Maths iGCSE

On this page

• Background to Maths iGCSE
• Maths iGCSE Summary
• Why have we chosen the iGCSE rather than the GCSE?
• What is our overall plan for Maths iGCSE?
• Why have we stopped our textbook approach and moved to online videos?
• Why do we like Maths Genie?
• What isn’t Maths Genie quite so good at?

Background to Maths iGCSE

You can read about our journey through KS3 Maths here; it ended up being a short one! After only getting part way through the CGP year 8 and 9 textbooks, we decided to change course entirely. With just two years left for both girls to complete Maths iGCSE before our family gap year started in July 2026, we had to get serious with maths. It was time for a radical change!

In August 2024 we went into full GCSE mode for Maths and so have given it the time it needs in our weekly schedules.

Maths iGCSE Summary

Aggie was originally going to sit the exams in November 2025 but we’ve now decided she’ll do them in June 2026 alongside Peggy. We can see that the more she practises, the higher her marks are getting. We therefore want to maximise the time available to try and reach those top grades.

Why have we chosen the iGCSE rather than the GCSE?

As with every GCSE subject, I go through the same process to decide which exam board to use. I explain what I take into consideration in my blog post How do I choose a GCSE exam board?

For Maths there were three main things which made us choose the iGCSE rather than the GCSE:

1. The iGCSE can be sat in either autumn or summer every year. Aggie wanted to get Maths done as soon as possible. She wasn’t going to be ready for June 2025 but November 2025 was a possibility. Although we’re now going for June 2026 for both girls, it was great to have the flexibility offered by the iGCSE option.
2. GCSE Maths has three separate papers whereas the iGCSE only has two. This means one less trip to the exam centre which is always a good thing!
3. One of the three GCSE papers is a non-calculator paper whereas you are allowed a calculator in both of the iGCSE papers. The girls feel more comfortable with their calculator at their side.

What is our overall plan for Maths iGCSE?

Our plan is to complete Foundation Level Maths first and practice this material for several months before then moving on to the Higher Level material. Both girls will complete all of the syllabus right up to grade 9. We always aim for a Grade 9 in every GCSE but we’ll be happy with a Grade 7 or above for Maths.

We will entirely self-study using Maths Genie as our structure but we will use resources from CGP, IG Exams and Corbett Maths alongside this. And of course every past paper going!

Why have we stopped our textbook approach and moved to online videos?

As we moved onto some year 8/9 topics with our KS3 learning I was finding I needed to work through the textbook first to understand it before then doing it with the girls. It was putting an unnecessary step into our learning. I’m no maths expert; I’ve done no maths learning in the last 30 years! It was therefore of no benefit for me to get involved in the “teaching” process. But, I felt I needed to know the content as well so I could best support the girls when they needed help.

The solution – watch instructional videos together; let someone else do the teaching! I was then learning/refreshing my memory alongside the girls and could then help them when needed. This is much more efficient and saves me a huge amount of time.

There are so many GCSE providers but paying for a course felt unnecessary; we wanted the videos and nothing else really. Whilst we’ve always used Corbett Maths in the past, we wanted a full iGCSE curriculum we could work through systematically and one which expected little prior knowledge so we could fill in any gaps. Maths Genie fitted the bill and most amazingly, it’s FREE, so even better!

Why do we like Maths Genie?

Maths Genie offers a scheme of work for Edexcel iGCSE Maths Spec A. They divide the content up into GCSE grade levels, so according to difficulty. Grades 1 to 5 are for Foundation level and Grades 6 to 9 are for the Higher content.

They use a spiral curriculum so each topic is revisited several times with new content added each time. Throughout the course of using this scheme, we’ve never felt a sudden increase in difficulty; it’s always felt like a natural progression onto the next level.

We especially love that they move around between the main topics eg geometry, algebra at each level so there’s plenty of variety across our weeks. With a textbook they present a whole topic from grade 1 to 9 in a big chapter so it’s hard to jump around, especially when knowledge of one chapter is assumed for another chapter. With Maths Genie, they keep it varied and everything in the correct order to progress.

We love the fact that we’ve pretty much got a long list of topics which we need to get through so we can easily check our progress against the time we’ve got left. We’ve also liked celebrating the milestone of finishing each grade level. That keeps us motivated and reassures us that we’re getting through it all. Plus it’s any excuse for cake in our house!

We’ve never not understood a video! We’ve always been able to complete the examples in the videos; explanations are clear and repeated enough for us to grasp it fully by the end of the video.

What isn’t Maths Genie quite so good at?

Sometimes we have found questions in the worksheets which haven’t been fully explained in the video. We’ve found this just a handful of times but it’s been quite frustrating. Nothing that a review of our CGP revision guide couldn’t sort though.

Our girls pick up maths concepts pretty quickly so don’t need that much repetition to embed the content. Some people, however, may find they need additional question practice for each topic beyond what Maths Genie includes. For this I’d recommend Corbett Maths (which is also free) or CGP workbooks.