Exam pattern

Only STEP 2 and STEP 3 are currently offered (STEP 1 was discontinued after 2020). Each is a separate 3-hour, paper-based written exam.

In both papers, each question is marked out of 20, and a candidate may attempt as many of the 12 questions as they wish. The final score for the paper is based only on the six highest-scoring questions, so choosing which questions to answer, and in what order, is part of the skill the exam rewards. There is no restriction on which section a candidate's six best questions come from.

Marking and results

STEP results are reported on a five-point grade scale, from highest to lowest:

Each paper (STEP 2 and STEP 3) is graded separately. Grade boundaries, meaning the raw mark out of 120 needed for each grade, are set after marking each year's papers and can vary from year to year; for the 2025 STEP Mathematics II paper, the published boundaries were 92 marks for grade S, 75 for grade 1, 61 for grade 2 and 35 for grade 3, out of a maximum of 120.

Important dates

For the 2026 series, OCR's published schedule was:

This places the exam in the same mid-to-late June window as A-level written papers, and the results day in the same week as A-level results.

Fees

For the 2026 series, OCR's published fee was £102.50 per paper for candidates sitting the exam in the UK or the Republic of Ireland, and £142.25 per paper for candidates sitting it elsewhere. A candidate registering for both STEP 2 and STEP 3 pays the fee for each paper separately. An exam centre may add its own administration charge on top of OCR's fee, particularly for private candidates.

How to apply

1. A candidate cannot register for STEP directly with OCR; registration must be made by an approved exam centre, which is usually the candidate's own school or college.

2. A student whose school or college does not already register candidates for STEP needs to find another approved centre willing to register them, typically as a private candidate.

3. The centre registers the candidate within OCR's registration window (1 March to 4 May for the 2026 series) and arranges the venue and invigilation for both STEP papers.

4. Candidates who need access arrangements (such as extra time) or a modified question paper must have their centre submit that request to OCR ahead of the published deadline, well before the exam date.

After the exam

STEP results feed directly into Cambridge's conditional-offer system: an applicant who has been made an offer conditional on STEP needs to reach the stated grade (commonly grade 1 in STEP 2 and grade 1 in STEP 3 for Mathematics offers, though the exact requirement can vary by college and course) alongside their A-level grades to take up their place. A candidate who does not meet the STEP condition, but meets their other conditions, may still have their place considered individually by their college.

Universities that have historically accepted STEP as an alternative mathematics admissions test treat it the same way: as one of several accepted conditions attached to an offer, assessed alongside A-level results.

Preparation tips

• STEP questions are deliberately unlike standard A-level exam questions; practising full past papers under timed conditions, rather than only topic-by-topic revision, gives a much better sense of the real difficulty.

• Cambridge's own free STEP Support Programme is built specifically for this exam: it works through structured modules with guidance notes and worked solutions, building up to full past STEP questions.

• Since only the best six answers out of 12 count, practise deciding quickly which questions to attempt rather than starting at question 1 and working through in order.

• Review mark schemes carefully, not just final answers: STEP awards marks for valid partial progress and rigorous justification, not only for reaching the right numerical answer.

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