Ratio and proportion

AQA GCSE Maths

8 ready-made resources for teaching Ratio and proportion, written for AQA GCSE Maths. Slides, worksheets, mark schemes, homework, an assessment and retrieval quizzes, all with SEN-friendly scaffolding built in as standard. Below is what the topic requires and where students usually go wrong, free to read whether or not you sign up.

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What is in this bundle

Assessment mark schemeWord, editable
End-of-topic assessmentWord, editable
HomeworkWord, editable
Retrieval-practice quizzesWord, editable
SlidesPowerPoint, editable
Starter & exit ticketWord, editable
Tiered worksheetWord, editable
Worksheet mark schemeWord, editable

Foundation tier

Write a ratio and simplify it to its simplest form.
Share a quantity in a given ratio (two and three parts).
Use ratios to find missing quantities in scaling problems.
Solve best-buy / value-for-money comparisons using unit pricing.
Convert between a ratio and a fraction of the whole.
Understand and use direct proportion in simple contexts (e.g. recipes, scaling drawings).
Solve simple inverse proportion problems (e.g. more workers take less time).

Higher tier, in addition

Solve problems involving ratio expressed algebraically (e.g. finding x given a ratio containing an unknown).
Construct and use inverse proportion equations algebraically (e.g. y = k/x), including finding the constant of proportionality.
Solve ratio problems requiring algebraic manipulation of the shares themselves (e.g. given the difference between two shares).
Solve multi-step problems combining ratio/proportion reasoning with unit or currency conversion.

Where students go wrong

Sharing a quantity by dividing by the wrong number (e.g. dividing by the ratio values instead of the total number of parts).
Confusing "for every" ratio language with "as a fraction of the whole."
Comparing best-buy prices without first converting to matching units (e.g. different pack sizes).
Assuming a proportion relationship is always direct, when the context describes an inverse relationship.

How it gets asked in the exam

"Share £x in the ratio a:b", "Work out the ratio of...", "Which is the better value?", "x is inversely proportional to y".

Key vocabulary

Ratio, proportion, simplest form, unitary method, scale factor, direct proportion, inverse proportion, unit price.

Assumed prior knowledge

Simplifying fractions (using highest common factor).
Confident multiplication and division.
Basic algebraic manipulation (Higher, for algebraic ratio problems).

How Speca scaffolds this topic

Bar-model visuals for ratio sharing are strongly effective for dual-coding "parts of a whole": use as a recurring visual motif across the topic.
A consistent "unitary method" step template (find the value of one part, then scale up) reduces working-memory demand across all ratio problem types.
Anchor examples in concrete, visual real-world contexts (recipe scaling, paint mixing, map scales) rather than abstract numbers alone.

Every file, free to start

Three full bundles a month at no cost, no card needed. Speca can also write a resource for a topic we have not built yet, and mark a photo of a student's working against the mark scheme.

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