A-Level Maths is a two-year course examined by three two-hour papers in the summer of Year 13, about two-thirds pure maths and one-third statistics and mechanics. This guide covers how it is built, what it contains, why the step up from GCSE catches so many students, and what helps at home.
Same content on every board — the boards only change how the papers are split
What is ClassArc?
ClassArc is live one-to-one online maths tutoring for school-age children.
One teacher and one child, for 55 minutes. The same teacher every week.
Classes run inside our own classroom software, not a video call: a shared
worksheet you both write on, a shared whiteboard, and answers that sync live.
A-Level Maths is examined entirely at the end of Year 13, by three written papers of two hours each. On AQA, Pearson Edexcel and OCR A each paper is out of 100. There is no coursework and nothing is banked along the way.
All the content is compulsory: students don't choose between statistics and mechanics, they study both. Roughly two-thirds of the marks are pure maths — algebra, calculus, trigonometry — and one-third statistics and mechanics combined. Grades run from A* to E.
The AS level is now a separate qualification. Since the reforms in England, AS marks no longer count towards the A-Level, so a student who sits an AS still sits the full A-Level papers at the end of Year 13.
Board by board
How each board splits the A-Level Maths papers
The Department for Education sets one body of content; each board divides it across the three papers differently. It matters for revision: on Edexcel a weakness in mechanics is concentrated in one paper, on the others it is spread across two.
Board
Paper 1
Paper 2
Paper 3
AQA 7357
Pure (100 marks)
Pure and mechanics (100)
Pure and statistics (100)
Pearson Edexcel 9MA0
Pure Mathematics 1 (100)
Pure Mathematics 2 (100)
Statistics and mechanics (100; 50 each)
OCR A H240
Pure Mathematics (100)
Pure Mathematics and Statistics (100)
Pure Mathematics and Mechanics (100)
OCR B (MEI) H640
Pure Mathematics and Mechanics (100)
Pure Mathematics and Statistics (100)
Pure Mathematics and Comprehension (75)
Every paper is two hours. Paper titles and marks from each board's published specification; MEI's third paper includes a comprehension task on a mathematical article. Check the school's board before buying any revision material.
What is in it
What A-Level Maths covers
The same content on every board. Only the teaching order and question style differ.
Pure mathematics (about two-thirds)
Proof: deduction, exhaustion, counter-example and contradiction, such as proving √2 is irrational
Algebra and functions: surds and indices, the discriminant, polynomials and the factor theorem, partial fractions, modulus, composite and inverse functions, transformations
Coordinate geometry: lines, circles and parametric equations
Sequences and series: the binomial expansion including negative and fractional powers, arithmetic and geometric series, sigma notation
Trigonometry: radians, small-angle approximations, sec, cosec and cot, identities, compound and double angles, the R cos(θ − α) form
Exponentials and logarithms, including using logs to turn exponential data into a straight line
Differentiation: first principles, chain, product and quotient rules, implicit and parametric, connected rates of change
Integration: substitution, by parts, partial fractions, areas, the trapezium rule, first-order differential equations
Numerical methods: change of sign, iteration, Newton–Raphson
Vectors in two and three dimensions
Statistics
Sampling methods and their limitations
Presenting and interpreting data, including the board's large data set
Probability, with Venn diagrams and conditional probability
The binomial and normal distributions
Hypothesis tests: binomial, a normal mean, and correlation
Where it usually goes wrong Ignoring the large data set. Questions assume the student has worked with it — why a value looks odd, which variables can sensibly be compared — and some schools leave it until Year 13.
Mechanics
Units and modelling assumptions
Kinematics with constant acceleration, and variable acceleration using calculus
Forces and Newton's laws, including connected particles and pulleys
Friction, moments and resolving forces
Projectiles
Where it usually goes wrong Diagrams skipped. Almost every mechanics mark depends on a clear force diagram drawn before any equation is written.
Each board publishes its own large data set on its A-Level Mathematics qualification page. Ask the school which one your child is studying and whether it has been used on a spreadsheet in lessons.
Equipment and rules
Calculators and the formulae booklet in A-Level Maths
Two practical things that cost marks when left to the last month.
Calculator
Allowed in all three papers
It needs to give summary statistics from a list, binomial and normal probabilities directly, and repeat an iteration.
