GCSE Foundation · grades 1–5 · 7.5% of marks
GCSE Foundation — Statistics
This is the statistics practice for GCSE Foundation, the content area that carries 7.5% of the paper. The 5 statements below are the whole of statistics for this tier — nothing outside them can be asked, which makes the revision list finite. The list includes sampling and inference about populations, tables, charts and diagrams for data, averages, spread and comparing distributions, describing a population with statistics and scatter graphs, correlation and lines of best fit. Everything on this page is Foundation content, which means a Higher student needs it too — Higher is Foundation plus more, not instead of. With 50% AO1 and 50% across AO2 and AO3, fluency alone is not enough — the paper repeatedly asks what your answer means. Questions here turn up on all three papers, which means you need the written method and the calculator method.
- S1 — Sampling and inference about populations
- S2 — Tables, charts and diagrams for data
- S4 — Averages, spread and comparing distributions
- S5 — Describing a population with statistics
- S6 — Scatter graphs, correlation and lines of best fit
Practise
The 5 DfE statements in statistics at Foundation
Higher-only statements are not listed here; statements with a Higher-only part are marked and the part is quoted.
Related
Questions people ask
How much of the GCSE Foundation paper is statistics?
7.5% of the total marks, and the three papers each carry an equal share of the qualification, so it is spread across all of them rather than concentrated in one.
How many topics are there in statistics at GCSE Foundation?
5 DfE content statements, coded S1 to S6 within this area. Every question in the bank is tagged to one of them.
Is any statistics content on this page Higher only?
No. Foundation pages only show statements a Foundation entry may be asked. The Higher-only statistics material is on the GCSE Higher page for this area.
Can I use a calculator for statistics questions?
Paper 1 is non-calculator; Papers 2 and 3 allow one. Of the 5 statements in this area, 0 are naturally non-calculator and 0 naturally calculator, with the rest workable either way — so practise both.
What kind of marks does statistics carry?
The GCSE Foundation split is 50% AO1 (use and apply standard techniques), 25% AO2 (reason, interpret and communicate) and 25% AO3 (solve problems in and out of context). Questions in this area are set across all three.
Are these past paper questions?
No. Every question at /gcse-foundation is original, written to the DfE content statements and checked before it is published. We do not host past papers or mark schemes.