Year Summary: all five Application Topics across Paper 1 (Finance, Data handling) and Paper 2 (Measurement, Maps and plans), plus Probability in both, with worked calculations pitched at the four taxonomy levels and active recall.
CAPS-aligned · Distinction-level Notes
Mathematical Literacy · Grade 12 · Year SummaryDate: TopJournal
Every distinction begins with one topic at a time.- start now
Basic Skills never gets a question of its own, and that is exactly what makes it dangerous. Every mark in both papers is won or lost on these habits. A learner who knows the Finance content perfectly but rounds too early, drops a unit or reverses a conversion bleeds marks in every single question of the paper.
Mathematical Literacy does not test whether you can do the sum. It tests whether you can read the context and then choose the right sum.- on the nature of the subject
Learning outcomes · you must be able to
Use number formats correctly: money to two decimals, percentages, ratios, rates and compound units.
Control rounding: when to round, when NOT to round, and when the context forces you to round up.
Use ratio, rate and proportion to work out an unknown value from a table or a document.
Read and put into words the data in tables, till slips, graphs and accounts.
Recognise the four taxonomy levels from the verb in the question and match your answer style to it.
Understand the marking codes, so you know what a mark is awarded for and where a penalty bites.
Core content · the three basic skills
📖 KEY DEFINITIONBasic Skills are the three continuous skill areas that CAPS builds underneath every Application Topic: interpreting and communicating (reading, explaining, motivating), numbers and calculations (operations, formats, rounding, ratios, percentages) and patterns, relationships and representations (tables, formulae, graphs and how each mirrors the other two).
Skill area
What it means inside a question
Typical verbs
Interpreting and communicating
You must read a document, table or graph and answer in words
read off, identify, explain, give a reason, motivate, discuss
Numbers and calculations
You must choose an operation and carry it out accurately, with units
calculate, determine, show that, verify
Patterns, relationships and representations
You must move between a table, a formula and a graph
complete the table, plot, draw, use the formula, read from the graph
Core content · the number formats that cost marks
Money: always two decimals. R52,90 is correct. R52,9 loses the format mark, and so does R52,895 written as a final answer.
Percentage: divide the part by the whole, multiply by 100, and write the per cent sign down. A bare number without the sign can cost the mark.
Ratio: written as a : b in simplest form, with no units, and both sides must be measured in the same unit before you simplify.
Rate: a comparison of two different units, for example R18,50/kg or 65 km/h. The unit is part of the answer, not decoration.
Compound units: m² for area, m³ for volume, ℓ/100 km for fuel consumption. Leave off the square or the cube and you lose the unit mark.
Large numbers: use a space as the thousands separator, for example 1 250 000. Never a comma, because in South African convention the comma is the decimal separator.
⚠️ COMMON MISTAKEThe cents fall off. An answer of R1 249,5 instead of R1 249,50 loses the money-format mark even when the calculation is flawless. The same applies to an answer with no R, no % or no m² and m³. Train yourself to write the unit in the same stroke of the pen as the number.
Core content · controlling your rounding
Never round an intermediate step. Keep the full value in the calculator and round only the final answer. Early rounding in a multi-step calculation pushes your answer out by rands, and the marker marks it wrong.
Contextual rounding overrides the ordinary rule. If 46 guests sit 8 to a table, 46 ÷ 8 = 5,75 tables, but you need 6 tables. You always round UP when a part of a unit cannot do the job.
Rounding down is the mirror image. With R500 in your pocket and an item at R64, you buy 500 ÷ 64 = 7,8125, so 7 items. You cannot buy a fraction of an item.
Read the instruction. "Round off to the nearest ten rand", "to two decimal places" and "to the nearest whole number" are three different instructions, and the marking guideline follows the instruction, not your preference.
