Everything you need to know about GCSE Maths

There are 3 major exam boards for GCSE Maths: Pearson Edexcel, OCR and AQA. All 3 offer Foundation and Higher Maths exams and test both Calculator and Non-Calculator papers. All papers consist of 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. Although there are common topics between all 3 exam boards, the information on this post is separated for each exam board so you can find the information that is only relevant to you.

Edexcel

There are 3 papers in Edexcel. Paper 1 is Non-Calculator but Paper 2 and Paper 3 are Calculator papers. There are no differences between the content in Paper 2 and 3 as both require a calculator, however it can be assumed that topics that were not tested in Paper 2 are more likely to come up in your Paper 3 exam. As for Paper 1, all questions can be done without a calculator so they may require you to use your own knowledge on exact trig values, leaving answers in terms of pi or estimating answers.

Each paper is out of 80 and each paper is weighted equally so the total marks for GCSE Edexcel Maths is 240. All your marks from each paper are added together, and grade boundaries can be used to determine what grade you have achieved. For Foundation, the maximum grade you can achieve is a grade 5. Each paper is 1 hour and 30 minutes.

For past papers, click here.

For grade boundaries, click here.

OCR

OCR is much similar to Edexcel. Each paper is 1 hour and 30 minutes long and Foundation students can only receive maximum a grade 5.

Paper 1 and Paper 3 are calculator papers, but Paper 2 is Non-Calculator. Each paper is out of 100 marks and they are weighed equally so the total marks for the GCSE is 300.

For past papers, click here.

For grade boundaries, click here.

AQA

In AQA GCSE Maths exams, Paper 1 is Non-Calculator and Paper 2 and Paper 3 is Calculator. Each exam is 1 hour and 30 minutes. Each paper is out of 80 and are weighed equally so the total marks for the GCSE is 240. For Foundation, the maximum grade you can achieve is a grade 5. 

For past papers, click here.

For grade boundaries, click here.