Averages: Mean, Median, Mode and Range

This lesson covers the three measures of average — mean, median, and mode — along with the range as a measure of spread. These are among the most commonly tested topics in the AQA GCSE Mathematics Statistics paper and appear in a wide variety of question types, from simple calculations to more challenging problem-solving scenarios.

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The Three Averages

An average is a single value that represents or summarises a set of data. There are three types of average you need to know.

Average	How to Calculate	When to Use
Mean	Add up all the values and divide by how many values there are	When all values are important and there are no extreme outliers
Median	Arrange values in order and find the middle value	When there are extreme values (outliers) that would distort the mean
Mode	Find the value that appears most often	When data is categorical (non-numerical) or you want the most popular value

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Calculating the Mean

Mean = sum of all values / number of values

Worked Example