Do not let the maths be the hard part of A level Physics.
Eight modules on the six maths and units skills A level assumes from the first lesson and never stops to teach. For students starting Cambridge AS Physics (9702) in September. Also for anyone already in it who has worked out that the maths, not the physics, is the bit slowing them down. Written by a Cambridge trained examiner who marked both the IGCSE and the A level papers.
I recommend this course for all potential AS physics students.
The physics gets taught. The maths gets assumed.
You get lessons on the physics. Nobody teaches the maths underneath it. Cambridge lists these six skills in topic 1 of the 9702 syllabus, then expects them in every calculation for two years. None is hard on its own, which is why they go unchecked all summer.
Working out a quantity's units from scratch, and checking an equation is even possible before you trust it. The IGCSE syllabus never asks for either.
Multiplying and dividing powers of ten without dropping one. At A level the quantities run from 10-19 up to 108.
Nano, micro, milli, kilo, mega. Two of them in the same calculation is normal at A level, and that last step is where the marks go.
Getting the formula right with letters before any numbers go in. It is the habit that keeps long A level formulae manageable.
2.0 mm2 is 2.0 x 10-6 m2, not 2.0 x 10-3. Square the factor, not just the unit.
Matching your data instead of copying out the calculator display. The cheapest mark in physics to lose, and it gets lost all year.
At IGCSE the numbers are kind to you: put them in first and you can still finish the arithmetic, so over two years that becomes the habit. At A level the formulae are longer and the quantity you want is rarely sitting on its own, so numbers first leaves you untangling digits and powers of ten. Letters first, once, is not tidiness. It is what the rest of your working rests on.
Practise until the method is automatic, not remembered.
Everything opens the day you join. Each module is short and ends in a drill set in real 9702 contexts. The last one puts all six skills together into a method that works on any calculation question.
No drip feed and no timetable. Take them two a week, or the whole lot in a weekend, or one at a time when a lesson catches you out.
Tick the modules, pick the length and difficulty, and it builds you a set. Over 5,000 questions, and the calculations draw fresh numbers each time, so you practise until the method is automatic rather than remembered.
Downloadable, no expiry, no subscription. Come back to it in the middle of Year 12 if that is when the gap actually shows up.
See the eight modules
Quantities, units and A level notation
Base and derived units, the quantity and symbol table for AS, and the notation shift from IGCSE. First, because everything after it is written this way.
Standard form
Reading it, writing it, and doing arithmetic in it without losing a power of ten. Set at A level scales.
Prefixes and unit magnitudes
The full prefix table, and the area and volume trap where the factor gets squared or cubed.
Converting to SI units
The everyday conversions A level leans on, plus the sanity check that catches a wrong answer before you write it down.
Using your calculator
Order of operations, entering standard form properly, and the classic error of typing 10 x 10 to the 8 when you meant 1 x 10 to the 8.
Rearranging equations
Letters first, on real 9702 equations: v = f lambda, rho = RA/L, E = half m v squared, p = mv, V = IR, P = VI.
Significant figures
Counting them, rounding to match your data, and why quoting the full display costs marks in every paper you will sit.
How to attack any calculation
The capstone. A seven step method that works on every numerical question, walked end to end through two real A level problems using all six skills.
Every answer comes back with the working shown, and on four of the traps you get the examiner's own words with it, quoted and named by series. One of them is the power of ten slip the report called "the most common mistake" on Paper 2 in June 2021.
£39, once. Everything is in it.
One payment, not a subscription. There is no upsell and no second tier, and if it turns out not to be what you needed you have 14 days to get your money back. The work is a few weeks now, or two terms of catching up later.
Everything you need to arrive ready, on your own schedule.
- All 8 modules, open the moment you join
- Every drill, with the working shown
- The practice generator, over 5,000 questions
- Downloadable and yours to keep, no expiry
- Full refund within 14 days, no questions asked
One payment. Access is immediate.
Email rich@cieinsider.com within 14 days of buying and I will refund you in full, no questions asked. That applies whether or not you have started the modules. Your full cancellation rights are set out in the terms.
I am not selling live sessions I cannot commit to dates for. Live teaching is what the CIE Insider membership is for, and that opens in September. Leave your address and I will email you once dates are set, at no charge and with no obligation.
Buying this for someone else?
Most people paying for this are not the person using it. Everything you need to decide is here, in one place.
The free readiness check is ten questions, scored skill by skill, and takes about fifteen minutes. Strong across all six and they do not need this course. Two or three weak is exactly what it fixes. I would rather you found that out before paying.
Access straight after payment, to all eight modules at once. Nothing to attend, no timetable, nothing to arrange around school. It is downloadable, it does not expire, and it needs no help from you.
£39, once. It is not a subscription, there is no second tier waiting to be sold later, and nothing renews.
Email me within 14 days and I refund it in full, whether or not they opened it. No form and no reason needed.
I marked these papers.
I am Rich, a Cambridge trained examiner. I marked both 0625 IGCSE Physics and 9702 AS and A Level Physics, and I have read every examiner report Cambridge published for both from 2021 to 2026.
That is why this course exists rather than another one. Paper after paper, the same small set of habits decides who finds the first term hard. Almost none of it is about how clever you are.
This is not a syllabus course. Your school will teach you A level Physics. This is the part underneath it that they will assume you already have.
Before you decide.
Do I need this if I did well at IGCSE?
A good IGCSE grade shows you can do the physics. This is about the maths underneath it, which IGCSE mostly does for you. The honest test is the free readiness check: ten questions, scored skill by skill. Score well on all six and you do not need this course, and I would rather you knew that.
I am a parent. Is this right for my child?
It is, if they are starting AS or A level Physics and the maths is shakier than the physics. The free readiness check answers that in ten questions, scored skill by skill. Strong across all six and they do not need this. Two or three weak is exactly what the course fixes. Either way there is a full refund within 14 days.
What exactly do I get?
All eight modules from the moment you join, every drill worked through in full, and the practice generator with over 5,000 questions in it. The modules are downloadable and yours to keep, with no expiry and no subscription.
What if I buy it and change my mind?
Email me within 14 days of buying and I will refund you in full, no questions asked, whether or not you have started the modules. The full terms are on the terms page.
Is this teaching me the AS syllabus?
No, deliberately. Learning the syllabus early tends to produce students who have half learned things twice. This covers the skills underneath the syllabus, so your first term is spent on physics rather than on arithmetic.
I sat 0972, I am resitting, or I am coming from a different board.
Still relevant. These are the skills 9702 topic 1 expects whatever route you took, and every example is written in a 9702 context. If you sat 0972 rather than 0625, nothing changes: I compared the two syllabuses line by line and the subject content is identical apart from one sentence about grade letters.
Is there a deadline to buy?
No. It is self paced with no closing date, so buy it whenever the gap shows up, before term or partway through once a lesson assumes maths you do not have solid yet. Buyers also get the founding rate on the CIE Insider membership, locked for as long as you stay subscribed. You are not obliged to join, and the course is complete on its own.
A few weeks now, or two terms of catching up.
It is open, there is no closing date, and it costs £39 with a full refund inside 14 days if it was not what you needed.