The advance information for this autumn’s resit Maths and English GCSEs was published a while ago, but I’ve been busy with summer GCSE mop-up! You can read my blog posts about this summer’s Edexcel Maths papers over on Third Space Learning.
Following on from this, I thought I’d blog again about the advance information for the November Maths GCSE resits, with a few thoughts from me about how the papers might look, and some suggested topics and exam questions to practise with your resit groups.
As the Edexcel summer papers matched up so well with the advance information, it’s pretty safe to assume that the same will be the case for November 2022 – it feels like a massive disadvantage to resitters if this isn’t the case. A quick caveat from me though that this blog is in no way endorsed by Edexcel and is my opinion only.
As time is tight and I’ve got lots coming up in the next few months, including an exciting new project I’ve devised for myself to work on, I’m sticking with the Foundation papers only.
Edexcel Maths GCSE advance information by paper
This graphic is a collation of the information available via Edexcel’s website – and you can get a PDF version above. While I have carefully checked it, remember that it’s always recommended that you refer to the original source material as well, just in case I have made any little slips!
I’ve used a similar approach to my work for the June 2022 series. Content in bold appears on the advance information for Foundation and Higher – however, this doesn’t necessarily mean that all bold content is crossover, although some of it certainly will be. For example in June, exact trig. values appeared on both lists but was assessed differently on Foundation and Higher Paper 1.
Ticked content appeared in the advance information and on the papers in June 2022. The vast majority of the content in the November 2022 resit advance information is content from the June papers – which makes sense, as it wouldn’t be realistic to expect students to learn a huge amount of new material in a couple of months.
However, what does seem to have happened is topics have moved from non-calculator to calculator papers, or vice versa. For example, standard form appears on Paper 3, but was assessed in the Paper 1 crossover content in June. It’s likely that we’ll see standard form again in the crossover content, but it’ll be the type of question that a calculator won’t ‘work’ for (see Nov 19 3F Q28 for an example).
New content for November 2022
The list of topics that weren’t assessed in June 2022 is thankfully quite small! However, I think there will need to be some careful cherry-picking within these topics when considering what to cover with a resit group in a short time. This will depend a lot on the profile of your group – which secondary schools they’ve come from and what GCSE syllabus content was actually covered in the past two years.
We also need to bear in mind that the advance information was released in February, and teaching would have predictably narrowed at this point, so students may not have covered some of these topics for over half a year.
Again, this is really group-dependent, but unless students have significant amounts of prior knowledge I’d leave out the more challenging topics that weren’t assessed in June 2022:
- Factorising quadratic
- Area of sector
- Trigonometry
- Volume conversions*
*they always get the scale factors confused – it never seems like an easy win to me.
I also wouldn’t start teaching vectors from scratch at this point, although students might have some relevant prior knowledge.
There are a few more topics that feel quite ‘situational’ – it might be worth doing a quick assessment to see where your students are with these topics:
- Scatter graphs
- Pie charts
- Reciprocals
- Inverse proportion
- Pressure
If anything on this list needs teaching from scratch, I wouldn’t prioritise fitting this into the two months before November.
Using the June 2022 papers
The June 2022 exam papers are probably one of the best sources for practice exam questions. You can also re-use lots of the practice materials put out in the run-up to the June series, but look carefully at which questions can be omitted and which topics are unlikely to be assessed in the same way.
Below are my comments on the June paper series.
Questions in bold were crossover content in June 2022.
The questions which are struck-through do not appear on the November 2022 advance information list. Given the way that the advance information for June 2022 related almost exactly to the exam papers, I am making the assumption that the same will be true of November 2022, and only those topics mentioned on the advance information list will be examined. This has not been confirmed officially by Edexcel.
