Bob Foster - Science and Maths tuition in Bristol and on the internet.
Confidence building, motivation, exam practice and time management for teenagers:
(see science-gcse-tuition.co.uk for science)
tel: 0117 9561162; mob: 07989412319; email    

About GCSE maths

From September 2010, maths GCSE syllabuses are changing, so what follows on this website is OK for the next year (2009/2010).

To succeed at GCSE Maths you need to know certain things:

1. The syllabus you are studying and the exam board; for example, AQA modular, or OCR syllabus B.
2. The dates of exams, both modules and terminal papers.
3. The recommended text books, revise guides, workbooks and websites.

I've included details of the most common syllabuses. Do ask your teacher and make sure you know. If in doubt, give me a call and I'll try to figure it out.

Your maths course will be either modular or linear.
Modular involves taking short exams throughout the course.
Linear is the old-style course where there is just a final exam. There is no coursework now.

There are just two tiers - foundation (grades G to C) and higher (grades D to A*).

If you're in England, you'll probably be studying the content of a syllabus from AQA, Edexcel, OCR or WJEC. I have not included information for Northern Ireland (see the CCEA website and the BBCs NI website for more information) or Scotland (which has a different exam structure - see the excellent National Qualifications website).