Number

Number is the foundation the rest of GCSE Maths is built on. It covers place value, the four operations, fractions, decimals and percentages, indices, standard form, surds, rounding and estimation. Almost every other unit assumes you can handle these fluently, so weakness here shows up everywhere else.

The topics build in a clear order. Secure arithmetic with fractions and decimals comes first, then percentages and their reverse, then the index laws, then standard form and surds at the top end. Students most often lose marks on reverse percentages, on rounding to significant figures rather than decimal places, and on the difference between an error interval and a rounded value. Non-calculator questions appear throughout, so practise the written methods rather than relying on a calculator to carry you.