G9GeometryFoundation & Higher

Bearings

Bearings describe direction using angles measured clockwise from North. Ships, planes and walkers all use them — and so do GCSE exam questions involving maps and scale drawings.

35 min AQA GCSE Maths

What you'll learn

Measure a bearing correctly
Write bearings as three figures
Find a back bearing
Use bearings with scale drawings

The three rules of bearings

A bearing is always measured: (1) from $North$ , (2) $clockwise$ , and (3) written with $three figures$ (so $60°$ becomes $060°$ ).

North \to clockwise \to 3 figures

The three bearing rules.

1Bearings use three figures.

2So 45° is written as 045°.

Answer

045°

Back bearings

The bearing from B back to A is the $back bearing$ . If the bearing is less than $180°$ , add $180°$ ; if more than $180°$ , subtract $180°$ .

Tip — Always draw a North line at the point you are measuring FROM.

Remember these

bearing: 3 figures, clockwise from North

Always three figures.

back bearing = θ \pm 180°

Add or subtract 180°.

Watch out for these

Writing a bearing as 60° instead of 060°.

Bearings always use three figures.

Measuring anticlockwise or from East.

Always clockwise from North.

Key takeaways

Bearings: from North, clockwise, three figures.
Back bearing = bearing ± 180°.
Draw a North line at the point you measure from.

Test yourself

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