Paper 1 June 2022
| Q | Topic | Comments | Shadow questions |
| 1 | Length conversion (mm and cm) | On P1&2 in November 2022. | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| 2 | Simplify algebraic expression, collect like terms (addition) | 1 / 2 / 3 | |
| 3 | Reflection mirror line on grid | Transformations appears on P1 and P3, so it’s likely that one will be more straightforward/an early question. Reflections and translations appeared on June 2022. | |
| 4 | Place value – write down value | On P2 in November 2022. | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| 5 | Order fractions, decimals and percentages | Students aren’t explicitly asked to order FDP in November as they were in June. Instead, they’re asked to order fractions on P2 and decimals on P3. They will definitely still need basic FDP conversions for other topics. | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| 6 | Not on AI – unlikely to be assessed. | — | |
| 7 | Four operations money problem | Money mentioned on all three papers for November. | 1 / 2 |
| 8 | Might still be worth looking at as a PPQ because composite bar charts are assessed in November 2022. | ||
| 9 | Draw next pattern in sequence / complete table | Terms of a sequence is on Paper 3 in November – this might be a non-pictorial question as June involved drawing. | 1 / 2 |
| 10 | Negative numbers doesn’t appear on the November 2022 advance information. Could be assessed through substitution etc. | — | |
| 11 | Meter reading problem solving | Money mentioned on all three papers for November. | 1 / 2 |
| 12 | Fraction addition | Fraction arithmetic appears on P1 November 2022 – so more likely to be subtraction, multiplication or division. | 1 / 2 |
| 13 | Probability as fraction / mutually exclusive (state probability of other event) | This was covered by the term ‘probability’ on the June 2022 AI, so could well come up again. | 1 / 2 |
| 14 | Substitute value and evaluate expression | 1 / 2 / 3 | |
| 15 | ‘Estimation’ was mentioned on June 2022 AI and is not on November 2022 AI, so this type of question may not come up again. | — | |
| 16 | Speed, distance, time calculation in context / describe how changing value affects answer | Speed is on P1 and P3 for November 2022 so this one is worth a look. | 1 / 2 |
| 17 | Complete frequency tree / find probability from frequency tree | Frequency trees are on P3 in November 2022. | 1 / 2 |
| 18 | Proportion recipe adaptation | On AI as ‘direct proportion’. Direct proportion appears on all three papers so one could be a recipe adaptation. | 1 / 2 |
| 19 | Percentage increase | 1 / 2 / 3 | |
| 20 | Fraction addition from diagram | 1 | |
| 21 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 22 | Volume of cylinder from 2D representation | Plan and elevation are on P2, volume of a cylinder is on P3 November 2022. | 1 |
| 23 | Solve linear inequality ax – b < c | Linear inequality is on the AI for November 2022 but is not in crossover content so could be easier than this example. | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| 24 | Product of primes | Likely to be in crossover. 31 being prime put some students off in this question. | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| 25 | Ratio and FDP problem solving | Involved splitting into a ratio, then calculating a fraction and percentage of amount. Definitely worth looking at problems like these. | 1 / 2 |
| 26 | Standard form to ordinary / ordinary to standard form / std form multiplication | Appears on P3, likely to be in crossover again. | 1 / 2 |
| 27 | Interior angles aren’t explicitly mentioned on November 2022 so are unlikely to come up again like this. | — | |
| 28 | Table of values / draw quadratic graph / estimate roots | Appears on P2. | |
| 29 | Density doesn’t appear on November 2022, but an interesting question to look at for applications of ratio to problem-solving. | — | |
| 30 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — |
Paper 2 June 2022
| Q | Topic | Comments | Shadow questions |
| 1 | Round to nearest 10 | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 2 | Fraction calculation (subtract from 1) | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 3 | Write down mode from list of numbers | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 4 | Write 3-digit multiple of 5 | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 5 | We have fraction to decimal, decimal to fraction, and FDP conversions will probably be needed in multi-step problem solving questions. | — | |
| 6 | Order integers (+/-) | Negative number is not explicitly mentioned in the AI for November 2022 (it was in June 2022), but ordering integers is. | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 |
| 7 | Naming shapes isn’t mentioned – presumably this has been removed in favour of measuring angle/length. | — | |
| 8 | Write down coordinate on grid / mark point / draw circle on coordinate grid | Coordinates appear on P1 and P2 November 2022. | |
| 9 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 10 | Four operations holiday booking (money) | 1 / 2 | |
| 11 | Angles in triangle and | ||
| 12 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 13 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 14 | “Mathematical symbols” appeared on June 2022 AI and is omitted from November 2022, so unlikely to get a question requiring insertion of inequality symbols. | — | |
| 15 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 16 | Scale drawing (no diagram) | ||
