February 2025 Maths and Statistics Update
Dear Colleagues,
Don't forget to make your Summer 2025 entries by 21 February 2025. Late entries will be charged from 22 February, so make sure that you don't miss this deadline.
The entry deadline for our international qualifications is 21 March 2025.
Find more information about the entries process in our Entries and Registration Support article
Within GCSE (9-1) Mathematics there have always been some formulae that are provided in the body of a question should they be needed. These formulae are the curved surface area of a cone, surface area of a sphere, volume of a sphere and volume of a cone. These are the formulae detailed in Appendix 3 of the specification and are the formulae that the DfE sets out that candidates can be provided with as detailed on page 16 of the DfE Subject Content for GCSE Mathematics.
Previously, in line with the DfE Subject Content, we didn't include the formula for the volume of a pyramid in this list and candidates had to memorise this formula.
However, given the recent decision from DfE that candidates should not need to memorise any formulae for exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027 and the continuing provision of an Exam Aid, we have brought the formula for the volume of a pyramid in line with the other specific formulae listed above and will provide it in the question should it be needed.
We can now confirm that students will no longer need to memorise the formula for the volume of a pyramid and this formula will be provided for relevant questions in future series.
Reference links:
GCSE Mathematics specification: Appendix 3
4 February - January 2025 question papers available for IAL and Edexcel Awards
13 February - Final date for ATS and Reviews of Marking for November GCSE series
18 February - January 2025 mark schemes available for IAL and Edexcel Awards
21 February - Entry deadline for Summer series (all UK academic quals)
22 February - Late fees for Summer series apply from this date
28 February - Issuing of certificates for November GCSE series
5 February - A Level Maths and Further Maths: Deep Dive into Proof
6 Feburary - GCSE Statistics: Deep Dive into "Appropriateness"
12 February - GCSE Maths: Revision and Exam Preparation
13 February - A Level Statistics: Effective Strategies for Exam Preparation
27 February - A Level Maths: Using the Large Data Set
GCSE (9-1) Mathematics
New releases for November 2024 series
The following resources for the November 2024 series are available on the Maths Emporium from 3 February:
Re-ordered papers for November 2024 will be available from 10 February:
GCSE Maths Mock Set 10
A reminder that Mock Set 10 was released in January and is available under padlock on the website for centres to use as a secure assessment that is unseen by students.
As you may be aware, we have decided that GCSE Maths mock set 10 will be the last mock set for a while for this qualification.
We wanted to highlight the support that will be continuing and improving as a result of this change to ensure you have all you need for your mocks in future and to explain the additional support that will be available for our other qualifications as a result of this decision.
Here are some key resources that could be used in place of the mock sets:
- November series papers
These are available via the Maths Emporium or secure under padlock for a year on our website, so students won’t be able to access these in advance. Word versions of question papers and mark schemes are available on the Emporium. The question papers and grade boundaries for the November series are to the same standard as the Summer series, so you can use these with confidence. - Shadow papers
We produce shadow papers after each exam series (both Summer and November). These provide unseen questions to use with your students and these can also be used with the grade boundaries from the real exam series. These are accompanied by full mark schemes as well as supporting material such as worked solutions. We are also working on producing additional sets of shadow papers so that unseen, secure assessment materials can be used at various points throughout the school year to suit you. - Skills Maps and ExamWizard The Skills Maps for GCSE Maths are updated each year and can be used to curate your own exam papers for your students. The Skills Maps allow you to compile your question paper, selecting questions by topic, skill or exam series and provide the exam data for each question, allowing you to determine the grade boundaries you want to use with greater ease. Using the Skills Maps alongside ExamWizard means you can easily compile the questions and mark schemes for the questions you want to use with your students.
Mocks for our other GCSE/Level 2 qualifications
We are looking at expanding our range of assessment support materials for other qualifications. We will be creating brand new Mock Sets this year to support the delivery of both GCSE (9-1) Statistics and our new Level 2 Extended Maths Certificate.
Upcoming training events
GCSE Maths: Revision and Exam Preparation
12 February 2025, 16:00-17:00 GMT
Credible specialists Christian Seager and Mel Muldowney from JustMaths, share their experience on supporting examination groups and how you can use Pearson resources more effectively in the lead up to the Summer exams.
Useful Links
To enhance our teacher support, we have published a GCSE Mathematics FAQ page with answers to some of your most commonly asked questions on a range of topics from calculator guidance to tiering support.
