Drawing and Interpreting Graphs

Graph questions appear on every paper in AQA GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy (8464). You may be asked to plot data, draw a line of best fit, read values from a graph, calculate a gradient, find the area under a curve, or describe and explain a trend. This lesson covers all of these skills with worked examples.

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Why Graphs Matter

• Graph skills cross all three sciences and all six papers.
• Graphs test AO2 (application) and AO3 (analysis and evaluation).
• Questions range from 1-mark "read a value" to 4-mark "calculate the gradient" and 6-mark "describe and explain the trend".

Exam Tip: Graph questions are reliable mark-earners if you follow the rules. They are also questions where careless mistakes (wrong axis label, joining points instead of drawing a best-fit line) cost easy marks.

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Plotting Graphs — The Rules

Step 1: Axes