GCSE Foundation — can you find the nth term of this sequence?

Here's a Foundation GCSE sequence question:

Find the nth term of: 8, 5, 2, −1, ...

This is a decreasing sequence, which is where a lot of students get stuck. The common difference is −3.

So the nth term starts with −3n.

When n = 1: −3(1) = −3, but the first term is 8. So add 11.

Answer: −3n + 11

Check: n=2 → −3(2)+11 = 5 ✓ n=3 → −3(3)+11 = 2 ✓

Happy to help with any other Foundation maths questions.