Factorisation Toolkit
Common factor, DOTS, trinomials, grouping — the skill you use in almost every Grade 11 topic.
Fundamentals: Grade 10 Skills You Need
Table of Contents
Fundamentals: Grade 10 Skills You Need#
These are not Grade 11 topics — they come from Grade 10. But they are the skills that cause the most marks to be lost in Grade 11 assessments. If any of these feel shaky, fix them NOW before you start the Grade 11 content.
Why This Section Exists#
Every year, Grade 11 students lose marks not because the Grade 11 content is too hard, but because the Grade 10 foundations aren’t solid:
- Students who understand the quadratic formula but can’t factorise $6x^2 + x - 2$ to check their answer.
- Students who set up the trig reduction correctly but then make sign errors with negative numbers.
- Students who know how to find the turning point of a parabola but can’t read domain and range from a graph.
- Students who understand surds conceptually but get stuck because they forgot exponent law 3.
Grade 11 content assumes you can do these things automatically. If you can’t, the marks bleed from every section.
Fix Your Gaps (click into each)#
- Fractions & Algebraic Fractions Toolkit (Shared Appendix): One shared fractions reference used across Grade 10, 11 and 12.
- Factorisation Toolkit: Common factor, DOTS, trinomials, grouping — the skill you use in almost every Grade 11 topic.
- Exponent Laws: The 5 core laws, zero & negative exponents, and common traps — critical for surds and exponential equations.
- Equation Solving: Linear, literal, and simultaneous equations — the methods Grade 11 builds directly on.
- Function & Graph Basics: Domain, range, intercepts, the effect of $a$ and $q$ — the language of Grade 11 functions.
Go Deeper: Full Grade 10 Content#
These topics are covered in full detail at Grade 10 level. If a quick recap here isn’t enough, work through the complete lessons:
- Algebraic Expressions — Expanding brackets, all factoring types, special products
- Exponents — Laws of exponents from scratch, exponential equations
- Equations & Inequalities — All four equation types, inequality rules
- Functions & Graphs — Linear, quadratic, hyperbola, exponential graphs
- Trigonometry — SOH CAH TOA, special angles, right-angled triangles
- Analytical Geometry — Distance, midpoint, gradient
Exponent Laws
The 5 core laws, zero & negative exponents, and common traps — critical for surds and exponential equations.
Equation Solving
Linear, literal, and simultaneous equations — the methods Grade 11 builds directly on.
Function & Graph Basics
Domain, range, intercepts, the effect of a and q — the language of Grade 11 functions.