Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Mathematics (Specification A) · 4MA1 · Free · no account needed
Linear Sequences & the nth Term — exam questions
11 original Incandio exam-style questions on linear Sequences & the nth Term, 28 marks, about 34 minutes of writing. Each one carries the command word, the tariff and the specification statement it assesses, exactly as a paper presents them. This is an original Incandio practice question, written to reflect the structure and demands of the qualification. It is not an official Pearson Edexcel past-paper question.
This is the practice set for Linear Sequences & the nth Term — the module that teaches it. Read the module first if the idea is new; come here when you want to find out whether you can turn it into marks. Completely free, no account needed to read.
What these questions ask of you
5 command words run through this set, and on Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Mathematics A each one means something precise. Answering the wrong command is the commonest way a candidate who understands the module still loses the mark.
- Write down (1–2 marks)
- a value that needs no working — read off, recalled or stated
- Find (1–5 marks)
- a value or expression obtained by a method the learner chooses
- Work out (1–5 marks)
- a calculated result, with the working that produced it
- Explain why (1–2 marks)
- one short justification — mathematics almost never asks for extended explanation
- Show that (2–5 marks)
- every step of a derivation to a value that is already printed in the question Misread as: stating the printed answer again instead of deriving it
Assessed on Paper 1 and Paper 2.
Where these sit in the specification
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Mathematics A (4MA1) — statement 3.1. Incandio is aligned to this specification; it is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's wording.
The 11 questions
Answer them on paper, then open the module's exam practice to have them marked. The mark scheme, the accepted and rejected answers and the annotated model answer are in Incandio and are not printed here — an answer beside its question is not practice.
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(1)Write down
Here is a sequence: 5, 9, 13, 17, … Write down the next term.
next term = ............................
(Total for Question 1 = 1 mark)
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(2)Find
Find an expression, in terms of n, for the nth term of the sequence 3, 10, 17, 24, …
(Total for Question 2 = 2 marks)
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(2)Work out
The nth term of a sequence is 6n − 2. Work out the 20th term.
20th term = ............................
(Total for Question 3 = 2 marks)
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(1)Explain why
The nth term of a sequence is 4n + 1. Explain why 100 is not a term of this sequence.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
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(2)Write down
The nth term of a sequence is 30 − 4n. Write down the first three terms.
(Total for Question 5 = 2 marks)
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(3)Find
Find the nth term of the sequence 2, −1, −4, −7, …
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(3)Show that
The nth term of a sequence is 5n − 3. Show that 87 is a term of the sequence.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(3)Work out
Work out which term of the sequence 7, 12, 17, 22, … is equal to 187.
(Total for Question 8 = 3 marks)
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(3)Find
The 3rd term of a linear sequence is 14 and the 8th term is 39. Find the nth term.
(Total for Question 9 = 3 marks)
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(4)Find
The nth term of a sequence is 4n + 7. Find the first term of the sequence that is greater than 200.
(Total for Question 10 = 4 marks)
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(4)Show that
The nth term of a sequence is 4n + 3. Show that no term of this sequence is a multiple of 4.
(Total for Question 11 = 4 marks)
Have them marked, then defend the answer
Practice tells you the mark; teaching it back tells you whether you understand it. On Incandio a topic counts as mastered only once you have taught it and defended it.
- Mark these questions — 11 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain linear Sequences & the nth Term to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Carl Friedrich Gauss over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
Completely free. No subscriptions, no paywalls, no account needed to start.
Back to the module
- Linear Sequences & the nth Term — Finding the rule that generates a sequence — and using it to predict, test and bound terms without listing hundreds of them.
- All of Incandio Mathematics · Incandio Exam Practice