GCSE Maths Paper 3 is on Wednesday 10 June

The Final 48 Hours: GCSE Maths Paper 3 Hit-List + Calculator Traps

We analyzed past papers for Edexcel, AQA, and OCR. Here is exactly what to revise, hour by hour, before Wednesday's calculator exam — plus the free 3-PDF pack.

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Did you know?

Most students lose at least 4 marks on Paper 3 because of how their Casio calculator handles negatives.

-3² = -9 ❌ WRONG
(-3)² = 9  ✅ CORRECT

Download the Hit-List to get the 4 other calculator traps you must avoid on Wednesday.

PDF #1

📄 The Paper 3 Hit-List

  • ✅ Foundation Must-Haves: Compound interest, ratio, compound measures, pythagoras/trig.
  • ✅ Higher 7→9 Band: Sine/cosine rule, vectors, bounds, iteration, rates of change.
  • ✅ Calculator Hacks: Exactly how to use your Casio to avoid losing silly marks.
PDF #2

🧮 Formula Cheat Sheet

  • ✅ Colour-coded: Shows exactly what is GIVEN on the exam sheet vs what you MUST memorise.
  • ✅ Grouped properly: Trig, algebra, mensuration, and stats.
NEW · PDF #3

⚙️ Calculator Setup & 10 Traps

  • ✅ 60-second setup: The exact Casio key sequence to run before question 1 (incl. the degrees check that catches most students out).
  • ✅ 10 marks-losing traps: Squaring negatives, rounding early, standard form, iteration — and how to avoid each.

Download the PDFs

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Your Final 48-Hour Paper 3 Plan

Don't try to learn new topics now. These two days are about consolidating what you know and not throwing away marks on Wednesday.

Monday — Tonight

Drill the predicted topics, not the whole syllabus

  • 1.Work through 1–2 past-paper questions on each Hit-List topic (sine/cosine rule, iteration, bounds, vectors, histograms).
  • 2.Mark every answer against the official mark scheme — copy the exact wording it rewards.
  • 3.Make a one-page list of the 5 topics you got wrong. That list is tomorrow's revision.
Tuesday — Day before

Close gaps + run the calculator setup

  • 1.Redo only the 5 topics from last night's wrong list. Aim to get each one right twice in a row.
  • 2.Read the Calculator Setup & 10 Traps PDF and physically press the keys on your own calculator.
  • 3.Pack your bag: calculator (degrees mode!), spare batteries, pen, pencil, ruler, protractor, compass. Stop revising by 9pm.
Wednesday — Exam morning

Light recall, then execute

  • 1.Glance over the Formula Cheat Sheet and the calculator traps — do NOT attempt new questions.
  • 2.In the exam: run the 60-second calculator setup, check it says D for degrees, read every question twice.
  • 3.Show all working on 'show that' and method questions. Round only the final answer. Leave nothing blank — a guess can earn method marks.

Want the topic list, formulas, and calculator guide as printable PDFs?

Get the free 3-PDF pack →