Exam Board: AQA
The GCSE Maths Course continues to develop and extend students mathematical understanding, reasoning and problem solving skills which were covered in KS3. Topics are split up into the following core areas; number, algebra, proportional reasoning, geometry, probability and statistics.
For Maths lessons you will need to bring your equipment to every lesson. You should have a pen, a pencil, a ruler and a scientific calculator.
Maths is a desirable subject into many careers; it demonstrates your ability to understand, by systematic, reason and problem solve analytically.
The GCSE Maths course is 100% examination.
There are two tiers of entry for the final exam. These are Foundation which covers grades 1–5 and Higher which covers grades 4–9.
At each level, you will sit three exam papers at the end of the course; Paper 1: Non Calculator and Paper 2 and 3 which are both calculator. All three papers are written exams worth 80 marks lasting 1 hour 30 minutes. Each paper holds a mix of question styles, from short single mark questions to multi-step problems. The mathematical demand increases as a student progresses through the paper. Finally each paper holds an even weighting of 33.3% of the GCSE Mathematics Assessment.
At the beginning of Year 9, you will be allocated to a group based primarily on your achievement in Year 8, but through regular assessment and teacher monitoring sets are fluid and students can be moved to suit their mathematical needs. The path that you take through the content will be based on your previous achievement as well as your current attitude, learning and progress. At the end of each unit of learning you will sit a classroom assessment in order to show your current progress and what you need to do to improve further.
Mocks will take place at the end of year 10 and during year 11 and a final decision about tiers of entry are not made until the later stage of the course.