Formulae sheets for 2025 can be accessed using the links below:
GCSE (9-1) Statistics
Upcoming training event
GCSE Statistics: Deep Dive into "Appropriateness"
6 February 2025
16:00 - 17:00 GMT
In this free online event, our credible specialist Mel Muldowney from JustMaths uses past exam questions to showcase teaching ideas for questions that ask students to identify the most appropriate average/skill/method/technique/diagram.
Mel will also highlight resources that can help with these topics.
New Schemes of Work with GCSE Maths crossover
New Schemes of Work for GCSE Statistics have been released that show the crossover content with GCSE Maths.
These new SoWs have been developed in Excel for ease of navigation. The schemes include references to the relevant textbook exercises for GCSE Statistics (and GCSE Maths for crossover content) along with useful notes to assist you in your planning.
Coming soon - GCSE Statistics shadow papers
Shadow papers for the June 2024 series of GCSE Statistics are in the final stages of production and are coming soon to the Maths Emporium.
Keep an eye on the
and
Edexcel Statistics Facebook group
to ensure you are notified as soon as these papers become available.
Level 2 Extended Mathematics Certificate
Formulae sheet
The formulae sheet for the 2025 Level 2 Extended Mathematics Certificate exams is now available to download from the website.
Level 2 Extended Maths Certificate: Formulae Sheet
Students will be provided with the formula for the Trapezium Rule in the body of the question should it be needed.
New Specimen Papers
New specimen papers have been released as an additional set of practice papers to support students in preparing for exams.
The specimen papers are available under padlock within "Specimen assessment materials" on the Teaching and Learning Materials section of the qualification page:
New FAQ support
To enhance our teacher support, we have published a Level 2 Extended Maths Certificate FAQ page with answers to some of your most commonly asked questions about this qualification.
AS/A Level Mathematics and Further Mathematics
Upcoming training events
A Level Maths and Further Maths: Deep Dive into Proof
5 February 2025
16:00 - 17:00 GMT
This free online session will look at proof across both A Level Maths and A Level Further Core Pure Maths, looking at teaching strategies and examples of best practice to support you in your delivery of this topic.
The first half of this session will focus on A Level Maths with the second half making connections and focusing on Further Core Pure.
A Level Maths: Using the Large Data Set
27 February 2025
16:00 - 17:00 GMT
In this free event, we will look at ways to introduce the main themes of the Large Data Set and how to get your students to become familiar and engaged with the data.
We will also highlight resources that you can use to get your students thinking statistically, and look at how the large data set is assessed in the exams.
A Level Maths: Deep Dive into Problem Solving
5 March 2025
16:00 - 17:00 GMT
In this session we will take a deep dive to understand how problem solving is assessed across A Level Maths. We will look in detail at some problem solving questions and the challenges that these present to students.
The key focus of the session will be to look at practical teaching tips to support development of problem solving skills and how Pearson resources can be used with students in the classroom to support this.
AS and A Level Maths and Further Maths Mock Sets
As you may be aware, we have decided that A level Maths mock set 5 will be the last mock set for a while for this qualification.
We wanted to highlight the support that will be continuing and improving as a result of this change to ensure you have all you need for your mocks in future and to explain the additional support that will be available for our other qualifications as a result of this decision.
Here are some key resources that could be used in place of the mock sets:
We produce shadow papers after each exam series. These provide unseen questions to use with your students and these can also be used with the grade boundaries from the real exam series. We have taken your feedback on board and improved our checking processes for these and from 2025 for A level Maths we will be producing more detailed mark schemes including some alternative methods, so they are more similar to the live exam paper.
The Skills Maps for all of our AS/A level qualifications are updated after each exam series and can be used to curate your own exam papers for your students. The Skills Maps allow you to compile your question paper, selecting questions by topic or exam series and provide the exam data for each question, allowing you to determine the grade boundaries you want to use with greater ease. Using the Skills Maps alongside ExamWizard means you can easily compile the questions and mark schemes for the questions you want to use with your students.
Mocks for our other AS/A level qualifications
We are looking at expanding our range of assessment support materials for other qualifications, therefore we will continue to produce mock sets for 8MA0 AS Maths (up to mock set 5), 8FM0 AS Further Maths and 9FM0 A level Further Maths.
We have recently released the 8MA0 AS Maths mock set 4 and 8FM0 AS Further Maths mock set 1 onto our website under a silver padlock. You can download these using the link below.
Useful Links
To enhance our teacher support, we have published an A Level Mathematics FAQ page with answers to some of your most commonly asked questions.
