Choosing subjects & tiers
What's on Edexcel GCSE Maths (1MA1)?
Edexcel GCSE Maths (specification 1MA1) is three papers of 1 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks each, all sat in the summer: Paper 1 without a calculator, Papers 2 and 3 with one. You enter Foundation (grades 1-5) or Higher (grades 4-9) across all three. The content is the national list - number, algebra, ratio and proportion, geometry, probability and statistics - with any topic allowed to appear on any paper.
Last updated 30 August 2026 · Written and fact-checked by the GCSEwiz team
The three papers
Edexcel is the most-entered GCSE Maths specification in England, and its paper structure is symmetrical: three equal papers, each a third of the grade. There is no coursework and no topic-per-paper split - a Paper 3 can open with anything, which is why "which topics are on Paper 3?" threads fill up every June with guesses. The only structural certainty is the calculator rule:
| Paper | Calculator? | Length and marks |
|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Not allowed | 1 hour 30 minutes, 80 marks |
| Paper 2 | Allowed | 1 hour 30 minutes, 80 marks |
| Paper 3 | Allowed | 1 hour 30 minutes, 80 marks |
What each tier weights
Both tiers cover the same five content areas, but the balance shifts: Foundation leans on number and ratio, Higher leans on algebra. Pearson publishes the approximate weightings, and they are worth reading as revision advice - on Higher, algebra alone is nearly a third of the marks, so an algebra-shaped gap costs more than any other kind.
| Content area | Foundation (approx.) | Higher (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Number | 25% | 15% |
| Algebra | 20% | 30% |
| Ratio, proportion and rates of change | 25% | 20% |
| Geometry and measures | 15% | 20% |
| Probability and statistics | 15% | 15% |
Edexcel vs AQA: does the board change the maths?
Not really - the content is the same national list on every board, and grade boundaries adjust for any difference in paper difficulty. AQA (8300) also runs three 90-minute, 80-mark papers with one non-calculator, so even the structure matches. What differs is house style: Edexcel papers have a reputation for wordier, context-wrapped problems ("Hannah's sweets" became briefly famous for a reason), while AQA's phrasing tends shorter. The practical upshot is only this: practise with your own board's past papers in the final months, so the phrasing feels familiar - and before that, practise the maths itself, which transfers completely. Our AQA vs Edexcel guide below has the fuller comparison.
Tiers, boundaries and the formulae question
Foundation covers grades 1-5 and Higher covers 4-9 (with a narrow safety-net grade 3), so the tier decision matters more than the board decision - our tier guide below walks through it. Edexcel publishes its raw-mark grade boundaries after every series, and they land lower than most students expect, especially on Higher; our Edexcel maths boundaries page keeps representative figures. As for what formulae you are given versus what you must memorise, the policy has changed in recent years and is worth checking fresh - the formula-sheet guide below tracks the current position.