GCSE Formula Sheet Builder
Build your own GCSE and iGCSE maths formula sheet, free
The formula sheet you are given in the exam is short, and it does not include most of what you actually need. Everything else has to be remembered — and remembering a formula is not the same as knowing when to use it or where it usually goes wrong. This free tool builds a formula sheet around the topics you are revising, at Foundation or Higher tier. Tick the topics, and it generates a printable PDF with the key formulae for each one, the misconceptions that cost marks, and hints on when each formula applies.
How to build your formula sheet
1. Choose your tier and topics. Pick Foundation or Higher, then tick the topics you are revising. Building a sheet for three topics you are working on this week is more useful than one covering everything. 2. Generate the PDF. The tool assembles the formulae for exactly those topics, in one place. 3. Print it or save it. Keep it in your folder, or on your phone for the bus. 4. Rebuild it whenever your focus changes. A sheet built for trigonometry before a test is a different sheet from the one you want the week before the paper.
What goes on the sheet
The formulae for your topics. Written in the notation the exam paper uses, not a simplified version of it. Common misconceptions. The mistakes that actually lose marks — using the wrong side of a bound, confusing frequency with frequency density, adding percentages instead of multiplying the multipliers. Hints on when to use each formula. Recognising that a question wants the cosine rule rather than Pythagoras is usually harder than the calculation that follows.
Which GCSE maths formulae are given in the exam?
This is worth knowing before you decide what to revise. On the Edexcel GCSE and International GCSE papers you are given a short formula sheet, and the rest is assumed. Usually given: the quadratic formula, the sine and cosine rules, the area of a triangle as ½ab sin C, and the volume and surface area of spheres and cones. Usually not given, and needed anyway: Area and circumference of a circle — πr² and 2πr Area of a trapezium — ½(a + b)h Pythagoras' theorem — a² + b² = c² The trigonometric ratios — sin, cos and tan Volume of a prism, cylinder and pyramid Compound measures — speed, density and pressure Compound interest — P(1 + r/100)ⁿ Percentage multipliers and reverse percentages The nth term of an arithmetic sequence Frequency density for histograms Probability rules for independent and mutually exclusive events Exam boards change what appears on the sheet from time to time, so check the current specification for your board and year — but assume you need to know all of the above.
How to actually learn a formula
A formula sheet is a starting point, not a revision method. Reading one produces recognition, not recall. Write it out from memory. Cover the sheet and reproduce the formulae. The gaps you find are the ones that would have cost you marks. Use it on a question straight away. A formula you have applied once is remembered far better than one you have read five times. Learn what each letter means. Students who lose marks on ½ab sin C usually know the formula and do not know which angle C refers to. Learn the misconceptions alongside the formula. Knowing that the area of a histogram bar gives the frequency, not its height, is worth as much as the formula itself. Put the formulae to work in the GCSE revision engines, which generate unlimited questions on each topic and mark them instantly.
Frequently asked questions
Is the formula sheet builder free? Yes, with no limit on how many sheets you build. Do I need an account? No. You can build and print a sheet without signing in. Can I use it in the exam? No. It is a revision aid — you cannot take notes into a GCSE maths exam. Use it to learn the formulae beforehand. Does it cover Foundation and Higher? Yes, both tiers. Choose your tier and the topics you need, and the sheet is built from those — so a Foundation sheet is not cluttered with Higher-only content you will not be examined on. Can I print it? Yes. The sheet is generated as a PDF, so you can print it or keep it on your phone.