Complete the short form that accompanies your product. Please ensure that you complete all of the sections, as this will guarantee the timely processing of your return/exchange. fx-85GTX contains additional features such as clearer display, clearer menus, faster processor and 14 additional functions. Allowed in every UK exam where a calculator can be used. Recommended and approved for Key Stages 3 & 4 (including GCSE, National and Higher, Junior and Leaving). The large Natural Textbook Display (Natural-V.P.A.M.) shows mathematical expressions like roots and fractions as they appear in your textbooks which increases comprehension because results are easier to understand.

Of course, graphing software is an extremely useful teaching and learning tool, but Desmos is free and much more intuitive to use than a graphical calculator, and Autograph, also available free, is a very powerful alternative, so in my opinion there’s really no need for a graphical calculator. So what do I need to know about these new CW calculators?The fx-85GTX takes the UK's Number One Scientific Calculator a step further, by offering Solar Power to ensure no loss of battery during those crucial exams. Remember I mentioned that a graphical calculator is much more complex to operate than a scientific one? The CW models have narrowed that gap considerably – and not in a good way! Casio describes the fx-83GT CW as “the new upgraded version of the Casio fx-83GT X” and the fx-991CW as “the new upgraded version of the Casio fx-991 EX”. That seems misleading to me, when the models are so completely different. It would be far more honest to call them “the replacement for” their predecessors. All of the models mentioned above are allowed in any exam where calculators are permitted *; there is no distinction between a calculator for GCSE and one for A-level as far as JCQ (who make the exam regulations) are concerned. You can find the JCQ regulations in section 10 of this document. When the new specifications came in, Casio brought out new upgraded calculators called the Classwiz series. The GCSE model was the Classwiz fx 83/85GT X, and included a few extra features that the GT Plus didn’t have, although the GT Plus was (and is) still perfectly adequate for GCSE.

From the comments I’ve seen on social media from other Maths teachers, I’m far from alone in having a strong preference for the older Classwiz fx-83/85GT X and 991EX models over these new CW calculators. Casio doesn’t appear to have done much field testing of the new models before launching them on the world! The standard GCSE model in the UK for the past seven or eight years has been the Casio Classwiz fx-83/85GT X (centre in the image), though in early 2023 Casio brought out the fx-83/85GT CW, which is very different and which has replaced the GT X (despite a poor reception from UK Maths teachers). More on that in this blog post. Some schools and colleges required, and some still require, their A-level students to buy more expensive graphical calculators – calculators that can plot graphs on their screens, such as the CG50 – since these are often perceived to give the student an advantage. This may well have been true in the past, but the exam boards have got wise and nowadays exam questions are carefully worded so that the possession of a graphical calculator doesn’t give the candidate a significant advantage. That’s EIGHT key presses instead of two – not to mention having to remember which menus to go into. Natural Textbook Display (Natural-V.P.A.M), shows mathematical expressions as they appear in textbooks.Until the current GCSE and A-level specifications came in (2015 and 2017 respectively), the standard calculator in most English schools for both GCSE and A-level for a good few years had been the Casio fx-83GT Plus – or the fx-85GT Plus, which was exactly the same except that it had a solar panel as well as battery power. It’s also worth considering an A-level model, especially if you’re doing the Higher Tier and there’s a possibility that you might continue to study Maths in some form beyond GCSE. functions; new functions on the ‘GTX’ model include Ratio, Digit Separator, Advanced Statistics, Advanced Tables and Variables List