Teacher guide

Edexcel GCSE Maths revision for teachers

These activities are mapped to Edexcel GCSE Mathematics 1MA1. Maths is unusual among the subjects on this site, and it is worth saying why before the list. Every other page here has had to name a part of its course that revision cannot reach: fieldwork carried out by the student, a practical performance, a design and make task, an onscreen programming exam. Maths has none of those. Its topic titles carry no qualifiers either, no tier flags and no optional routes, so there is nothing to work around and nothing to check before setting an activity. That leaves coverage as the only real limit, and ours is uneven: algebra has seven activities while probability and statistics have two each.

This page lists what we actually have for Edexcel GCSE Mathematics 1MA1. It is built from the live activities, so it is accurate on the day you read it.

The subject with nothing to work around

Every other board and subject page on this site contains a paragraph explaining what revision cannot do for that course. Geography is examined partly on fieldwork the student carried out. PE is assessed partly on physical performance. Design and Technology has a design and make task. Computer Science sits a practical programming exam. Geography B and several others draw on resources nobody sees in advance.

Maths has none of that, and the specification shows it. Its six topics are named plainly: number, algebra, ratio and proportion and rates of change, geometry and measures, probability, statistics. No tier flags, no optional routes, no components set aside. It is the only specification here whose topic titles carry no qualifiers at all, because there is nothing to qualify.

That has a practical effect on planning. On other pages a teacher has to check whether an activity applies to their class before setting it. Here they do not.

Where our coverage actually is

Because nothing else limits what these activities can do, coverage is the whole story, and it is uneven enough to plan around.

Algebra is the best served with seven activities. Ratio, proportion and rates of change has five, geometry and measures has five, and number has four. Probability and statistics have two each, four between them out of twenty-five.

If your scheme of work reaches probability and statistics in the spring, this page will do less for you then than it does in the autumn. That is worth knowing now rather than in March.

What the activities ask students to do

Twenty-four of the twenty-five include at least one question where the student types a value rather than picking from options. That is the highest proportion of any subject here, and it matters more in maths than anywhere else: with four options on screen, a student can often reach the right answer by elimination and never do the working.

Twenty-one of the twenty-five also ask them to set out reasoning rather than stop at the answer. That follows a subject where the method carries marks as well as the result, and it is why these are not simply multiple-choice drills.

Finding the right one

The lists below group by classroom use, worked out from what each activity contains. Homework is not a heading, because all twenty-five suit it and a heading holding everything separates nothing.

The three activities embedded below are playable here without an account.

Using them

None of this needs marking, which is what makes a weekly maths routine survivable. The arithmetic of what that saves, and what still needs a human, is on GCSE revision without a second marking load. For a short cycle with a recheck built in, which suits a subject where a misconception can sit undetected for weeks, see revision intervention a department can sustain. To put several in front of one class in order, build a sprint.

Our past paper archive carries Edexcel's own Maths papers and mark schemes, free and unaltered.

What this page does not do

It is thin on probability and statistics.

It does not decide tier for you. The activities are not sorted by tier, so check what suits the class in front of you.

It does not track anything, so there is no completion list to check.

Every live Mathematics activity for Edexcel

25 activities, all mapped to Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Mathematics (1MA1).

Good for intervention (18)

Good for mock preparation (18)

Good for independent study (14)

Good for cover lesson (4)

Good for starter (2)

Prime Suspects 13 min
Surd Survival 15 min

See all 25, by topic

Try it with your class

Edexcel Mathematics 13 minutes

Prime Suspects

12 steps, 8 interactive, 7 activity types.

Best used for

Starter Independent study Intervention

Starter: Short enough to open a lesson and still leave time to teach.
Independent study: Explains before it asks, so a student can work alone.
Intervention: Mostly questions, so it finds the gap quickly.

Try one question

Which one of these is a prime number?

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Edexcel Mathematics 16 minutes

Expand & Conquer

14 steps, 9 interactive, 6 activity types.

Best used for

Homework Independent study Intervention

Homework: Set it as a link. It marks itself.
Independent study: Explains before it asks, so a student can work alone.
Intervention: Mostly questions, so it finds the gap quickly.

Try one question

What is -2(x - 3) when expanded?

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Edexcel Mathematics 16 minutes

Simultaneous Showdown

14 steps, 10 interactive, 11 activity types.

Best used for

Homework Intervention Mock preparation

Homework: Set it as a link. It marks itself.
Intervention: Mostly questions, so it finds the gap quickly.
Mock preparation: Asks students to build an answer, not just recognise one.

Try one question

Solve the inequality -3x > 12. What is the answer?

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Common questions

Is there any part of this course revision cannot help with?

No, and that is unusual. Every other subject on this site has something revision cannot reach: fieldwork on a student's own enquiry, a practical performance, a design and make task, an onscreen programming exam. Maths has none of them, so anything a student needs is something an activity can in principle address.

Which topics are best covered?

Algebra with seven activities, then ratio, proportion and rates of change with five, and geometry and measures with five. Number has four.

Which are thinnest?

Probability and statistics, with two activities each. Four of the twenty-five between them, so treat this page as a supplement in those areas rather than a plan for them.

Do students type answers or pick them?

They type, in almost every case. Twenty-four of the twenty-five activities include at least one question where the student produces a value rather than choosing from options, so there is no list to work backwards from.

Is it only calculation?

No. Twenty-one of the twenty-five also ask the student to set out reasoning rather than only produce an answer, which follows a subject where the method carries marks as well as the result.

Will I see who has completed them?

No. Following a shared link records nothing about who followed it, which is a deliberate choice about children's data.

Put one in front of a class

Tell us the subject and how long you have. You get a link to hand out, and it marks itself.

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Related for teachers

GCSE revision intervention a department can sustain A workable shape for revision intervention: find the gap, work on one narrow thing, check whether it moved, repeat. Built around what a small department can keep up for a term, and clear about what this site can't tell you.
GCSE revision without a second marking load What revision homework actually costs in marking time, what a self-checking routine costs instead, and the parts of the job that no amount of automatic checking will take off you. The arithmetic is laid out so you can put your own numbers through it.