GCSE maths formula sheet 2027: what is on it and what to learn

Key takeaways

• →Yes. Ofqual’s decision covers GCSE Maths exams in summer 2027 and November 2027, and students get a clean copy of the sheet with each paper.
• →The sheet is short. Foundation students get fewer formulae than Higher students, who also get the quadratic formula and the sine and cosine rules.
• →Some things are not on the sheet, such as exact trigonometry values, the area of triangles, and speed, density and pressure. Students still need to know these.
• →Practise with the official sheet for your child’s exam board and tier from now on, so it feels familiar on the day.

1. Will there be a formula sheet in 2027?

Yes. Ofqual, the exams regulator, has decided that exam boards must give students a formulae sheet in GCSE Maths. This is a short list of formulae printed for students to use in the exam. The decision covers summer exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027, and the November maths exams in those years too.^[1]

So summer 2027 is included. Exam boards had to publish their 2027 sheets by 1 September 2026, and students get a clean copy with each paper, with no one’s notes on it.^[1]

AQA says its 2027 sheets are out and have no changes from 2026, so students can use the current version for revision.^[4]

OCR’s page, dated 1 September 2026, says students get a sheet with each paper in the June and November series. It adds that teachers can use the sheets now in lessons and mocks.^[7]

The sheet is not a one-off. In May 2026 Ofqual decided it will carry on from 2028 for the rest of the life of the current GCSE courses, including resits. The Department for Education (DfE) will confirm what comes after that when new qualifications are developed.^[2]

2. What is on the sheet

Ofqual says the sheets list the formulae students would have to memorise in a normal year, as set out in the DfE’s subject content and on the 2022 to 2024 sheets.^[1]

There is one sheet for Foundation and one for Higher, and the Higher sheet has extra formulae. This table follows AQA’s 2027 sheets. OCR’s Higher sheet and Pearson Edexcel’s sheets list the same groups of formulae.^[7]

Check the tier: The Foundation sheets we opened do not include the quadratic formula or the sine and cosine rules. Make sure your child practises with the sheet for their own tier.

3. Formulae given inside the question

A few formulae are not on the sheet because they can be given in the question itself. The DfE says these can appear in the question or in a list. They include the curved surface area of a cone, the surface area and volume of a sphere, and the volume of a cone.^[3]

Pearson Edexcel says it gives these inside the question where they are needed. It has also added the volume of a pyramid, which students used to have to memorise.^[11]

4. What is not on the sheet

The DfE’s subject content expects students to know and use more than the sheets give. These are not on the sheets we opened.^[3]

Ask school to confirm: The sheet covers the DfE’s list of formulae to memorise. The items above sit outside that list, so treat them as ones to learn, and ask your child’s teacher if you are unsure.

5. Is it the same for every exam board?

Ofqual expects the sheets to stay consistent with earlier years and across the boards’ courses. The Higher sheets from AQA, OCR and Pearson Edexcel that we opened list the same groups of formulae. Some wording differs a little, such as how the last probability rule is written.^[2]

Always use the official copy for your child’s own board. The table shows where to look.

6. How to revise with it

Print the sheet for your child’s board and tier and keep it beside them for every practice paper. Pearson’s sheets say there is no restriction on who can use them, so a teacher or tutor can go through the sheet line by line.^[9]

The sheet gives you the formula. It does not tell you which one to use. Practise spotting which formula fits each question, and what each letter stands for.

Still learn the short ones by heart, such as circle area and Pythagoras’ theorem. It saves checking the sheet and helps you spot when to use them.

Spend extra time on the “not on the sheet” list. Put it on one page and test yourself on it each week.

Practise rearranging too. The sheet shows each formula in one form, and the DfE content expects students to rearrange formulae.^[3]

Do timed past papers with the sheet beside you. Mark them, and note any slips with formulae so you can fix them before the real exams.

The sheet gives you the formula. It does not tell you which one to use.

7. How Brainhub can help

Our GCSE students typically improve by 2 grades over 12 weeks of weekly lessons (Brainhub student records, 2021–2026). That figure is our own data, not independent research.

We teach one-to-one, live online across the UK, with online GCSE lessons from £30 an hour. Every family starts with a free 45-minute assessment, so we can see which formulae and topics your child needs to work on first.

1. 1. Will students get a formulae sheet in GCSE Maths in summer 2027?

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2. 2. Name two things that are not on the sheet that students should still know.

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3. 3. Is the Foundation sheet the same as the Higher sheet?

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Your next steps

• Find out which exam board and tier your child is sitting, then print that official sheet.
• Write a one-page list of what is not on the sheet and test it each week.
• Book a free 45-minute assessment to see which topics to work on first.

Subject guides to go with this

Want one-to-one help? See how our online lessons work.