The teaching syllabus at Key Stage 4 is designed to encourage students to develop confidence in, and a positive attitude towards, mathematics and to recognise the importance of mathematics in their own lives and to society. This work prepares students to make informed decisions about the use of technology, the management of money, further learning opportunities and career choices.
The aims and objectives of the GCSE Mathematics course are to enable students to:
- develop fluent knowledge, skills and understanding of mathematical methods and concepts
- acquire, select and apply mathematical techniques to solve problems
- reason mathematically, make deductions and inferences, and draw conclusions
- comprehend, interpret and communicate mathematical information in a variety of forms appropriate to the information and context.
All the subject content falls within six main areas; Number, Algebra, Ratio and Proportion, Geometry and Measures, Statistics and Probability.
For the majority of students the Key Stage 4 assessment is three terminal papers taken in the summer of year 11. Paper 1 is a non-calculator paper. A calculator will be needed for the other two exams. Students will be entered for either the Higher tier (grades available 9-4) or the Foundation tier (grades available 5-1). Regular revision classes are held each year prior to the GCSE exam. We enter those students who are struggling with the demands of the GCSE syllabus for the Entry Level Mathematics Certificate.
The GCSE examinations include the following aspects:
- Applying the functional elements of mathematics in everyday and real-life.
- Using problem-solving strategies.
- Selecting and applying mathematical techniques and methods.
- Reasoning mathematically, making deductions and inferences and drawing conclusions.
- Interpreting and communicating mathematical information in a variety of forms.
We follow the Edexcel Mathematics GCSE. The link below takes you to the specification for the course:
Specification: Level 1/2 GCSE (9-1) in Mathematics
We also offer the Pearson Level 2 Extended Maths Certificate in Year 11 for students who are wanting to study Mathematics after Crawshaw.
We use SPARX Maths as part of home works and consolidation - students have used this site since Y7. It has a large revision section for GCSE with worked examples and practice questions to complete.
We have broken down the syllabus into Y10 and Y11 work. You can use the following links to see when we are teaching different topics:
Y10 Foundation Knowledge Organisers NEW 2025-2026
Y10 Higher Knowledge Organisers NEW 2025-2026
Y11 Foundation and Higher Knowledge Organiser Crawshaw
Mathematics Department Vision: 
