Maths GCSE

GCSE Mathematics

Pupils in Years 10 and 11 are assigned to sets according to their performance and progress. Pupils have seven Mathematics lessons of one-hour each per fortnight with the expectation that pupils regularly consolidate and extend their learning away from the classroom via a range of home learning tasks.

Pupils are studying towards the Edexcel 1Ma1 GCSE in Mathematics which is assessed at the end of Year 11 by three one and a half hour examinations. The new GCSE very much requires pupils to be problem solvers, they are needed to be able to tackle unfamiliar problems in a wide range of contexts, often having to make a choice about which of the wide range of mathematical skills they have learnt that they need to apply. For this reason, it is essential that pupils make a determined effort to understand the mathematics that they are learning as examiners are determined to set questions to catch out pupils who have attempted to just remember a method rather fully understand a topic.

The pupils who succeed at GCSE Mathematics:

Invest extra time in understanding mathematics rather than just doing mathematics.
Reflect and act upon any feedback they are given and try to make sure that they never make the same mistake twice.
Relish the challenge of the unfamiliar and don't want to be told how to do something and much prefer to work things out for themselves.
Enjoy being stuck and keep on thinking about a problem until they work out how to do it.
Take pride in communicating their mathematics in a logically structured argument.