Not allowed
Computer algebra and any data connection
JCQ's rules exclude calculators that manipulate algebra symbolically or can communicate.
Formulae booklet
Provided in every paper
It holds results such as standard derivatives and distribution formulae, not everything. The quadratic formula, for one, has to be known.
When to buy
Early in Year 12
Students lose exam time hunting for the distribution functions on an unfamiliar calculator.
Each specification lists the results students must know that are not in the booklet. Check your board's current calculator statement and booklet.
The jump from GCSE
Why the step from GCSE to A-Level Maths feels so steep
It usually shows in the first Year 12 assessment, in October or November. A student who was comfortable at grade 7 can find themselves on a D in early tests. That is common, and it does not mean the wrong subject was chosen.
Oct
the month to ask for help — not March, when a calculus gap has spread into kinematics
i
Algebra has to be automatic
At GCSE, factorising a quadratic is the question. At A-Level it is one line inside a longer problem. A student still pausing over index laws runs out of time and slips.
ii
The pace is far quicker
Topics that took weeks at GCSE are covered in a lesson or two. Some sixth forms get through a term's worth of GCSE-level algebra in the first half-term.
iii
Nobody breaks the question up
GCSE questions often lead through parts (a), (b), (c). A-Level questions describe a situation and leave the method to the student, and proofs want a written argument.
At home
How parents can help with A-Level Maths without doing any of it
Structure and noticing early do most of the work. Knowing the maths is optional.
Before Year 12, check the GCSE Higher algebra — expanding, factorising, completing the square, algebraic fractions, surds, indices and rearranging. A summer spent here pays off in the first term.
Ask for marked tests, not grades. Forty-five per cent says little. Whether marks went on method, algebra slips or unknown topics says a lot.
Help set a weekly rhythm. Several shorter independent sessions beat one long one, and a little every day in the first term beats cramming before each test.
Encourage redoing wrong answers a week later, without looking at the solution. It is the single most useful A-Level habit.
Know that the Year 12 summer exams matter. Many schools use them for predicted grades on UCAS applications.
Watch for a widening gap: homework avoided, "the teacher goes too fast", marks sliding through Year 12.
Check the entry requirement early. There is no national rule; sixth forms commonly ask for a 6 or 7 at GCSE, sometimes more for Further Maths.
How ClassArc helps
One-to-one A-Level classes that follow the school's current topic
ClassArc's A-Level classes are 55 minutes, one teacher and one student, with the same teacher every week. Before each class the teacher checks where the school has got to, so if it is integration by parts this week, that is the lesson — plus whichever older gap is holding it back.
Teacher and student write on the same worksheet at the same time, so each line of a proof or a long integral is seen as it is written, and the wrong step is caught there. Homework matches the lesson, is submitted inside ClassArc and is reviewed before the next class. Parents get WhatsApp reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before each class, a termly meeting, and a downloadable PDF record of classes attended.
Senior classes start at £16 on the smallest block and come down to £14 on the largest. Our teachers are based in India, which is why that is below typical UK rates. Blocks, not subscriptions; unused classes are refunded. Further Maths options are covered on the Further Maths page.
“
A gap in differentiation in Year 12 is a gap in integration, differential equations and kinematics by Year 13.
Three, each two hours long and all sat at the end of Year 13. On AQA, Pearson Edexcel and OCR A each paper is worth 100 marks; on OCR B (MEI) the third paper is worth 75 and includes a comprehension task.
Does A-Level Maths include statistics and mechanics?
Yes, both, and both are compulsory. Together they make up about a third of the marks, with pure maths making up the other two-thirds. Further Maths is where students get to choose optional areas.
What is the large data set in A-Level Maths?
A set of real data that each exam board publishes and students study during the course. Statistics questions assume familiarity with it, so a student who has never explored it loses marks that should be straightforward. Each board chooses its own.
What GCSE grade is needed for A-Level Maths?
There is no national requirement. Each sixth form or college sets its own, commonly a grade 6 or 7 in GCSE maths, and sometimes higher for those also taking Further Maths. Students starting from a 6 can do well, usually after strengthening their algebra.
Is a formulae booklet given in A-Level Maths exams?
Yes, in every paper. It contains results like standard derivatives and distribution formulae, but not the basics students are expected to know, such as the quadratic formula. Each specification lists what must be memorised.
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