AS-level Maths revision: where to start

For AS-level Maths revision, check your AS specification, repair weak prerequisites, then combine topic practice with mixed questions across Pure, Statistics and Mechanics. Use your own board’s AS papers to practise timing. The full A-level library contains later material, so do not treat every page as part of your AS revision list.

This guide is for the common AS Mathematics qualification content in England, including AQA 7356, Pearson Edexcel 8MA0 and OCR Mathematics A H230. International AS courses and qualifications elsewhere may have different content. A school’s Year 12 teaching order is also not necessarily identical to an AS examination course.

A focused route through the library

Use these starting points to repair a skill, then check your specification for complete coverage. Some linked lessons deliberately extend into A-level content; the scope notes below tell you where to focus.

This is a selective study route, not a complete specification checklist. Include proof, vectors, data presentation and the remaining requirements from your board. Numerical root-finding, normal-distribution methods and moments belong to the later full A-level content in these English specifications.

Three short AS revision questions

These original MathLab examples check a Pure skill, a probability model and a Mechanics model. Attempt each before looking at the solution.

Try a sample

01

MathLab practice

Pure: coefficient in an expansion

Sample

Find the coefficient of $x^2$ in $(1+2x)^5$.

×

Your next step is in MathLab.

Download MathLab for iPhone to enter answers, get feedback and keep practising with hints and worked solutions.

Get MathLab

Worked answer

The required term is $\binom52(2x)^2=10\times4x^2=40x^2$. The coefficient is $40$. Remember to square the $2$ as well as the $x$.

02

MathLab practice

Statistics: exactly two successes

Sample

There are five independent trials, each with success probability $0.4$. Find the probability of exactly two successes.

×

Your next step is in MathLab.

Download MathLab for iPhone to enter answers, get feedback and keep practising with hints and worked solutions.

Get MathLab

Worked answer

For $X\sim\mathrm{B}(5,0.4)$, $P(X=2)=\binom52(0.4)^2(0.6)^3=\boxed{0.3456}$. The binomial coefficient counts the different positions of the two successes.

03

MathLab practice

Mechanics: find the resultant

Sample

A particle of mass $4$ kg accelerates horizontally at $1.5\text{ m s}^{-2}$. Find the horizontal resultant force. If a driving force is $10$ N, what horizontal resistance acts against it?

×

Your next step is in MathLab.

Download MathLab for iPhone to enter answers, get feedback and keep practising with hints and worked solutions.

Get MathLab

Worked answer

The resultant is $ma=4(1.5)=\boxed{6\text{ N}}$. Taking the direction of acceleration as positive, $10-R=6$, giving $R=4$ N. The driving force and the resultant are different quantities because resistance also acts.

Swipe to explore the questions.

Build a week around your weakest step

Use the A-level Maths revision plan with only your AS topics. For example, repair the binomial expansion first, retest it later, then combine a Pure question with Statistics and Mechanics. The timetable is a suggested study structure and can be adjusted to your lessons and available time.

If you can calculate but struggle to explain your answers, practise communicating reasoning. If your prerequisite algebra is the difficulty, return to the GCSE to A-level preparation guide.

Check scope and paper structure with your board

The AQA AS subject content sets out the common English AS content. Its binomial expansion scope and differentiation scope help distinguish AS requirements from later work. For paper structure, use your own board’s specification; OCR’s AS and A-level overview separates the two qualifications. Scope checked 10 October 2026.