The GCSE-to-A-Level jump lands hard on Edexcel, because two of the three papers are pure and they assume the algebra is already automatic. When the Year 12 mock slips, it's usually the pure, not the applied. We match your child with a tutor who knows the 9MA0 papers cold.
A 40-minute consultation about Edexcel A-Level Maths. Joe calls you back within one working day, then sends two or three tutors with free trial calls.
Edexcel 9MA0 is fully linear. Everything rests on three papers at the end of Year 13, each two hours, each 100 marks, no coursework and nothing banked from Year 12. What makes Edexcel its own animal is the split. Two whole papers are pure, and the applied content is bolted together into a single third paper. Get the pure wrong and you've lost two thirds of the grade before the statistics and mechanics even start.
Paper 1: Pure Mathematics 1
Two hours, 100 marks, a third of the whole A-Level. Proof, algebra, functions, coordinate geometry, sequences, trigonometry, differentiation and integration. Pure only, no applied in sight.
Paper 2: Pure Mathematics 2
Same length, same marks, more pure across the same content. Because Paper 1 and Paper 2 are both pure, a slow start in Year 12 pure quietly costs marks on two thirds of the grade.
Paper 3: Statistics and Mechanics
Two hours, 100 marks, split into a statistics section and a mechanics section of roughly 50 marks each. The statistics half draws on the pre-released large data set, so your child needs to have met it before the exam, not on the day.
Where the marks are
With two of the three papers pure, this is where the grade is won or lost. Tutors go back to the algebra and functions the mocks keep exposing, then build up through the harder Year 13 pure until the method marks stop leaking.
Edexcel's Paper 3 statistics questions lean on a data set students are handed in advance. A tutor works through it with your child so the context questions are familiar, not a nasty surprise. There's a formula booklet in the exam too, and knowing your way around it matters.
Statistics and mechanics share Paper 3, which means switching gears mid-exam. Tutors drill both halves and the timing, so your child doesn't spend forty minutes on mechanics and then rush the statistics.
From enquiry to first session
When you enquire, Joe calls you back to find a time that suits. You talk through your child's Edexcel Maths, the predicted grade and whether it's the pure or the applied paper pulling the mark down. From there he starts working out which tutors would genuinely fit.
Joe sends a shortlist of tutors he thinks could work, and each one offers a free trial call. You watch how they explain a proof or a mechanics question, and see who your child actually clicks with. No commitment, no card details, no pressure.
You choose the tutor that feels right, and weekly sessions start on Lessonspace, our shared online whiteboard. You pay per session, there are no contracts, and if at any point it isn't working, you stop.
Verified Google reviews
Real reviews from real Degree Gap families, all verified on Google. We chose ones that speak to A-Level and the kind of step up that catches Maths students out.
My son gained almost two grades higher than his year 13 mock paper. His tutor was excellent.
Very engaging lessons that helped me improve my grade in maths and successfully get admitted to university.
Before joining The Degree Gap, I found it hard to follow the curriculum. The sessions helped everything click. Lessons were calm, focused, and easy to understand. Highly recommend.
Joe calls you back within one working day. He'll ask which paper is slipping, the predicted grade and what you've already tried, then send two or three tutors with free trial calls so you can pick the one your child clicks with. No sales pitch.
Three, all at the end of Year 13. Paper 1 and Paper 2 are both Pure Mathematics, each two hours and 100 marks. Paper 3 is Statistics and Mechanics together, again two hours and 100 marks. It's fully linear, so nothing is banked from Year 12 and there's no coursework. The whole grade comes down to those three exams.
Not harder, just split differently. Edexcel keeps the two pure papers separate and puts all the applied content into one paper, where AQA and OCR spread the mechanics and statistics across their pure papers. Same maths, different structure. What matters is that your child is taught for the paper they actually sit, which is why we match on the exam board, not just the subject.
It's a set of real data Edexcel releases before the exam, and the Paper 3 statistics questions are built around it. Students who've never opened it lose easy marks on context they could have seen coming. A tutor works through it with your child so those questions feel familiar rather than foreign.
Very. Edexcel's two pure papers assume the GCSE algebra is automatic, then stack proof, heavier functions and calculus on top. Plenty of students who walked out of GCSE Maths grinning hit a wall in the first term. It's the single biggest step in the curriculum, and it's fixable. We start with a diagnostic to find exactly which bit of the pure is leaking marks.
Yes. Edexcel provides a formula booklet and students can use a graphical or scientific calculator. But the booklet is large, and knowing where things are, plus which formulae aren't in it and have to be memorised, is its own skill. Tutors make sure your child isn't hunting through pages under time pressure.
Yes. Every session runs on Lessonspace, our shared online whiteboard, so the tutor can work through a proof or a mechanics question line by line and you keep the recording. Most students focus better one-to-one online than in a full class. We don't do in-person.
One free 40-minute call with Joe. Trial two or three tutors before you pay a penny.
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