GCSE Maths Hacks

I've met a fair number of students who struggle to make sense of probability and it's usually because of how it has been presented to them. The main issue is usually the AND rule and the OR rule. Let's take a look at the AND rule. The And rule talks about the probability of lots of different events happening at the same time. For example, what is the probability of both you and I going somewhere on the weekend?  Very high, right. Most people go somewhere on the weekend, it might be the park, a friend's house, shopping, a weekend job etc. What is the probability of both you and I going out to eat on the weekend? That's still possible, but less likely than us going somewhere. What is the probability that both you and I end up in the same restaurant to eat or choosing the same thing to eat? Again, still possible, but even less likely. Hopefully you can see that the more events I add in, the probability gets smaller.  All probabilities are given as fractions. When you m...

In Part 1 of GCSE Maths Percentage Questions  we looked at changing fractions into percentages when the bottom number (denominator) goes into 100, i.e. is a factor of 100. However, this won't always happen and you need to know how to change other fractions into percentages. For example, you might have to change 6/24 into a percentage. For these kind of questions, you need to remember that a fraction is also a divide. Meaning that 6/24 is also 6 divided by 24. The process for converting these kind of fractions to a percentage is to simplify the fraction and then do the division. So in this case, 6/24 simplifies to 1/4. 1 divided by 4 is 0.25. To change a decimal into a percentage, multiply by 100, which gives us 25%. Here's another example: 3/16 3/16 does not simplify. 16 does not go into 100. So to change 3/16 into a percentage we need to do the division. These kind of questions are usually calculator questions, but you can also do them without a calculator. You will need to ad...

If you hate percentages and can't seem to get your head around all of the different types of percentage questions, you're not alone. It can be a really confusing topic. You might be tempted to avoid it and I don't blame you at all. Sadly, you won't get far very far with GCSE Maths if you don't learn how to do these questions. I'll do my best to simplify this topic and hopefully make it easier for you.  Let's start by looking at what a percentage actually is. The word percent means 'Out of 100'. Per as in for each one. And cent, the french for 100.  The purpose of working out percentages is to help compare numbers and to make things simpler. For example, when you go shopping, a sale sign that says 50% off is much clearer than a sign that says £37 off. Percentages help us understand numbers faster. Usually when you get a test result, you will have your score as well as a percentage. Before you start working on how to calculate percentages, I highly rec...

 You might be wondering what the differences are between the IGCSE and GCSE Maths. Particularly if you are homeschooling or if you are an international student looking for a UK equivalent qualification, you may be wondering which is better. When talking about education, a 'better' qualification, usually means harder.  Some organisations see the IGCSE as more prestigious and I assume this is because the IGCSE Maths qualification has more content and slightly harder topics than the standard GCSE. Here are the additional topics required in the IGCSE:   - Differentiation   - Matrices Usually these topics aren't covered until A-Levels. Having said that, the difference between IGCSE and GCSE Maths was probably greater before the grading system changed to the levels system. Because along with the grading change, some A-Level content was also added into the GCSE Maths syllabus.  So the Maths GCSE is harder than it was pre-2017, but is still slightly easier tha...

 The Edexcel Syllabus is the similar:  1 Number 2 Algebra 3 Ratio, proportion and rates of change 4 Geometry and measures 5 Probability 6 Statistics 7 Problem Solving You can learn more here on the BBC Bitesize Revision Page - I personally find it easier than navigating the Edexcel GCSE Maths page.  Exams: The Edexcel GCSE Maths exam structure is the same as the AQA: 3 papers, one is non-calculator, 80 marks and 1.5 hours each. In 2022 A score of 194 was needed for a level 9, slightly lower than the AQA exams. 

If you're wondering which exam board to choose between AQA and Edexcel, the content required for each is very similar - the main differences are in how the exams are written. The IGCSE Syllabus is different, it has more content and some slightly harder topics than the standard GCSE. The I in IGCSE stands for International and this qualification is accessible in around 150 countries, whereas the GCSE is only available in the UK and a few other places.  If you're homeschooling it may be worth going for the IGCSE as it is considered more prestigious by some and it gives you the flexibility to take the qualification from almost anywhere.  I will go through each syllabus in more detail, starting with AQA: Topics:  1 Number 2 Algebra 3 Ratio, proportion and rates of change 4 Geometry and measures 5 Probability 6 Statistics Exams: There are 3 exams, 1 is non-calculator. Each has 80 marks and there is a foundation (levels 1 to 5)  and higher tier available (levels 5 to 9)....