Number - Edexcel GCSE Higher Maths

Number is the smallest of the six content areas on Edexcel Higher (spec 1MA1), at 12 to 18 per cent of the marks, but that figure understates it. Surds, indices, standard form and bounds are the tools other questions are built from, so a shaky grasp of them costs marks in algebra and geometry questions that never mention Number at all.

The Higher-only content here is small and very examinable: surd manipulation including rationalising a denominator, negative and fractional indices, converting a recurring decimal to a fraction, and upper and lower bounds in a calculation. Edexcel tends to place these as short questions early on Paper 1, where no calculator is allowed and an exact answer is the only acceptable one.

Choose a topic below to see how Edexcel sets it, follow a worked example with the mark scheme alongside it, and answer exam-style questions that are marked the moment you submit them.