Functional Skills Level 1 Maths learning guide
A free 135-page PDF that teaches the whole Level 1 course in 31 lessons, one for each content point, from whole numbers to one million to simple events and equally likely outcomes. Every lesson explains the method, works through a real-life problem and ends with three short checks.
This is a teaching book, not a set of practice papers. Learn a topic here, then practise it in the matching Level 1 Exam Practice Notebook, which uses the same topic numbers.
Free to download. No sign up, no email required. Independent resources for the shared England content, not produced, approved or endorsed by any awarding organisation, Ofqual or the DfE.
What is in the Level 1 learning guide?
One PDF with 31 lessons and 93 short checks, answers explained at the back. Practise each topic afterwards with the Level 1 practice questions, or use the Level 1 revision guides to plan and repair.
Student Learning Guide
The complete Level 1 course, one three-page lesson per content point, with 31 coached real-life problems and explained answers to every check.
Download the Student Learning GuideEvery board in England
The lessons follow the Level 1 content shared by Pearson Edexcel, City & Guilds, NCFE and the other awarding organisations, so they work for any of them.
Then practise
The Level 1 Exam Practice Notebook has a practice set for every lesson, with worked solutions and two 60-mark mocks.
See the practice questionsHow is each lesson organised?
Every lesson takes three pages and follows the same order, so a learner always knows what comes next. The short checks are answered with the method, not just the number, on pages 108 to 123.
The three-page lesson
- Understand: the learning goal, a plain explanation of the method and two worked examples
- Choose, calculate, explain: a coached real-life problem, with a box on a tempting mistake and how to fix it
- Recap: why the method works, another example step by step and a short summary
- Check: three short questions to try without looking back
- Review: explained answers at the back, with a note on what to revisit if a check goes wrong
What else is inside
- a 12-question starting diagnostic with answers that point to the lessons to revisit
- foundation pages on arithmetic, time, measuring instruments, shapes and patterns, for the earlier skills Level 1 builds on
- workshops on bar, pie and line charts, on nets, elevations and the protractor, and on connecting two topics in one problem
- a reference bank and learning support pages at the back
- 135 printable A4 pages
Which lessons does the learning guide cover?
The 31 lessons follow the numbered Level 1 content points in order. The same numbers are used in the Exam Practice Notebook, so lesson 17 and topic set 17 are the same topic.
Lessons 1 to 17: Number, fractions, percentages and ratio
- Whole numbers to one million
- Positive and negative numbers
- Multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1,000
- Multiplication and division facts
- Simple word formulae
- Squares of numbers
- Order of operations
- Common fractions and mixed numbers
- Fractions of quantities
- Decimals to three decimal places
- Decimal calculations to two decimal places
- Rounding for a stated purpose
- Reading and comparing percentages
- Percentages of quantities and simple changes
- Estimation with fractions and decimals
- Equivalent fractions, decimals and percentages
- Simple ratio and direct proportion
Lessons 18 to 31: Money, measures, shape and data
- Simple interest
- Discounts and sale prices
- Converting everyday units
- Simple map and drawing scales
- Perimeter, area and composite rectangles
- Volume of cubes and cuboids
- Drawing shapes, symmetry and angle size
- Plans, elevations and nets
- Measuring angles and describing direction
- Tables, bar charts, pie charts and line graphs
- Grouping discrete data
- Mean and range
- The probability scale
- Simple events and equally likely outcomes
How should a learner use it?
Work through the lessons in order for the full course, or use the starting diagnostic to find the gaps and begin there. Short regular sessions work better than long ones: learn a method, explain it aloud, and come back to it another day.
Starting the course
Do the diagnostic first, then follow the lessons in order. Finish each lesson’s three checks before moving on, and return to the worked example for any check that goes wrong.
Fixing one weak topic
Find the topic in the lesson list, read the teaching page and coached problem, then do the checks. When they come out right, try the matching set in the practice notebook.
Working with a tutor
Each lesson can be one tutor session: teach the first page, talk through the coached problem together, then set the checks as independent work.
Functional Skills Level 2 Maths tutoring
What Level 2 Maths covers, why learners lose marks on it, and how one to one lessons work, starting with a free 30-minute skills check.
See Level 2 Maths tutoringFunctional Skills Level 2
An overview of our Functional Skills Level 2 tutoring in maths and English, for adults, apprentices and college learners.
Read about Level 2GCSE Maths resit
When a GCSE Maths resit is the better route than Functional Skills, and how resit tutoring is planned.
See GCSE resit tutoringStudent Learning Guide questions
The learning guide is free, covers every Level 1 content point and works for every board in England. These answers cover boards, calculators, answers, practice and licensing.
Which exam boards are these for?
All of them in England. Functional Skills Maths Level 1 has shared subject content set by the Department for Education, and every Ofqual-regulated awarding organisation assesses it, including Pearson Edexcel, City & Guilds, NCFE, NOCN, Open Awards and Highfield. Paper layout, timing, onscreen tools and equipment differ by board, so check those with your centre.
Does it cover the whole Level 1 course?
Yes. There is one lesson for each of the 31 numbered Level 1 content points, in the order the specifications list them, covering number, measures, shape and space, and handling data.
Are there answers?
Yes. All 93 short checks have explained answers on pages 108 to 123, showing the method as well as the result, so a learner can see where a wrong answer went off track.
Is there a non-calculator section?
Yes. Ofqual requires 25% of the marks to be gained without a calculator and 75% with one, so every board has a non-calculator section. The books mark which work is non-calculator, and the practice mocks put that section first, as the real assessments do.
Is this the same as a past paper?
No. The learning guide teaches the methods, and it is not a set of practice papers. For exam practice, use the Level 1 Exam Practice Notebook, then a current official sample paper from your own awarding organisation.
Are they free? What is the licence?
The books are free to download for personal and household educational use, with no sign up and no email. Tutors and schools need permission before copying them for learners, and resale, paid redistribution and third-party uploading are not permitted.
What comes after Level 1?
Level 2, which builds on the same topics and adds compound interest, compound measures, surface area, grouped data and scatter diagrams. Level 2 is the level most often asked for by employers and colleges, and it is the level we tutor.
Practice finds the gaps. A tutor closes them
Our Functional Skills tutoring is at Level 2, the usual next step once Level 1 is secure. Lessons are one to one on Zoom at £30 each, and the first 30 minutes are a free skills check with no card details, which also shows whether a learner is ready to move up.