Spreadsheets and ICT (Foundation)
Spreadsheets and ICT is the use of software such as Excel to enter, sort, calculate and display statistical data using built-in formulae, instead of calculating everything by hand. In the exam you may need to state which formula or feature would process a given data set, or interpret the result that a stated formula produces.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Enter each piece of raw data into its own cell, usually one column per variable.
- Choose the correct built-in function for the calculation needed, such as =AVERAGE(range) for the mean, =SUM(range) for a total, =COUNT(range) for how many values there are, or =MAX(range) and =MIN(range) for the largest and smallest values.
- Select the correct range of cells as the input to the formula, making sure not to include headings or unrelated data.
- Use sort and filter tools to order the data or isolate a subset that meets a condition before analysing it.
- Use the chart tool to turn a table of data into a bar chart, pie chart or line graph automatically.
- Check the output makes sense in context, since a formula applied to the wrong range gives a meaningless answer.
Worked example
The numbers of goals scored by a football team in 10 matches are entered into cells A1 to A10 of a spreadsheet: 2, 0, 1, 3, 1, 2, 4, 0, 1, 2. State the formula that would calculate the mean number of goals per match, and use it to find the mean.
- The formula for the mean of a range of cells is =AVERAGE(A1:A10).
- Add the 10 values to find the total: 2+0+1+3+1+2+4+0+1+2 = 16.
- Divide the total by the number of matches: 16/10 = 1.6.
- So the final answer is: formula =AVERAGE(A1:A10), giving a mean of 1.6 goals per match.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Which spreadsheet formula would you use to find the total of the values in cells B2 to B20?Show answer
Answer: =SUM(B2:B20)
Q2Which spreadsheet formula would you use to find how many values are in the range C1 to C50?Show answer
Answer: =COUNT(C1:C50)
Q3A column of 8 test scores is in cells D2 to D9. Give the formula for the mean score.Show answer
Answer: =AVERAGE(D2:D9)
Q4Which formula finds the highest value in the range E1 to E30?Show answer
Answer: =MAX(E1:E30)
Q5A spreadsheet shows the formula =SUM(F1:F5)/COUNT(F1:F5) in cell F6. What statistical measure does this formula calculate?Show answer
Answer: The mean (the total of the values divided by how many values there are).
Q6Data on 200 students' exam scores is in a spreadsheet. Give one advantage of using a spreadsheet rather than calculating the mean and range by hand.Show answer
Answer: It is much faster and less prone to arithmetic errors, especially with a large data set (200 values).
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Statistics exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
The values 5, 8, 8, 12, 17 are entered into cells A1 to A5 of a spreadsheet. State the formula you would type into cell A6 to calculate the range of these values, and give the value it would return.
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A spreadsheet contains the ages of 40 club members in cells B2 to B41. (a) Write a formula to count how many members are in the data set. (b) Write a formula to find the mean age. (c) The formula in (b) returns 34.5. State what this value represents.
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A shop manager records the daily sales totals, in pounds, for 30 days in cells C2 to C31 of a spreadsheet. (a) Write a formula to calculate the total sales over the 30 days. (b) Write a formula to calculate the mean daily sales. (c) State a spreadsheet feature that could help her quickly find on how many days sales were above 500 pounds.
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See real GCSE Statistics past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the spreadsheets and ict (foundation) worksheet pack - 14 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
This topic is chapter 11 of GCSE Statistics Foundation Workbook 1, the whole course as one free printable PDF.
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