Topics don’t have grades. Questions do.

Know how hard a question is before you set it. Thousands of GCSE and A level maths exam questions, each graded by how real students actually scored on it in the exam, whichever board your classes sit. Worksheets, graded papers and full mocks take minutes.

GCSE and A level · sign in with your school Google or Microsoft account

Score by grade

573%

458%

339%

218%

15%

U0%

June 2017 · 2F · Q17

Foundation Paper 2 · Calculator

4grade level

The table shows the probabilities that a biased dice will land on 2, on 3, on 4, on 5 and on 6

Number	1	2	3	4	5	6
Prob.		0.17	0.18	0.09	0.15	0.1

Neymar rolls the dice 200 times. Work out an estimate for the number of times it lands on 1 or on 3

(3)

3 marksAO3mean 38%Probabilities that sum to 1

Grade level is the lowest grade whose students averaged 50% or more. Grade 4 students scored 58% here; grade 3 students scored 39%.

The evidence · ratio

Ratio is usually thought of as a grade 3 topic.

Yet across nine years of GCSE Foundation papers, grade 3 students scored under half marks on 64 of the 102 ratio questions.

Some ratio questions are answered confidently by grade 1 students. Others defeat even grade 5s. Same topic, very different challenge, because difficulty depends on how a question is asked, not just what it’s about.

So Gradient Maths grades every question, not every topic. Choose grade 3 questions for a grade 3 class and you know they’re the right challenge, because thousands of real students have already shown it.

The 102 ratio questions on GCSE Foundation papers, June 2017 to June 2026, by grade level. Each square is one question.

326

426

528

5+10

Grade 3 students averaged half marks or more (38) Grade 3 students averaged under half marks (64)

Grade level is the lowest grade whose students averaged 50% or more on the question. 5+ means even grade 5 students averaged under half marks.

Your Sunday evening

Thirty students, five sets, one evening to plan it all.

You know the drill: hunt through PDFs, screenshot a question, guess whether set 4 can cope with it, and type up the answers. Gradient Maths does the hunting and the guessing for you.

Before~~Open 50 papers looking for “one more ratio question”~~
NowSearch “ratio”, filter to grade 3–4, add 8 questions
Before~~Guess which questions your grade 4 students can do~~
NowSee how grade 4 students across the country scored on each one
Before~~Spend a weekend putting a mock together~~
NowBuild a balanced 80-mark mock, with answers, in ten minutes

Features · Advantages · Benefits

Set out the way you’d mark it.

What it does, why that matters, and what it gives you back.

Paper: Gradient Maths · Mark scheme
Q	Feature	Advantage	Benefit
1	F1 Thousands of real exam questions, for every board Over 7,000 questions from 213 GCSE and A level papers, each cut out cleanly and tagged by topic.	A1 Search by topic, grade, assessment objective, marks, paper or year, all at once.	B1 A targeted worksheet in five minutes, not an evening.
2	F1 Real results for every question The exam boards’ results data: the mean score, and how students at each grade did.	A1 Each question carries a grade level based on evidence, not on gut feeling.	B1 Pitch work at the right level for each set, and stop losing lessons to questions that were too hard.
3	F1 Graded papers Pick a topic, a starting grade and a finishing grade. Three or four questions at each step.	A1 One sheet takes a class from secure to stretched, easiest question first.	B1 Differentiation is built into the sheet, so you don’t have to make three versions.
4	F1 Mock paper builder 40, 60 or 80 marks of whole questions, non-calculator or calculator, limited to the topics you’ve taught.	A1 Balanced to the specification’s topic and AO weightings, with estimated grade boundaries.	B1 A realistic mock in ten minutes, with boundaries ready for reporting.
5	F1 Similar questions Over 2,000 GCSE questions have a similar question on tap: the same skill, new numbers, and a worked answer.	A1 Re-test the same skill after feedback, without students recognising the question.	B1 You see what they’ve learned, not what they remember.
6	F1 Answers and exports The mark scheme for every question, printed after the worksheet. Export to Word or PDF.	A1 Edit in Word, print for cover, or share on your VLE.	B1 Marking is ready the moment the sheet is, and cover work is sorted.