⭐ EXAM FAVOURITE
A question that asks: "Will 12 loaves be enough for 50 learners?" Here you must calculate and then answer in a sentence with a YES or NO plus the figure that supports it. A bare calculation with no concluding sentence forfeits the reasoning mark every time.
Worked example · ratio, rate and proportion
Worked example 1 · own invented context: pancake batter for a school fete
Context (invented for practice): A recipe for 24 pancakes uses 500 g flour, 750 mℓ milk and 3 eggs. The fete committee wants to make 180 pancakes.
Step 1 · find the scale factor. 180 ÷ 24 = 7,5
Step 2 · scale every ingredient by that same factor. Flour: 500 g × 7,5 = 3 750 g = 3,75 kg Milk: 750 mℓ × 7,5 = 5 625 mℓ = 5,625 ℓ Eggs: 3 × 7,5 = 22,5 eggs
Step 3 · apply contextual rounding. You cannot buy half an egg, so the committee buys 23 eggs.
∴ They need 3,75 kg flour, 5,625 ℓ milk and 23 eggs.
Notice that the ratio flour : milk = 500 : 750 = 2 : 3 is unchanged after scaling. That is your check that the scaling was done properly.
💡 EASY MARK
When a question asks you to simplify a ratio, divide both sides by the highest common factor and drop the units. 500 : 750 becomes 2 : 3, not 2 g : 3 mℓ. This is one of the fastest marks in Question 1.
Core content · the four taxonomy levels
⚡ MUST MEMORISE
The weighting is identical in both papers: Level 1 Knowing 30%, Level 2 Routine procedures in familiar contexts 30%, Level 3 Multi-step procedures in a variety of contexts 20%, Level 4 Reasoning and reflecting 20%, each with a tolerance of roughly 5 percentage points. Levels 1 and 2 together are 60% of the paper, and those are marks you win simply by working neatly and completely.
Level
What is asked
Verbs
What your answer must show
1 · Knowing
A single step, or a direct reading off a source
read off, name, identify, add, convert
The value plus its unit. No explanation needed.
2 · Routine procedures
A familiar two or three step procedure in a familiar context
calculate, determine, use the formula
Every substitution and every intermediate value written out.
3 · Multi-step procedures
You choose the method yourself and combine several pieces of information
calculate, compare, investigate, determine which
A logical chain of steps ending in a conclusion.
4 · Reasoning and reflecting
You must judge, criticise or generalise
explain, motivate, evaluate, give a reason, would you agree
Full sentences with a position AND figures as support.
Question 1 is exclusively Level 1. That is roughly 30 marks of mixed short contexts in both papers. Do not over-think it, and do not skip it.
Unfamiliar contexts appear only in Questions 4 and 5. If a context feels strange, check the question number: you are in the reasoning marks, and the method is still one you know.
Five questions per paper is current practice. The DBE Model 2025 Paper 1 carried 29, 30, 29, 31 and 31 marks per question.
⚠️ COMMON MISTAKEAnswering a Level 4 question with a calculation. "Explain" and "motivate" ask for sentences. A learner who writes down only a sum where an explanation is required loses the full mark even when the sum is correct. Always write a sentence that ties the figure to the conclusion, for example: "No, she cannot afford it, because the total cost of R4 380,00 exceeds her budget of R4 000,00 by R380,00."
Core content · marking codes and where marks vanish
Code
What the mark is awarded for
M
Method: you chose the correct operation, even with a wrong number in it
MA
Method with accuracy: correct method AND correct value
CA
Consistent accuracy: an earlier error is not punished twice, provided your next step is correct
A
Accuracy: the correct final value
S
Substitution: the right numbers placed into the right formula
RT / RG / RD
Reading from a table, a graph or a diagram
J
Justification: the sentence that supports your conclusion
O / R
Opinion or reason: an acceptable position with support
P / NP
Penalty applied or not applied, for example for units or rounding
🔥 FREQUENTLY TESTED
The CA code is your safety net. If you slip in step 1 but then work correctly onwards with your own wrong value, you still earn the remaining marks. It only works if you write every step down. A learner who writes a single final answer and gets it wrong scores nothing; a learner who shows four steps with one error scores three.
