GCSE Mathematics: What formulae must candidates recall in GCSE (9-1) mathematics?

The formulae that we cannot provide fall into two types:

1. Formulae candidates should be able to recall and use.

These are listed in the OCR Specification in 6.02d (the Specification is available to download from http://ocr.org.uk/gcsemaths).

All candidates are required to recall and use:

• the circumference and area of a circle formulae
• Pythagoras’ theorem
• trigonometry ratio formulae.

Higher tier candidates should additionally be able to recall and use:

• the quadratic formula
• the sine and cosine rules
• area of a triangle = ½absinC .

 2. Formulae that should be derived or informally understood.

Those for all candidates are the formulae for:

• compound interest (statement 5.03a)
• area of a trapezium (statement 10.03c)
• volume of a prism (statement 10.04a)
• addition law of probability (statement 11.02e).

For Higher tier candidates there is additionally the multiplication law of probability (statement 11.02f).

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