A-Level Maths divides into pure mathematics, which is the majority of the course, and applied mathematics — mechanics and statistics. Pure underpins both: weak algebra or calculus shows up immediately as lost marks in a mechanics question.
The step up from GCSE is mostly about multi-step problems. GCSE questions usually test one skill; A-Level questions chain several together, so you must recognise which technique a question is asking for before you can apply it. That recognition only comes from doing a large number of varied questions.
Method marks matter more here than anywhere else. Full working is not a courtesy to the examiner — it is where most of the marks live, and a slip in the final line costs you one mark rather than all of them if the working is there.
These notes cover pure, mechanics and statistics with worked examples. Use them to understand a method, then practise it on unfamiliar problems until selecting the right approach becomes automatic.
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