Course description

This course takes you through the GCSE Maths foundation tier topics in plain English, one step at a time. It's written for adults in England who left school without the grade they needed, or want a GCSE Maths grade for a job, a course or an apprenticeship, and who plan to sit the exam as a private candidate or through a college.

Every lesson explains one topic step by step, with worked examples from everyday life and work, an exam-style question worked through, the slips to watch for, and Try it questions with full worked answers. You'll practise with and without a calculator, and learn to show your working so you can earn method marks. Every calculation and answer in the course has been checked by a script.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, and each section ends with a five-question quiz. You follow Umaima, a healthcare assistant, and Nnaemeka, a warehouse team leader, as they work through the topics in a weekly library study group. Every section has a practice pack with a worked examples sheet, every Try it question as a practice sheet, full worked answers and a printable formula and method card. Some packs add graph paper, diagram sheets and probability templates, and the final project in Section 10 is a full mixed practice paper with worked answers and a marking guide, plus a revision planner.

What you'll learn

• Starting GCSE Maths as an adult: how the foundation tier and its three papers work, entering as a private candidate, planning your year, place value, negative numbers, the order of operations and written methods.
• Number skills: factors, multiples and primes, fractions, decimals, percentages, percentage change and reverse percentages, powers, roots, index laws and standard form.
• Accuracy, ratio, proportion and rates of change: rounding, significant figures and bounds, sharing in a ratio, direct and inverse proportion, best buys, speed, density and pressure, and growth and decay with multipliers.
• Algebra foundations: notation, simplifying and substituting, expanding brackets and factorising, solving linear equations, inequalities, formulae, identities and changing the subject.
• Sequences, graphs and quadratics: the nth term, plotting straight-line graphs, gradient and intercept, quadratic graphs and equations, simultaneous equations and real-life graphs.
• Angles, shapes, area and volume: angle facts and parallel lines, polygons, perimeter and area, circles, arcs and sectors, and the volume and surface area of 3D shapes.
• Pythagoras, trigonometry and transformations: Pythagoras' theorem, right-angled trigonometry, the four transformations, constructions, loci, scale drawings, bearings, congruence and similar shapes.
• Probability: the probability scale, relative frequency and expected outcomes, sample spaces, two-way tables, frequency trees, tree diagrams and Venn diagrams.
• Statistics: types of data and sampling, averages and range, charts and diagrams, scatter graphs and correlation, and comparing data sets.
• Exam technique, revision and the final project: exam technique, a revision plan that fits around work and family, and a full mixed practice paper worked through, Part A without a calculator and Part B with one.

Who it's for

Adults preparing for GCSE Maths at foundation tier, whether for the first time or after a long break. If you'd like to rebuild everyday number confidence first, Maths for Adults: Brush Up Your Everyday Maths for Work, Money and Functional Skills Level 2 starts from place value and leads into this course.

What this course is, and isn't

This course is preparation and practice only. It does not award a GCSE or any other qualification, and it isn't linked to or endorsed by any exam board. You sit the real exam through a school, college or exam centre, usually as a private candidate. In England, GCSE Maths papers are set by exam boards such as AQA, Pearson Edexcel and OCR. Every question in this course was written for this course: none is copied from any exam board's papers. Exam details can change from one year to the next. Always check the specification and the formulae sheet for your own exam board and exam series, and ask your exam centre.

Umaima, Nnaemeka, their tutor and every figure in this course's examples are made up. Ventnor is a real town, used only as a setting.

What will I learn?

• Calculate confidently with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, powers and standard form, with and without a calculator
• Round, approximate and find bounds, and work with ratio, proportion, best buys, speed, density and growth and decay
• Simplify, expand and factorise expressions, solve linear equations and inequalities, and rearrange formulae
• Find the nth term of a sequence, plot and read straight-line and quadratic graphs, and solve simultaneous equations
• Use angle facts with reasons, and find perimeters, areas and volumes, including circles, sectors and cylinders
• Use Pythagoras' theorem and right-angled trigonometry, describe transformations, and work with bearings and scale
• Work out probabilities with sample spaces, two-way tables, tree diagrams and Venn diagrams
• Find averages and range, draw and read charts and scatter graphs, and compare data sets
• Plan your revision around work and family, and use exam technique to show working and earn method marks
• Sit a full mixed practice paper and mark it with worked answers and a marking guide

Frequently asked questions