How can I revise for my GCSE maths resits?

It can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to GCSE exam revision, whether you’re sitting them for the first time or having another go.

Thousands of people resit GCSE exams every year. If you’re resitting maths and you’re looking for practical advice or revision resources, BBC Bitesize has you covered.

The guides and materials below are suitable for learners preparing for resits in every UK nation, at any age – no matter if you’re still at school or college, making a career change or revisiting education later in life.

Anyone can resit a GCSE. There’s no age limit, and you can retake a subject as many times as you like.

Resits for GCSE Maths and English Language are held in the autumn series (November) and summer series (May/June). The deadline for November entry is usually late September to early October, while for summer it’s generally late February to early March.

Other subjects, including English Literature, can generally only be resat in the summer. But the way you register to take them will depend on if you’re still at school or college or if you’re a private candidate – meaning you’re not enrolled as a student.

If you’re still a student, your exams officer should be able to enter you, but private candidates need to speak to a local school or college – known as an exam centre – that accepts independent entries.

This may sound obvious, but it’s important to make sure you’re entered for the correct exam board – AQA, Pearson Edexcel, Cambridge OCR and WJEC Eduqas all offer resits in Maths, English Language and English Literature. You don’t have to resit with the same exam board you used originally.

What you’ll have to pay to resit a GCSE depends on a few things – the subject, the grade you got before and whether you’re still at school.

For Maths and English Language, resits are free for students aged 16-18 who didn’t pass the first time around. These are known as statutory resits, as the UK government requires people in this age group to keep sitting maths and English Language until they achieve a grade 4 or higher.

If you’ve already passed but want a higher grade, or you’re resitting any other subject, you’ll need to pay regardless of whether you’re a student or a private candidate. These are classed as voluntary resits. For current students, this usually costs around £75-100, but it can be more expensive for private candidates.

If you receive a lower grade in your resit than in your original exam, don’t worry – the higher grade remains valid, so there’s no risk you’ll lose out if you resit.

For statutory resits, achieving a lower grade than before simply means you’ll continue resitting the subject until you achieve a grade 4 or above, or you turn 18. However, if you’re resitting voluntarily, you will still have to pay the entry and centre fees.

BBC Bitesize has all the information and resources you’ll need for your English Language and Literature GCSEs, whether you’re resitting them or taking them for the first time.

And if you’re looking for an alterative, you could check out our post-16 section. There are resources for Functional Skills (England), Core Skills (Scotland) and Essential Skills (Wales), as well as maths and English content you can apply in the real world.

There’s no standard answer to this, because the number of marks needed for a grade 4 – or any grade – depends on the grade boundaries and the specific exam board.

Grade boundaries are set after exams are marked, to adjust for if the paper was harder or easier than previous years. If lots of people found the exam particularly difficult, boundaries will be dropped to reflect this.

Generally, you’ll need about 50-70% of the marks on the Foundation tier for a grade 4 in maths, and roughly 20-25% on the Higher tier. A grade 4 is a standard pass, while a grade 5 or above is considered a strong pass.

What exactly you'll need to revise depends on which tier of GCSE maths you take: Foundation or Higher. If you take the Foundation tier, the highest grade you can get is a grade 5, while the Higher tier allows you to achieve up to a grade 9. For both tiers, there are three exams - usually two calculator papers and a non-calculator one.

Our guide to studying for your maths exams explains step-by-step how to approach revision, tailored by exam board and tier. There are links to exam-style questions and quick-fire quizzes arranged by topics like number and algebra.

If flashcards are your thing, we've got interactive sets that cover everything from ratio and proportion to probability and statistics. For audiovisual learners, there are video playlists that dive into key exam topics and maths hacks that will help you learn.

If you want to test out your exam technique and measure your progress, we've got a selection of past papers and mark schemes for each exam board, and a guide to using them effectively.

After a revision break? IYKYK: The Facts has articles and quizzes on maths-related topics, so that you can take a brain break while still learning something new.

Ever wondered how to solve a Rubik's cube or how a calculator works? You can also find out what the oldest coin in the world is and how much it's worth, and how Morse code works.

If you love games and puzzles, you could also try our maths game Divided Islands, our daily online Sudoku puzzles and our collection of crosswords.