What's on the Functional Skills Level 2 maths exam
The three areas you'll be tested on, and what they actually involve.
Using numbers and the number system
This is the biggest area: whole numbers, fractions, decimals and percentages. Expect to order and compare numbers, work out percentages of amounts and percentage change, use ratio and proportion, and follow the correct order of operations.
It's where most marks live, so it's worth being genuinely comfortable here — especially percentages, fractions and ratio, which trip people up most.
Using common measures, shape and space
Money and budgeting, converting between units, compound measures like speed and density, perimeter and area, volume, scale drawings and angles. Much of this is very practical — the kind of maths you use without noticing.
A calculator is allowed on the parts of the paper that call for it, so practise both with and without one.
Handling information and data
Averages (mean, median, mode) and range, reading and comparing data, simple probability, and scatter graphs and correlation. These questions reward careful reading as much as calculation.
How to revise it
Work through each area skill by skill rather than topic-hopping, and rehearse full timed papers in the on-screen format. Track which skills are still weak and keep returning to them — spaced practice is what makes them stick.