In my tutoring, the topic of graph transformations is one that almost every Higher GCSE, IGCSE or A-level student wants to spend time on, so I thought I’d use it as the subject of a series of blog posts /…
In the first year of the A-level Maths course you need to be able to carry out a hypothesis test to judge whether a Binomial probability has (probably) changed. In the second year, hypothesis tests are required (1) to decide…
Directed numbers are something that a lot of people find confusing. I hope that this article will help you to get your head round them! What are directed numbers? “Directed numbers” means positive and negative numbers. “Positive” or “negative” describes…
Something a little different this month, since it’s the summer holidays. This year I’m running a stall at a couple of local carnival-type events to promote my theatre company (STAMPS)’s show and use some carnival games to fundraise while I’m…
The A-level Maths specification requires you to work with formulae for compound angles – sin (A ± B), cos (A ± B), tan (A ± B) – and use these to derive and use a range of double angle formulae,…
All the Casio Classwiz calculator models – both the original “X” and the new “CW” models – feature ratio mode, which didn’t exist on their predecessor the fx-83/85 GT Plus. Although it’s perfectly possible to get by without ever using…
In early 2023, Casio replaced the popular Classwiz fx-83/85GT X and fx-991EX calculator models with the Classwiz fx-83/85GT CW and the fx-991CW. The changes are a lot less trivial than you might think! Note added early 2026: The CW models…
In the first year of A-level Maths, all the vectors you deal with are given to you in component form, i.e. as two perpendicular components, e.g. $\begin{pmatrix}2\\-3\end{pmatrix}$ or 2i – 3j. In the second year, however, you’re more likely to…
For Foundation GCSE you just need to know what equations and graph shapes represent direct and inverse proportion, and work with equations given to you. That’s all covered in a previous article which you can find here. For Higher you…
For Foundation GCSE you need to know what equations and graph shapes represent direct and inverse proportion, and work with equations given to you, but you don’t have to actually derive the equations, as you do at Higher. You also…
The GCSE Maths topic of systematic listing strategies is all about working out how many possible outcomes there are – i.e. how many ways there are for something to happen – for example when finding probabilities. Sometimes the simplest way…
This article, on equilibrium and resultant forces, follows on from my recent post on Forces and Newton’s Laws of Motion, and covers part of the Mechanics content of the first year of A-level Maths – though I’m sure that a…
This is a different kind of post from my usual, but it still involves numbers, and in a real-life context too: that of budgeting a musical theatre show and deciding how to set the cost of theatre tickets. As well…
Rate of flow is a topic that’s sometimes omitted in GCSE Maths text books, or perhaps included in the form of just a question or two in the section on compound measures. It’s only needed for the Higher Tier so…
This is part 3 of a series covering the mathematical notation you need for A-level Maths. Click the links below for the previous parts:Part 1: set notation and miscellaneous symbolsPart 2: other Pure Maths notation This final instalment covers vectors…
Much of the mathematical notation that you need to know for A-level, you’ll already have come across at GCSE, but there are some symbols that you may not be familiar with and others that you certainly won’t have used before…
Much of the mathematical notation that you need to know for A-level, you’ll already have come across at GCSE, but there are some symbols that you may not be familiar with and others that you certainly won’t have used before…
You’ve probably done some work on forces and Newton’s laws of motion in GCSE Physics or Combined Science, and that forms the basis of a lot of the work covered in the Mechanics element of A-level Maths. This article is…
In late April, word spread on social media that, from 2nd May 2022, Zoom was going to start limiting 1-to-1 calls on free accounts to 40 minutes. Time to start looking for Zoom alternatives! Many of us in the tutoring…
In this post we’ll look at HCF and LCM questions, and other situations and types of problems where you need to use what you know about factors and multiples. They start off pretty straightforward, then go on to word problems…
Factors and multiples have a wide variety of uses in many different areas of Maths, so it’s a fundamental topic that you need to have a good grasp of. In this post we’ll look at how to identify a number’s…
In this post I’m sharing a set of challenging problems for GCSE Maths students that I’ve put together with the aim of helping students to improve their problem-solving skills. They’re aimed mainly at those doing the Higher Tier, but some…
Last week the exam boards published their advance information for this summer’s GCSE and A-level exams in England. They tell us what will be in the exams, but what’s harder to identify is the omissions: what won’t, and what we…
Your exam skills can make a huge difference to your mark in GCSE Maths. Believe it or not, the examiner marking your Maths exam (or any other exam) wants to give you as many marks as possible! They want to…
