Applications of GCSE maths

Discover how GCSE Mathematics isn’t just about passing an exam—it’s a toolkit for understanding (and shaping) the world. In this talk we’ll explore exciting real-life applications of number (budgeting, interest, taxes, error bounds), fractions/decimals/percentages (discounts, inflation, nutrition), ratio and proportion (recipe scaling, medicine dosages, map scales), and algebra (predicting trends, optimising costs, coding logic, modelling sports performance). We’ll see how sequences and functions power everything from social media growth to saving plans, and how graphs, straight lines, gradients, simultaneous equations, inequalities, and quadratic graphs help make decisions in business, climate science, and engineering design. You’ll learn how geometry and measures underpin architecture, product design and navigation—using angles, constructions, congruence and similarity, perimeter/area/surface area/volume, transformations, bearings and loci—and how Pythagoras and trigonometry let us calculate heights, distances, and routes like real surveyors and game developers. We’ll also bring maths to life through data: statistics (averages, spread, histograms, cumulative frequency, box plots, scatter graphs), probability (risk, genetics, games, insurance), and even vectors (forces, motion and 3D graphics). By the end, GCSE Maths will feel less like a checklist of topics and more like a powerful, meaningful language for solving problems that genuinely matter.