A Level Statistics
Upcoming training event
A Level Statistics: Effective Strategies for Exam Preparation
13 February 2025
16:00 - 17:00 GMT
In this free event, our credible specialist for 9ST0 A Level Statistics, Ali Everett, shares his expertise on answering exam style questions effectively and structuring extended responses with practical tips and techniques to use with your students.
Coming soon - updated Scheme of Work
An updated Scheme of Work for A Level Statistics is in the final stages of production and will be coming soon to the Maths Emporium in March.
Keep an eye on the
and
Edexcel Statistics Facebook group
to ensure you are notified as soon as this new resource become available.
Advanced Extension Award
What is the Advanced Extension Award (AEA)?
The aims and objectives of the AEA qualification are to:
- challenge the most able advanced level students by giving them opportunities to demonstrate a greater depth of understanding, analysis, evaluation and problem solving than that required at GCE Advanced level with no additional study or learning required
- be accessible to all able students studying for GCE Advanced Level in Mathematics
- help differentiate between the most able students, particularly in subjects with a high proportion of A grades at GCE Advanced Level in Mathematics.
The Pearson Edexcel Advanced Extension Award in Mathematics is assessed by one externally-examined examination paper (3 hours, 100 marks) available in May/June in every year.
The paper may contain questions on any topic from GCE Advanced Level in Mathematics and calculators must not be used in the assessment. It will consist of about seven questions. Questions may be multi-step with confidence building parts or unstructured. Some may be of an unusual nature that might include topics from GCSE and logic based items. Questions may be open-ended.
Seven percent of the marks will be assigned for style and clarity of mathematical presentation. The examiners will seek to reward elegance of solution, insight in reaching a solution, rigour in developing a mathematical argument and excellent use of notation.
Getting Started Guide
Our handy Getting Started Guide includes links to the key resources to help you getting started with teaching this qualification.
Maths in Context (Level 3 Core Maths)
Pre-release of source booklet for 2025 exams
We wanted to inform you that the pre-release material for 7MC0 Mathematics in Context (Level 3 Core Maths) will be released on Monday 3rd March 2025.
From the 2025 exam series onwards the pre-release material will be issued on or around 3rd March each year. This change has been made to ensure that there is adequate preparation time in advance of the examinations.
Please see our key dates page for more information:
Free support sessions from AMSP
Did you know that the AMSP run free discussion meetings on the pre-release material for 7MC0 Mathematics in Context?
Please see details below of their upcoming sessions.
March 10 (14.00 to 16.00): event details
March 18 (16.00 to 18.00): event details
International GCSE Mathematics
A reminder that the deadline for Reviews of Marking and Access to Scripts for the November 2024 series of International GCSE Mathematics is 13 February 2025.
If you're a centre with a concern about a student's results, you can use our post-results services. You can find full information on our post-results service support page:
You can find information on release dates of assessment materials relating to the November 2024 series for International GCSE below.
International A Level Mathematics
A reminder that the deadline for Reviews of Marking and Access to Scripts for the October 2024 series of International A Level Mathematics is 13 February 2025.
If you're a centre with a concern about a student's results, you can use our post-results services. You can find full information on our post-results service support page:
You can find information on release dates of assessment materials relating to the October 2024 and January 2025 series for International A Level below.
Functional Skills
New training videos available to support learners with additional needs
You can find all training videos on our YouTube playlist:
We have recently added videos on:
- Reasonable adjustments in Functional Skills
- Supporting learners with ASD
- Supporting learners with dyscalculia
FAQs
A reminder that you can find all answers to the most commonly asked questions about Functional Skills on our FAQ page.
All resources to support the teaching of Functional Skills Mathematics can be found on our resources page and accessed using the link below.
Edexcel Awards in Mathematics
All resources to support the teaching of the Edexcel Awards can be found under the qualification cabinet on the Maths Emporium and accessed using the link below.
Entry Level Certificate
FAQs
A reminder that you can find all answers to the most commonly asked questions about Entry Level Certificate on our FAQ page.
All resources to support the teaching of Entry Level Certificate can be found under the qualification cabinet on the Maths Emporium and accessed using the link below.
The provisional timetables for Summer 2026 will be available on our provisional timetables web page from Monday 3rd February.
Provisional timetables | Pearson qualifications
The feedback window will run until Friday 21st March. Please send any feedback to timetables@pearson.com.
Nicola Woodford-Smith has been busy speaking to brilliant maths educators about some of the key issues in maths education today, including how we can address STEM education and unlocking potential at Post-16.
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Best regards
Vicky Wood
Subject Advisor for Maths and Statistics (UK)
Subject advisor
Vicky Wood
Mathematics and Statistics - UK centres