The first five minutes, sorted too.

Gradient Maths Starters puts questions on the board with fresh numbers every time you press the button. Model one, do one together, then hand it over.

I do Teacher models

Solve 3x + 5 = 20

3x = 15
x = 5

We do Together

Solve 4x + 7 = 31

You do Your turn

2x + 9 = 17
5x − 4 = 21
6x + 1 = 43
7x − 8 = 27

Starter grids: 6, 9 or 12 questions on one topic or several, at one level or climbing from Gentle to Steep.
I do, We do, You do: Opens on I do alone, so nobody reads ahead. Write over it with the pens.
Hinge questions: For mini-whiteboards, with the reason behind every wrong answer.
Number of the day: A number in the middle, eight questions about it around the edge.
Printable: Any starter as A4, A5 or two A5 to a page, clean in black and white.

A mock in three steps

From blank page to boundaries in ten minutes.

Choose the paper

GCSE Foundation or Higher, non-calculator or calculator, 40, 60 or 80 marks; or an A level Pure, Statistics or Mechanics paper. Match the real paper’s difficulty, or aim at a grade range such as 4 to 5.

Tick what you’ve taught

Only questions on ticked topics go in. Gradient Maths remembers your list for next time.

Fractions
Percentages
Equations
Vectors

Print with answers

Questions run easiest first, then the mark scheme and estimated grade boundaries. Here is an example Higher paper out of 80:

963

853

741

631

522

413

Same skill, a fresh question, worked answer included.

After feedback, set a similar question that tests the same skill, with new numbers and sometimes a new context. It looks and prints like the real paper.

The original3 marks

Work out 237 × 123
Give your answer as a mixed number in its simplest form.

(3)

Every teacher, every feature, one place.

For every exam board: GCSE Foundation and Higher since 2017, and A level since 2018
Graded papers, the mock builder and similar questions
Word and PDF export and answer sheets
Marking and question-level analysis, with students’ marks kept on your computer
New papers added after each exam series

Getting started

1. Press Sign in M1

2. Choose Google or Microsoft M1

3. Use your school email A1

Signing in for the first time creates your account. Nothing to install: it runs in your browser on laptops, Macs and interactive boards.

Questions

What departments ask first.

Does it work for my exam board?

Yes. Every board teaches the same GCSE maths content, set by the Department for Education, so the questions suit AQA, Edexcel and OCR classes alike. GCSE: past-paper questions from June 2017 to June 2026, plus our own “Gradient original” questions written to match other boards’ papers, Foundation and Higher. A level: past-paper questions from June 2018 (Pearson Edexcel 9MA0 for now), Pure, Statistics and Mechanics.

Where do the grade levels come from?

From the exam boards’ results data for each question: how students at each grade actually scored on it in the exam. A question’s grade level is the lowest grade whose students averaged half marks or more. We grade questions, not topics, because one topic can hold grade 1 and grade 5 questions.

Do we need to install anything?

No. It runs in a web browser on school laptops, Macs and interactive boards.

Can we edit the worksheets?

Yes. Export to Word to change anything, or print straight to PDF.

Who makes Gradient Maths?

Nick Waldron, a maths teacher and curriculum manager in further education, built it to save teachers time. Get in touch at [email protected].

How accurate are the grade boundaries?

They are estimates from how each grade scored on the chosen questions. Use them as a guide for internal reporting, not as official boundaries.

What do you do with our data?

We keep your name, school email and how you use the site. Students’ names and marks never leave your computer. Privacy and your data

Topics don’t have grades. Questions do.

Ratio is usually thought of as a grade 3 topic.

Thirty students, five sets, one evening to plan it all.

Set out the way you’d mark it.

Thousands of real exam questions, for every board

Real results for every question

Graded papers

Mock paper builder

Similar questions

Answers and exports