Edexcel GCSE Maths revision guides and grade boundaries
Four free PDF handbooks for Pearson Edexcel GCSE Mathematics 1MA1, 83 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 Pearson Edexcel GCSE Mathematics 1MA1, not produced, approved or endorsed by Pearson or Edexcel.
Which Edexcel revision guides can I download?
Four handbooks, each covering both tiers. Use them alongside our Edexcel practice books: Edexcel Foundation resources and Edexcel Higher resources have the exam questions and lesson notebooks.
Specification checklist
Covers all 97 1MA1 content references across Number, Algebra, Ratio, Geometry, Probability and Statistics, with the paper structure, topic weighting ranges, assessment objectives and checks for moving between tiers.
Download the specification checklistFormula handbook
Covers 18 formula and relationship cards for mensuration, algebra, trigonometry, finance, probability and compound measures, each with conditions, an original worked example, a common trap and the 1MA1 reference, plus exact trigonometric values and method guides for accuracy and checking.
Download the formula handbookCommon mistakes handbook
Covers 34 error and repair cards, 13 for Foundation and 21 for Higher, each labelled either as evidenced in Pearson’s Principal Examiner Feedback reports from 2022 to 2024 or as a check derived from the specification, with a retest rule for every card.
Download the common mistakes handbookGrade boundary handbook
Covers the official June 2022 to 2026 subject grade boundaries for both tiers, Pearson’s notional boundaries for all three papers, five-year ranges, medians and percentages, and a mock target planner.
Download the grade boundary handbookHow do the four guides work together?
Each guide answers one revision question: what is on the Edexcel 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 Edexcel 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
- 83 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 46 pages and the grade boundary handbook the shortest at 8.
Specification checklist
- Paper structure, topic weighting ranges and assessment objectives
- All 97 content references, N1 to S6
- What secure looks like for each reference
- Revision planning
- Checks for moving between Foundation and Higher
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
- 13 Foundation error and repair cards
- 21 Higher error and repair cards
- Accuracy, presentation, interpretation and checking
- A retest rule on every card
Grade boundary handbook
- How three paper marks become a 240-mark total
- June 2022 to 2026 subject boundaries, both tiers
- Notional boundaries for all three papers
- Ranges, medians and percentages
- Mock target planning
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 Pearson Edexcel GCSE Mathematics 1MA1. These answers cover boundaries, formulas, tiers, sources and licensing.
Are these official Edexcel documents?
No. They are independently written guides aligned to Pearson Edexcel GCSE Mathematics 1MA1. 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 Edexcel GCSE Maths papers structured?
Pearson Edexcel GCSE Mathematics 1MA1 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 Pearson’s published examiner feedback, 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.