AQA GCSE Maths revision guides and grade boundaries
Four free PDF handbooks for AQA GCSE Mathematics 8300, 110 pages in all, written for Foundation and Higher. Together they cover the whole specification, the formulas and exact values to know, the mistakes that cost marks, and five years of official grade boundaries.
These are not past papers or practice books. They are the reference set that sits beside them: use them to decide what to revise, check a method before practising it, and turn a mock score into a realistic grade target.
Free to download. No sign up, no email required. Independent resources aligned to AQA GCSE Mathematics 8300, not produced, approved or endorsed by AQA.
Which AQA revision guides can I download?
Four handbooks, each covering both tiers. Use them alongside our AQA practice books: AQA Foundation resources and AQA Higher resources have the exam questions and lesson notebooks.
Specification checklist
Covers all 97 AQA 8300 content references across Number, Algebra, Ratio, Geometry, Probability and Statistics, with the Foundation and Higher requirement for each, the tier weightings and assessment objectives, and an end-of-book revision audit.
Download the specification checklistFormula handbook
Covers 35 formula and relationship cards covering arithmetic, rates, algebra, mensuration, trigonometry, probability and statistics, each with its conditions, an original worked example, a common trap and the AQA reference, plus exact trigonometric values and method guides for selection, rearrangement and units.
Download the formula handbookCommon mistakes handbook
Covers 60 error and repair cards, 27 for Foundation and 33 for Higher, each labelled either as evidenced in AQA’s published reports on the June 2022 and 2023 exams or as a check derived from the specification, plus a reusable error log.
Download the common mistakes handbookGrade boundary handbook
Covers the official June 2022 to 2026 overall grade boundaries for both tiers with percentage equivalents, five-year ranges and medians for every grade, AQA results statistics, and a worked calculator and target planner.
Download the grade boundary handbookHow do the four guides work together?
Each guide answers one revision question: what is on the AQA course, which formula to use, why marks are being lost, and what grade a score is worth. Used in that order, they turn a vague plan into a list of named topics to fix.
A revision loop using all four guides
- Audit: go through the specification checklist and mark each content reference red, amber or green
- Prepare: before practising a red topic, read its formula card, worked example and common trap
- Practise and mark: answer exam-style questions on the topic, then mark them honestly
- Repair: match every lost mark to an entry in the common mistakes handbook and follow its repair routine
- Measure: add up a mock score and compare it with the grade boundaries for the same tier
What else is inside
- the AQA assessment structure: three papers of 80 marks, 240 in all, each 1 hour 30 minutes. Paper 1 is non-calculator and Papers 2 and 3 allow a calculator
- Foundation and Higher content in the same books, so a student can see exactly what Higher adds
- sources cited throughout, so a parent or tutor can check the facts
- original worked examples, written for these guides, with no exam board questions reproduced
- boundaries shown as history, not predictions: they move every year
- 110 printable A4 pages across the four guides
What is inside each guide?
The sections below follow each handbook’s own contents. The specification checklist is the longest at 38 pages and the grade boundary handbook the shortest at 15.
Specification checklist
- Paper structure, tier weightings and assessment objectives
- All 97 content references, N1 to S6, paraphrased for revision
- Foundation and Higher requirement for each reference
- Audit prompts and evidence to keep before ticking secure
- Revision audit and priority planner
Formula handbook
- Current formula sheet arrangements and what they mean for revision
- Formula and relationship cards with worked examples
- Exact trigonometric values and exact-form habits
- Method guides: selection, rearrangement and units
- A common trap on every card
Common mistakes handbook
- Evidence policy: examiner-report evidence versus specification checks
- 27 Foundation error and repair cards
- 33 Higher error and repair cards
- A repair routine and 30-second self-check on every card
- Reusable error log and retest system
Grade boundary handbook
- How 240 marks become a grade and why boundaries move
- June 2022 to 2026 boundaries, both tiers, with percentages
- Five-year range and median for every grade
- AQA results statistics and entries
- Worked calculator and student target planner
How should a student use these?
Start with the specification checklist, because it shows what is left to learn. Keep the formula and mistakes handbooks open during practice, and use the grade boundary handbook after each mock, not before it.
Planning revision in Year 10 or early Year 11
Work through the specification checklist a strand at a time. Anything red goes on the revision plan, and the formula handbook is the first stop for each one.
After a mock
Total the paper marks, compare them with the boundaries for the same tier, and list the lost marks. Then match each one to the common mistakes handbook and do its retest.
Choosing between Foundation and Higher
Compare a recent total with five years of boundaries at both tiers, and check the Higher-only references in the checklist. Then talk to the school: the tier decision is theirs.
Guide: GCSE Maths revision
How to plan Maths revision across the year, topic by topic, without leaving the hardest content to the end.
Read the revision guideGuide: GCSE past papers
Where to find real past papers and mark schemes to sit after these guides have found the gaps.
Read the past papers guideGuide: last-minute revision
What to do with the final weeks when there is no time left to cover everything.
Read the last-minute guideRevision guide questions
The guides are free for personal use, cover Foundation and Higher together, and are written for AQA GCSE Mathematics 8300. These answers cover boundaries, formulas, tiers, sources and licensing.
Are these official AQA documents?
No. They are independently written guides aligned to AQA GCSE Mathematics 8300. The boundaries and results figures are transcribed from the board’s own published documents, with the source given for each, but no exam question, mark scheme or board artwork is reproduced.
Can the grade boundaries predict my grade this year?
No. Boundaries are set after each exam to reflect how hard the papers were, so they move every year. The five years of figures show the range a grade has needed, which makes them useful for setting a mock target, but they are not a forecast.
Do students still need to learn formulas?
Yes. Formula sheets are provided in the exam, but a sheet does not tell a student which relationship to use, how to rearrange it or what the units should be. The formula handbook covers selection and common traps for exactly that reason.
How are AQA GCSE Maths papers structured?
AQA GCSE Mathematics 8300 has three papers of 80 marks, 240 in all, each 1 hour 30 minutes. Paper 1 is non-calculator and Papers 2 and 3 allow a calculator. Foundation awards grades 1 to 5 and Higher awards grades 4 to 9, and every paper is sat at the same tier.
Where do the common mistakes come from?
Each entry is labelled. Some are taken from AQA’s published reports on the exam, and the rest are checks derived from the specification. The labels keep the two apart, so nothing is presented as an examiner finding unless it is one.
Are they free? What is the licence?
The guides are free to download for personal and household educational use. Tutors and schools need permission before copying them for learners, and resale, paid redistribution and third-party uploading are not permitted.
The same topic stays red on the checklist. What next?
If a topic is still red after the formula card, the worked example and two honest retests, the method itself needs reteaching, by a teacher at school or a tutor. Fifteen of our tutors teach GCSE Maths, and the first 30 minutes are free.
Practice finds the gaps. A tutor closes them
Fifteen of our tutors teach GCSE Maths, including three qualified teachers. Lessons are one to one on Zoom, £30 each with no premium for Higher, and the first 30 minutes are free with no card details. If the same mistake keeps coming back after the repair routine, that is the moment to have the method retaught.