Updated 17-September-2026
Physics and maths tutoring get bundled together on a lot of tuition websites as a matter of convenience. There's a more precise reason it makes sense: exam boards publish exactly how much of a physics exam is, in effect, a maths exam.
Under AQA's GCSE science specifications, a minimum percentage of marks in each science must test mathematical skills, set by the Department for Education and Ofqual: 10% in Biology, 20% in Chemistry, and 30% in Physics. That's not a rough estimate, it's a specified assessment requirement. At A-level, the jump is bigger still: AQA's A-level Physics specification requires at least 40% of marks to involve mathematical skills, assessed at a standard equivalent to GCSE Higher Tier Maths or above.
Put simply, a GCSE Physics paper is, by design, close to a third maths. An A-level Physics paper is over 40% maths, assessed at a level some students haven't been taught since their GCSE Higher Tier maths papers. A student who is behind in maths isn't just behind in one subject when they sit Physics; they're behind in both at once, whether or not that's how the gap gets diagnosed.
Exam boards define this across five categories: arithmetic and numerical computation (standard form, unit conversion, significant figures), handling data (calculating means, estimating order of magnitude, combining uncertainties), algebra (rearranging equations such as E = mc², substituting values correctly with units), graphs (finding gradients and intercepts, using tangents for instantaneous rates, interpreting logarithmic plots), and geometry and trigonometry (resolving vectors with sine, cosine and tangent, using Pythagoras' theorem, small-angle approximations). None of this is physics knowledge in the usual sense. It's maths fluency, applied to a physics context, under exam time pressure.
This is where a lot of physics difficulty actually originates, and it's often misdiagnosed. A student who understands a physics concept clearly in discussion can still lose marks consistently because they can't confidently rearrange the equation that represents it, misplace a decimal point converting units, or read a gradient off a graph incorrectly. Treated as a physics problem, that gets more physics content revision, which doesn't fix it. Treated as the maths problem it actually is, the fix is usually faster and it also improves the student's maths grade directly, not just their physics one.
The jump from GCSE to A-level Physics is often framed purely in terms of harder physics topics. The maths requirement grows at least as sharply, from a 30% minimum to a 40% minimum, with the expected standard rising from GCSE-level maths to Higher Tier GCSE Maths or above. A student who found GCSE Physics manageable but was only borderline confident at GCSE Higher Tier Maths is exactly the profile most likely to struggle in the first term of A-level Physics, and it's rarely obvious in advance unless both subjects are being looked at together.
Because this overlap is built into the exam requirements, not incidental to them, our GCSE Physics and GCSE Maths revision courses, and our A-Level Physics and A-Level Maths courses, are designed with this connection in mind rather than run as two unrelated subjects. A free assessment identifies whether a student's physics gaps are conceptual, mathematical, or both, before a plan is built.
What percentage of a GCSE Physics exam is actually maths?
At least 30% under AQA's specification, a Department for Education and Ofqual-set minimum, compared with 20% for Chemistry and 10% for Biology. It's a specified assessment requirement, not an estimate.
How much more maths does A-level Physics require compared to GCSE?
At least 40% of marks under AQA's A-level specification, assessed at a standard equivalent to GCSE Higher Tier Maths or above, up from a 30% minimum at GCSE. Both the proportion and the difficulty of the maths increase at the same time.
My child understands the physics concepts but still loses marks. Why?
This is usually a maths execution problem showing up as a physics one, rearranging an equation, misplacing a decimal in a unit conversion, or misreading a graph's gradient, rather than a gap in physics understanding itself. More physics content revision doesn't fix this; targeted maths practice usually does, and it improves the maths grade too.
Should physics and maths tutoring happen together or separately?
Given the overlap is built into the exam board's own assessment requirements rather than incidental, coordinating the two means a tutor can diagnose whether a physics gap is conceptual, mathematical, or both, before building a plan, rather than treating them as two unconnected subjects.
Sources:
Recent Posts
Categories
Tags
