Data projects for charities · Maths CAS idea
Pricing and stock analysis for a charity shop
Service
With the shop manager's agreement, look at sales records to suggest pricing and display changes that raise more money.
Where the maths comes in
Percentages, averages, comparing before and after a change.
Which CAS strand it fits
- Service: Unpaid, voluntary work with others that also has a learning benefit for you.
Your CAS coordinator decides how an experience counts at your school. Strand summaries are provisional (our words, being checked).
How to run it
- Agree with the manager what you can see and what to test.
- Analyse recent sales by category.
- Suggest one change and measure its effect over a few weeks.
- Report back honestly, including if it made no difference.
How to evidence it
- Agreement and analysis
- Before-and-after comparison
- Manager's feedback
Date everything and keep it in your school's CAS portfolio as you go. More on what counts as evidence.
Reflection prompts
Questions to think about, not answers to copy. Write your reflections in your own words, in whatever form your school accepts.
- How did you design a fair before-and-after comparison?
- What did you do when the results were unclear?
- What did volunteering in the shop teach you?
Learning outcomes this often gives a chance to show
- Challenge and new skills. What could you not do at the start that you can do now? Which moment felt most uncomfortable, and what did you do next?
- Collaboration. What did someone else bring that you could not have done alone? Describe a disagreement or a mix-up in the team. How was it resolved?
- Commitment and perseverance. When did you feel like stopping, and what kept you going? What does your record of sessions or meetings show about how regularly you took part?
Whether you meet an outcome depends on what you actually do and reflect on, not on the idea. Outcome labels are our short summaries, being checked.
Safety and ethics
- No customer details; sales totals only.
Agree every plan with your CAS coordinator first. Safety and ethics for maths CAS.
Need the statistics? The statistics guide (written for the IA) explains tests and charts step by step. Keep CAS and your IA separate.