Skip to content

Loading…

Home
Subjects
Past papers
Key terms
Pricing

My courses

Select your courses

Loading…

Subjects

History
Geography
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Combined Science
Mathematics
Classics
Business
Computer Science
Religious Studies
Statistics
Physical Education
Design and Technology
Food Preparation and Nutrition

Resources

Browse courses
Past papers
Key terms & definitions
Pricing

About

Sign up
Log in
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

© 2026 GradeGen

Not affiliated with any exam board.

Home
Statistics
Key terms
Measure of central tendency

GCSE Statistics · key term

Measure of central tendency

Definition

A summary of the centre or typical value of a data set, such as the mean, median or mode.

Used by Edexcel

How each exam board covers it

Edexcel GCSE Statistics · 1ST0

Specification 2b.01, 2b.03, 2c.05 · Paper 1, Paper 2

A value used to describe the centre or typical value of a data set.
An average, or measure of central tendency, summarises the centre or typical value of a data set. Different averages describe ‘typical’ in different ways: the mode identifies what occurs most often, the median identifies the middle, and the arithmetic mean shares the total equally among all observations.
Revise: Calculating averages for discrete and grouped data
Revise: Comparing central tendencies

Exam tips

1
Compare the same measure of central tendency and the same measure of dispersion for both groups.

Related key terms

Median
Frequency
Mean
Modal class
Mode

Revise Statistics with GradeGen

Create a free account to read GCSE Statistics revision notes for your exam board and track your progress.

Sign Up to Start Revising Log In

Measure of central tendency — Edexcel GCSE Statistics Definition | GradeGen

A summary describing the centre or typical value of a data set, such as its mean or median.

Revise: Comparing samples and populations

Edexcel Statistics past papers

Arithmetic mean

Cumulative frequency