Worked example 2 · own invented context: the same sum, two answer styles
Context (invented): Thandi drives a courier route of 248 km. Her bakkie uses 9,4 ℓ of fuel per 100 km and diesel costs R23,15 per litre.
Level 2 version: "Calculate the fuel cost of the route."
Step 2 · cost: 23,312 ℓ × R23,15/ℓ = R539,67 (rounded to two decimals at the end)
∴ The fuel costs R539,67.
Level 4 version: "Thandi charges R750,00 for the delivery. Motivate whether this is a reasonable fee."
Yes, it is reasonable. The fuel alone costs R539,67, which leaves R210,33 for her time, wear on the bakkie, insurance and profit. That margin is roughly 28% of the fee, which is thin for a 248 km trip, so the fee is on the modest side rather than excessive.
Same figures, two completely different answer styles. The verb told you which one to write.
Learners must label: the VAT registration number, a zero-rated item, a standard-rated item, the subtotal, the VAT line (15/115 of the VAT-inclusive total), the final total and the change.
Memory aids
"READ, CHOOSE, WORK, WRITE": Read the verb, Choose the operation, Work every step, Write the unit. Four moves, every time, no exceptions.
Rounding: "round last". Only the final answer gets rounded, never an intermediate step.
Contextual rounding: "tables up, items down". You always need one more whole table or bus, but you can only buy whole items.
The verb test: if the verb is "explain", "motivate" or "evaluate", your pen must write a SENTENCE before it writes a sum.
Which one of the following is the correct money format for an answer of eighty-four rand and fifty cents?(1)
Fifty-three guests must be seated 8 to a table. How many tables are needed?(2)
What percentage of each paper is devoted to Level 4, Reasoning and reflecting?(1)
What does the marking code CA mean?(2)
Write the ratio 400 g : 600 g in its simplest form.(2)
Which taxonomy level is assessed exclusively in Question 1 of each paper?(1)
Explain the steps you follow to scale a recipe for 24 servings up to 180 servings, and say why the ratio between the ingredients must stay unchanged.(4)
Explain how the verb of a question determines your answer style, and why a learner loses marks by answering a motivation question with a calculation alone.(5)
Explain to a Grade 8 learner why you should never round an intermediate step in a long calculation, and what happens to your final answer if you do.
ONE-MINUTE SUMMARY
Basic Skills carries no marks of its own, but it carries every other mark. Write money with two decimals, attach the unit to every answer, and round only the final answer, except where the context forces you up to a whole table, bus or item. Ratios are simplified without units; rates carry their unit with them. The four taxonomy levels weigh 30, 30, 20 and 20 per cent in both papers, Question 1 is exclusively Level 1, and unfamiliar contexts appear only in Questions 4 and 5. The verb tells you which style to use: calculate asks for steps, motivate asks for sentences with a figure as support. Show every step, because the CA code can only rescue you when the marker can see your method.
IN THE EXAM
This section gets no question of its own, but it appears inside every question of both papers, so in practice it carries 300 marks.
Write the unit in the same stroke as the number. The unit penalty is usually applied only once per paper, but it is still a free mark handed away.
Show every step, including the easy ones. Without visible steps the CA code cannot be applied.
Underline the verb of every question before you start writing. It is the quickest way to spot a Level 4 question.
Use the ANNEXURE pages for your sources and the special answer book for your answers. Working written in the wrong place is not necessarily marked.
🔒 FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS & TARIFFS
🔒 INCOME, EXPENDITURE & BUDGETS
🔒 INTEREST, LOANS & INFLATION
🔒 TAXATION & EXCHANGE RATES
🔒 DATA HANDLING
🔒 PROBABILITY (P1)
🔒
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