Shropshire sixth-form student and teacher publish exams advice books simultaneously
A sixth-form student and a maths teacher at a Shropshire school have simultaneously published books.
Concord College’s Hayden Chan, 17, has written his first book as a guide to help fellow GCSE astronomy students.
At the same time, Concord maths teacher Kevin Martin has published a book to assist students develop their mathematics exam technique and maximise their mathematics marks.
The coincidence would appear to be a first in the Acton Burnell school’s long history and the respective results have thrilled students and teachers alike.
Hayden’s 260-page textbook ‘The Ultimate Guide to Acing GCSE Astronomy’, which includes many of his own diagrams and photos, is the culmination of one and a half years of writing which he began in the middle of his GCSEs in May 2024.
He said: “I always loved astronomy as a kid, and even more so after I came to Concord with the GCSE astronomy course and the pristine dark sky on site.
“What motivated me to publish the book was to promote astronomy so that more people can appreciate the universe. I do some astrophotography in my free time and that further confirmed my passion for astronomy.”
Hayden’s aims for the book are to help GCSE astronomy students secure a grade 7-9 (A-A*) after reading his book and "revising diligently".
“I thought writing a good book for the GCSE astronomy course that is also accessible to most students would be the best way to introduce it. While I was doing the course, there was little resource that I could use to revise and study.
“Therefore, I also wanted to share the knowledge and tips I learnt to get a grade 9 in the subject.”
His astronomy teacher Roger McBain said he was "very proud of Hayden’s achievement".
He said: “He is a young man with a passion for astrophotography. When the weather allows, he will set his telescope up and will be imaging some deep space object or other.
“He takes temporary jobs during his holidays so that he can buy new and better equipment. The quality of his results speak for themselves.”
Hayden added: “If this book could successfully inspire students to explore the wonderful world of astronomy, that would be awesome.”
Kevin Martin also really enjoyed creating his guide which, from conception to holding a final copy, has taken around two years.
The book covers exam technique for pure mathematics, statistics and mechanics.
Among the fundamental lessons Kevin hopes students will take from the book is seeing the importance of removing any risk of ambiguity in their answers so that examiners can be clear when a mark should be awarded.
He said: “Developing a single location where students can go to learn about exam technique provides every student with a full picture of how to polish their answers.”
Kevin said teachers often imparted exam technique advice throughout a course, but often that could be sporadic and depended on a specific mistake being made by that student or someone in their class.
He added: “The book provides a guide to making sure students gain as many marks as possible, securing the exam grades that their learning deserves.
“In future it may be joined by a statistics specific title and potentially one for mechanics questions too.”