| 17 | Draw linear graph | Straight line graph is on P3 but this may refer to the conversion graph. | |
| 18 | Mean length of missed appointment time | Mean appears on P2 and P3 in November 2022 so one may involve problem solving like this one. | |
| 19 | Percentage profit isn’t on the November 2022 AI but still worth a look at this one or adapting. | ||
| 20 | Complete tree diagram / work out from tree diagram | ||
| 21a | Laws of indices appears as number work on P1. | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 21b | Expand and simplify two brackets | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 21c | Factorisation only appears as ‘factorise quadratic’ on P1. | — | |
| 22 | Describe transformation (translation) | Transformations are on P1 and P3 in November 2022. We had reflections and translations in June so could see rotation or enlargement. | |
| 23 | Error interval to nearest m | ||
| 24 | Calculate area per person problem solving / explain error in sq unit conversion | We could see a question on cubed unit conversion on P3. | |
| 25 | Coordinates and ratio problem solving | Both topics appear on November 2022 so this could be a good one to look at again. | 1 / 2 |
| 26 | Compound depreciation | This question only required 3 years and could be done in steps without using multipliers. The fact that compound interest is mentioned for November 2022 (P2) indicates that it may be asked over a higher number of years. | |
| 27 | Direct proportion – currency and litre/gallon conversion (petrol) | ||
| 28 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — |
Paper 3 June 2022
| Q | Topic | Comments | Shadow questions |
| 1 | We have fraction to decimal, decimal to fraction, and FDP conversions will probably be needed in multi-step problem solving questions. | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 2 | Fraction of amount | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 3 | Factors of 12 | Factors appear on P1 November 2022. | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 |
| 4 | Algebra – simplify multiplication | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 5 | Use of calculator (sqrt) | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 6 | This was noted as ‘quadrilaterals’ on the June 2022 AI so unlikely to see something like this again. | — | |
| 7 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 8 | Find next two terms of sequence / is number in sequence? | 1 / 2 | |
| 9 | 3D properties – faces and edges | No 3D shapes mentioned in November 2022 AI so unlikely to see this type of question again – this was indicated by just ‘triangular prism’ on the June 2022 AI. | 1 / 2 |
| 10 | Probability scale / find simple probability | Appears on P1 November 2022. | 1 |
| 11 | Proportional reasoning problem solving | 1 / 2 | |
| 12 | One length as fraction of another | Appears on P1 November 2022. | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 |
| 13 | Scale drawing / | Scale drawing appears on P1 November 2022, bearings isn’t mentioned in the AI lists at all. | 1 |
| 14 | Find median / | Mean, median and mode appear on at least one paper each. Range isn’t mentioned. Comparison of distributions has been replaced with ‘infer properties of population’, likely to be a crossover question. | |
| 15 | Four operations using calculator | 1 / 2 / 3 | |
| 16 | Draw triangle with given area | Area of triangle appears on P2 November 2022. | |
| 17a | Expand single bracket | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 17b | Linear equation with fraction | Linear equations appear on P1 & P2 November 2022. | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 |
| 17c | Factorisation only appears as ‘factorise quadratic’ on P1. | — | |
| 18 | Round to significant figures | Rounding appears on P3 November 2022 – could be decimal places instead. | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| 19 | Fraction of amount, FDP, one quantity as % of another | Generally good practice for FDP problem solving questions. | 1 / 2 |
| 20 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 21 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 22 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 23a | Substitution | 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 | |
| 23b | Simple change of subject | Changing subject appears again in November 2022, likely in crossover questions. | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| 24 | Ratio problem solving (algebra) | This was indicated by ‘write as a ratio, form an equation’ on June 2022 AI. Both of these appear again on P1 so we might see something like this again in November (without the 1:n form). | 1 |
| 25 | Percentage increase / decrease aren’t mentioned on November 2022 AI – a reminder that compound interest is, however. | — | |
| 26 | Not on November 2022 AI list. | — | |
| 27 | Speed distance time combined calculations | Speed is mentioned for P1 & P3 November 2022. | 1 |
| 28 | Area of trapezium doesn’t appear on November 2022 AI list, but ‘form an expression’ appears on P2 along with ‘area of rectangle/triangle’ so we could see another shape/algebraic expressions question on these papers. | — | |
| 29 | Change m/s into km/h | Denoted as ‘compound units’ in June – unlikely to be asked in this form (but might be needed for conversions within questions). | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| 30 | Reverse percentage | Appears on P3 in November. | 1 / 2 |
