Edexcel A Level Maths Tutors Online

Edexcel A Level Maths is code 9MA0, and its full title is the Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Mathematics. First teaching was September 2017 and first certification was 2018. This page works from Issue 4, dated February 2020.

The qualification consists of three externally examined papers, and students must complete all assessment in May and June in any single year.

Paper 1 is Pure Mathematics 1, code 9MA0/01, and Paper 2 is Pure Mathematics 2, code 9MA0/02. Each is a 2 hour written examination worth 33.33% of the qualification with 100 marks. Both may contain questions on any topics from the Pure Mathematics content, which runs across Topic 1 Proof, Topic 2 Algebra and functions, Topic 3 Coordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane, Topic 4 Sequences and series, Topic 5 Trigonometry, Topic 6 Exponentials and logarithms, Topic 7 Differentiation, Topic 8 Integration, Topic 9 Numerical methods, and Topic 10 Vectors.

That is the most important thing to understand about the pure papers: they are not split. Both Pure Mathematics 1 and Pure Mathematics 2 can examine all ten pure topics, so there is no half of the pure content that belongs to one paper and not the other. A student cannot treat one paper as algebra and the other as calculus, because either paper may ask about any of it.

Paper 3 is Statistics and Mechanics, code 9MA0/03. It is a 2 hour written examination worth 33.33% of the qualification with 100 marks. It has two sections. Section A is Statistics, covering Topic 1 Statistical sampling, Topic 2 Data presentation and interpretation, Topic 3 Probability, Topic 4 Statistical distributions and Topic 5 Statistical hypothesis testing. Section B is Mechanics, covering Topic 6 Quantities and units in mechanics, Topic 7 Kinematics, Topic 8 Forces and Newton's laws and Topic 9 Moments. The paper will contain questions on topics from the Statistics content in Section A and the Mechanics content in Section B.

All three papers are the same size. Each is a 2 hour written examination, each carries 100 marks, and each is worth 33.33% of the qualification. There is no paper that counts for more, and there is no choice of question: students must answer all questions on all three papers.

The grade is decided on 300 marks. The specification states that the qualification is graded and certificated on a six grade scale from A* to E using the total combined marks out of 300 for the three compulsory papers, and that individual papers are not graded.

A large data set sits behind the Statistics section of Paper 3. Pearson provides it, and students are required to become familiar with the data set in advance of the final assessment. The specification is unusually direct about why: assessments will be designed so that questions assume knowledge and understanding of the data set, and the expectation is that these questions should be likely to give a material advantage to students who have studied and are familiar with it. Students will not be required to have copies of the data set in the examination, and they will not be required to have detailed knowledge of the actual data within it.

Calculators are allowed in all three papers, with conditions. The calculator must include an iterative function, and the ability to compute summary statistics and access probabilities from standard statistical distributions. It must not be designed or adapted to offer language translators, symbolic algebra manipulation, symbolic differentiation or integration, or communication with other machines or the internet. It must be of a size suitable for use on the desk and either battery or solar powered, and it must be free of lids, cases and covers that have printed instructions or formulas. The student is responsible for making sure the calculator meets these rules.

A formulae booklet is provided, but not everything is in it. The booklet Mathematical Formulae and Statistical Tables is provided for use with the paper. Appendix 1 of the specification lists the formulae that students are expected to know, and those formulae will not appear in the booklet.

The assessment objectives are three. AO1, use and apply standard techniques, is 48 to 52 per cent. AO2, reason, interpret and communicate mathematically, is 23 to 27 per cent. AO3, solve problems within mathematics and in other contexts, is 23 to 27 per cent. Using standard techniques is worth almost half the qualification, and the other two objectives share the remainder between them.

The breakdown uses decimal ranges, which is unusual and worth reading carefully. Paper 1 is 16.00 to 17.33 per cent AO1, 8.66 to 10 per cent AO2 and 6.33 to 7.67 per cent AO3. Paper 2 is identical. Paper 3 is 16.00 to 17.33 per cent AO1, 5.66 to 7.00 per cent AO2 and 10.33 to 11.67 per cent AO3. The specification notes that totals have been rounded either up or down.

The pattern across the papers is clear once the decimals are read. Papers 1 and 2 carry more AO2 than AO3, because reasoning and proof live in the pure content. Paper 3 reverses that, carrying more AO3 than AO2, because statistics and mechanics ask students to solve problems in context. AO1 is identical on all three at 16.00 to 17.33 per cent.

The qualification is graded and certificated on a six grade scale from A* to E using the total subject mark, and individual papers are not graded. The first certification opportunity was 2018, and students whose level of achievement is below the minimum judged by Pearson to be of sufficient standard receive an unclassified U result.

On codes: the qualification number is 603/1333/X and the subject code is listed as A Level 9MA0. The paper codes are 9MA0/01, 9MA0/02 and 9MA0/03. No discount code number is printed in this specification. Appendix 8 states only that discount codes are published by DfE and points to the GOV.UK website.