EDEXCEL GCSE FOUNDATION MATHS - What is the Mode

Edexcel GCSE Foundation Maths: What is the Mode?

The mode is the most frequent value in a set of data. In other words, it's the value that appears the most times.

Here's how to find the mode:

1. Arrange the data: Put your data in order from least to greatest.
2. Count the occurrences: Count how many times each value appears in the dataset.
3. Identify the most frequent: The value that appears most often is the mode.

Example:

Let's say you have the following set of data:

2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 8

1. Arrange: The data is already arranged from least to greatest.
2. Count:
3. 2 appears once
4. 3 appears once
5. 4 appears twice
6. 5 appears once
7. 6 appears three times
8. 7 appears once
9. 8 appears once
10. Identify: The value 6 appears most often (three times).

Therefore, the mode of this dataset is 6.

Important Note:

• A dataset can have more than one mode. If two or more values appear the same number of times and that number is more than any other value, then the dataset has multiple modes.
• If all values appear only once, there is no mode.

Practice:

Find the mode of the following datasets:

1. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11
2. 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6
3. 10, 15, 10, 20, 15, 25, 10

Answers:

1. No mode
2. 4
3. 10