WJEC GCSE Maths: the three units, grades and 2027 dates

WJEC GCSE Maths: the qualification

WJEC runs two different GCSE Maths courses. In Wales it offers GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy (Double Award), a Made for Wales qualification approved by Qualifications Wales (approval number C00/4968/0) that counts as two GCSEs. In England its brand Eduqas offers a separate GCSE Mathematics (C300), covered near the end of this page. The Welsh specification says it is designed for 240 to 280 guided learning hours over Years 10 and 11 and is built on four areas: number, algebra, geometry and measures, and statistics and probability.

WJEC GCSE Maths papers

Every unit is a written paper with short and longer questions, some structured and some not. Each paper carries two extra marks, one for communicating and organising your answer and one for writing accurately, and the paper tells you which questions they belong to. Dates are from WJEC's final summer 2027 timetable; see our WJEC GCSE timetable 2027 for every paper and the results day.

What each unit covers

• Unit 1 sets questions in personal and real-world contexts such as personal finance, travel, work and payroll. Expect interest, tax, wages, budgeting and unit conversions with a calculator.
• Unit 2 has no calculator and a heavy focus on geometry, algebra and all of probability. It mixes context-free questions with mathematical contexts.
• Unit 3 holds most of the data handling in statistics and a lot of measures, in context and context-free.

Across the whole qualification, 50% of the marks test recalling and using techniques (AO1), 30% selecting and applying methods (AO2) and 20% strategic problem solving and reasoning (AO3), each within a tolerance set by WJEC. Foundation tier content is in standard text in the specification and the extra Higher content is in bold.

Formula lists

The Unit 1 and Unit 3 papers print a formula list at the start; the specification gives none for Unit 2. The Foundation list holds only the area of a trapezium and the volume of a prism or cylinder. The Higher list adds the volume and surface area of a sphere, the volume and curved surface area of a cone, and, in Unit 1, the annual equivalent rate. The Unit 3 Higher list also holds the sine rule, the cosine rule, the area of a triangle and the quadratic formula. Anything not listed has to be learned.

Worked examples in WJEC style

Unit 1 (Higher): annual equivalent rate

A savings account pays a nominal 4.8% a year, compounded monthly. Find the annual equivalent rate. The formula list gives the AER as a decimal, with i the nominal rate and n the number of compounding periods a year.

So the AER is 4.91% to 2 decimal places. It is higher than 4.8% because interest is paid on interest each month. Compare accounts using the AER, not the nominal rate.

Unit 2 (no calculator): area and probability

A trapezium has parallel sides 7 cm and 11 cm and a height of 6 cm. There is no formula list in Unit 2, so you must recall that the area is half the sum of the parallel sides times the height.

A bag holds 3 red and 5 blue counters. Two are taken without replacement. The probability that both are blue, found by hand, is:

Notice the second fraction: after one blue counter is removed there are 4 blue among 7 left. Showing each step earns the method marks, and the final line also helps the communication mark.

WJEC GCSE Maths grades

The qualification is unitised. Raw marks on each paper are converted to a uniform mark scale (UMS), the three uniform marks are added, and the total gives a double grade on an eight-grade scale from A*A* to GG, one grade for each GCSE. Higher tier covers A* to D and Foundation tier C to G, and you can sit different tiers for different units. Results below the minimum for a G are unclassified (U). These are the uniform marks WJEC publishes for each grade:

On Foundation tier the highest uniform mark available is 83 in Units 1 and 2 and 111 in Unit 3, one less than a grade B needs. The raw marks needed for each uniform mark change from series to series and are published by WJEC on results day. Pre-16 candidates must take at least 30% of the assessment in the series they cash in, and a unit can be resat once. Read more about the Welsh system in GCSE grades in Wales.

WJEC Eduqas GCSE Maths in England

Eduqas GCSE Mathematics (C300) is a linear course with two components, both at the same tier in the same series. Component 1 has no calculator and Component 2 allows one. Each is 2 hours 15 minutes, 120 marks and 50% of the qualification, and questions may come from any part of the content. In 2027 they fall on Fri 14 May and Thu 27 May. Check that your school enters you for the Wales or the Eduqas version before you revise from past papers.

Use the daily paper as a short timed mock for WJEC GCSE Maths

Uni-Sine publishes a new free daily paper on each track: GCSE Maths Foundation and GCSE Maths Higher. It is a short timed mock: 8 questions worth 25 to 35 marks, marked instantly, with worked answers. It is not a full exam paper and it is not written by the exam board, so use it as a quick timed practice test alongside the board's own specimen and past papers.

• What it covers well: probability, area and perimeter, fractions, ratio, sequences and coordinates on Foundation; circle theorems, histograms, vectors, trigonometry, quadratics and simultaneous equations on Higher. These feed Unit 2 and Unit 3 well.
• What it does not cover: the financial focus of Unit 1. The Higher track has no dedicated finance topic and Foundation has only a money and units topic, so practise interest, AER and payroll from the specimen papers on WJEC's site.

A sensible routine is one daily paper timed, then marking every dropped mark, and one WJEC unit paper a week as the exam gets close. Practise Unit 2 style questions without a calculator.

Exam answers

Uni-Sine does not publish official answers, past paper answers or mark schemes from the exam board. The answers and a worked mark scheme for each daily paper come with that day's paper once it is marked, so you can see where every mark was won or lost.

Common mistakes in WJEC GCSE Maths

• Treating Unit 1 as easy. It is real-world, multi-step and calculator based, and worth the same 30% as Unit 2.
• Leaving out working in Unit 2. With no calculator, method marks are most of the marks.
• Assuming a formula will be printed. Unit 2 has no list, and the lists in Units 1 and 3 are short.
• Quoting the nominal rate instead of the AER when comparing savings or loans.
• Ignoring the two communication marks. Write a line that says what your answer means.

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