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GCSE (Yr 9-11)
OUR VISION
We have developed an inspiring, motivating and coherent maths syllabus for the entire ability range, which emphasises and encourages:
- Sound understanding of concepts
- Fluency in procedural skill
- Competency to apply mathematical skills in a range of contexts
- Confidence in mathematical problem solving
WHAT STAYS THE SAME, WHAT CHANGES?
- The minimum assessment time will now be a total of four and a half hours for both Foundation and Higher tiers.
- The new Maths GCSE will count as two qualifications but with one only a single grade.
- A new list of required content has been published and there is an expectation that students will memorise many more formulae than previously.
- Questions in assessments will be less clearly structured and more open-ended, frequently set within real-world contexts.
- GCSE Maths will no longer have marks allocated to Quality of Written Communication (QWC) in selected questions, but ‘communicate information accurately’ is a part of the new AO2.
- A new content area has been added, ‘Ratio, proportion and rates of change’ and the weightings of each content area are set by Ofqual at each tier as below (±3%).
| Strand | Foundation | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Number | 25% | 15% |
| Algebra | 20% | 30% |
| Ratio and proportion | 25% | 20% |
| Geometry and measures | 15% | 20% |
| Probability and statistics | 15% | 15% |
GCSE (9-1) MATHEMATICS AT A GLANCE
Here’s a brief look at some of the course content and the Assessment Objective changes that been brought in for new GCSE (9-1) Maths qualifications. For the full list of content, please see our new GCSE (9-1) scheme of work(attached)
Subject content introduced in the new GCSE:
• Know the exact values of sinθ and cosθ for θ = 0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and 90°; know the exact value of tanθ for θ = 0°, 30°, 45° and 60° (Foundation and Higher tiers).
• Use inequality notation to specify simple error intervals due to truncation or rounding (Foundation and Higher tiers). • Use Venn diagrams (Foundation and Higher tiers).
• Work with percentages greater than 100% (Foundation and Higher tiers).
• Recognise and use the equation of a circle with centre at the origin; find the equation of a tangent to a circle at a given point (Higher tier only).
• Find approximate solutions to equations numerically using iteration (Higher tier only).
• Interpret the gradient at a point on a curve as the instantaneous rate of change; apply the concepts of average and instantaneous rate of change (gradients of chords and tangents) in numerical, algebraic and graphical contexts (Higher tier only).
Foundation tier now includes previously Higher tier content:
• Using trigonometric ratios
• Calculating with and interpreting standard form (A x 10n), where 1 ≤ A < 10 and n is an integer
• Applying addition and subtraction of vectors, multiplication of vectors by a scalar, and diagrammatic and column representations of vectors
• Factorising quadratic expressions of the form x2 + bx + c, including the difference of two squares
• Using y = mx + c to work with straight lines on graphs.
