Estimation
Students will be able to represent a situation mathematically, make assumptions and simplifications, select and use appropriate mathematical techniques for problems and situations, interpret results in the context of a given problem, evaluate methods and solutions including how they may have been affected by assumptions made and make fast, rough estimates of quantities which are either difficult or impossible to measure directly. Assessment will be via continual assessment of classwork.
Data
Students will appreciate the difference between qualitative and quantitative data, including the difference between discrete and continuous quantitative data, appreciate the difference between primary and secondary data, including the use of secondary data that have been processed and be able to collect qualitative and quantitative primary and secondary data; students will be able to infer properties of populations or distributions from a sample, whilst knowing the limitations of sampling and appreciate the strengths and limitations of random, cluster, stratified and quota sampling methods and apply this understanding when designing sampling strategies. Assessment will be via continual assessment of classwork.
Representing Data Numerically and Diagrammatically
Students will be able to calculate/identify mean, median, mode, quartiles, percentiles, range, interquartile range, standard deviation, interpreting these numerical measures and reach conclusions based on these measures and construct and interpret diagrams for grouped discrete data and continuous data, knowing their appropriate use and reach conclusions based on these diagrams. Assessment will be via continual assessment of classwork.
Numerical Calculations and Currency Conversions
Students will be able to substitute numerical values into formulae, spreadsheets, and financial expressions, use the basic numerical skills from GCSE on order of operations, apply and interpret limits of accuracy, specify simple error intervals due to truncation or rounding, find approximate solutions to problems in financial contexts, use percentages to solve problems involving percentage change and simple and compound interest to do with savings and investments and be able to solve problems involving student loans and mortgages; students should be able to convert from one currency to another given the exchange rate or a conversion graph, convert an amount from one currency to another given an example with a different amount and work out the commission charged for a currency transaction. Assessment will be via continual assessment of classwork.
Taxation
Students will be able to work out amounts of income tax and National Insurance owed on given salaries, work out the VAT and final price of an item given the price before VAT and work out the VAT and price before VAT given the final price. Assessment will be via continual assessment of classwork.
Solution to Financial Problems
Students will be able to understand and use the terms ‘inflation’ and ‘deflation’, understand what the Retail Price Index (RPI) is and how it is measured, understand what the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is and how it is measured and solve problems related to RPI and CPI. Assessment will be via continual assessment of classwork.
The Normal Distribution
Students will be able to sketch a curve to represent the normal distributions, relate probability to position on the normal distribution diagram, understand that the mean is the midpoint of the symmetrical curve, know that approximately two thirds of observations lie within 1 standard deviation of the mean and know that approximately 95% of observations lie within 2 standard deviations of the mean. Assessment will be via continual assessment of classwork.
Confidence Intervals
Students will be able to construct confidence intervals for a population mean given the results of a sample, construct confidence intervals for a population mean given the point estimate of a sample and the population variance or standard deviation and understand that if confidence intervals are given the mean must be the midpoint between them. Assessment will be via continual assessment of classwork.
Correlation and Regression
Students will be able to test pairs of data to judge whether or not they are correlated, determine whether the type of correlation is positive or negative, determine whether the strength of correlation is weak or strong, understand that correlation between two variables does not imply that the behaviour of one causes the behaviour of the other and relate strength of correlation to the product moment correlation coefficient. Assessment will be via continual assessment of classwork.