Bristol's 2024/25 A-level maths entries, results and exam boards, provider by provider.
Book a Free ConsultationA-level maths in Bristol is taught at three quite different scales. North Bristol Post 16 Centre recorded 118 A-level Mathematics entries in 2024/25, Bristol Grammar School 74 and City of Bristol College just 16. Across all their A levels, not maths alone, their 2024/25 progress scores were +0.19, +0.37 and -0.53, and average results B-, B+ and C-. Our A level maths tutors in Bristol work from a student's own provider, exam board and paper structure.
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Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppNorth Bristol Post 16 Centre, a state-funded sixth form centre, recorded 118 A-level Mathematics entries in the 2024/25 results. Bristol Grammar School, an independent school, recorded 74. City of Bristol College recorded 16. Those three numbers describe three different teaching situations, and they matter more than any city-wide average, because a student sits their A level inside one of them rather than inside a mean.
Cohort size changes what each figure means, and the three only compare if they are read on one measure. DfE records an A-level cohort of 441 students at North Bristol Post 16 Centre, so its 118 maths entries are a little over a quarter of that cohort. Bristol Grammar School's 74 entries came from an A-level cohort of 142 students, which puts maths on more than half the timetables in the year. City of Bristol College entered 16 from 88 A-level students, fewer than one in five.
| Provider | A-level Maths entries | AS Maths entries | A-level cohort |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Bristol Post 16 Centre | 118 | 1 | 441 |
| Bristol Grammar School | 74 | 1 | 142 |
| City of Bristol College | 16 | 1 | 88 |
The AS column is the one worth pausing on. All three providers recorded exactly one AS Mathematics entry in 2024/25 - one at North Bristol Post 16 Centre, one at Bristol Grammar School, one at City of Bristol College. The standalone AS is, in practice, not a route any of them runs at scale. A student who is considering AS Mathematics as a one-year qualification, or as a fallback if the full A level proves too much, should ask their provider directly whether it will be entered at all rather than assume it is available.
All the entry and results figures on this page, comparators included, come from the 2024/25 tables published on the Department for Education's Compare School and College Performance service, read at named-institution level rather than taken from a local-authority summary. The Bristol and England rows below are the comparator columns DfE prints beside each provider's own row.
Bristol Grammar School averaged B+ across its A levels in 2024/25, worth 44.18 points per entry, with a progress score of +0.37 that DfE bands above average. North Bristol Post 16 Centre averaged B- and 37.32 points, with a progress score of +0.19, also banded above average. City of Bristol College averaged C- and 26.9 points, with a progress score of -0.53, banded below average.
| Provider or area | Average result | Points per entry | Progress score | Banding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Grammar School | B+ | 44.18 | +0.37 | Above average |
| North Bristol Post 16 Centre | B- | 37.32 | +0.19 | Above average |
| City of Bristol College | C- | 26.9 | -0.53 | Below average |
| Bristol, City of (state-funded) | C+ | 34.29 | not published at LA level | - |
| England (all schools and colleges) | B- | 36.1 | - | - |
A progress score compares the grades students achieved with what students nationally achieved from the same prior-attainment starting point, which makes it the fairer of the two measures for judging a provider rather than an intake. On that scale North Bristol Post 16 Centre sits at +0.19 and City of Bristol College at -0.53, which places them in different DfE bands, above average against below average. Attainment tells you where a cohort finished; the progress score tells you how far it travelled.
The comparators need reading carefully. The Bristol, City of average of C+ and 34.29 points covers state-funded providers only, so Bristol Grammar School's 44.18 is not inside it. Bristol Grammar School, Clifton College, Queen Elizabeth's Hospital and Redmaids' High School are all registered as independent schools on DfE's own school finder for the same authority, which lists 34 schools and colleges with 16-18 provision under Bristol, City of. The England row DfE prints beside it, B- and 36.1 points, covers all schools and colleges rather than state-funded ones only, so the two comparators in that table are not scoped alike either. The equivalent boundary problem at GCSE, where it bites differently, is set out on our Bristol GCSE maths page.
Aiming above your provider's average? Our expert A-level maths tutors help students across Bristol build a term-by-term plan from their own class and mock papers, pure and applied alike.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppGrades describe the students who sat the papers. They say nothing about the students who never reached them, and none of the five tutor directories and local tuition sites ranking in the top five for this search publishes that figure. DfE measures completion against the students a provider enrolled to study mainly A levels, a number it publishes: 380 at North Bristol Post 16 Centre and 108 at City of Bristol College. Of those, 97.4% at North Bristol Post 16 Centre completed their main study programme in 2024/25, against 74.1% at City of Bristol College. The state-funded average for Bristol, City of was 90.6%, and the England state-funded average 93.1%.
| Provider or area | Students enrolled mainly for A levels who completed, 2024/25 |
|---|---|
| North Bristol Post 16 Centre | 97.4% |
| England (state-funded) | 93.1% |
| Bristol, City of (state-funded) | 90.6% |
| City of Bristol College | 74.1% |
| Bristol Grammar School | NA - not measured for independent schools |
A completion rate of 74.1% means around one in four of the 108 students City of Bristol College enrolled mainly for A levels did not finish the programme, and the college sits below both the Bristol, City of state-funded average of 90.6% and the England state-funded average of 93.1%. It is the single most consequential figure on this page for a student weighing where to take A-level maths, and none of the five tutor directories and local tuition sites ranking in the top five for this term carries anything equivalent.
Two honest qualifications. The measure covers a student's whole study programme, not mathematics specifically, so it says nothing directly about how many maths candidates drop the subject. The 108 and the 88 quoted for City of Bristol College are also two different counts - students enrolled mainly for A levels, and students still present with an A-level entry at the end of 16-18 study. And Bristol Grammar School has no figure at all: DfE records NA and states plainly that there is no data available for this school or college for this measure, because independent schools are not assessed on retention. A parent comparing an independent sixth form with a state one is therefore comparing on grades alone, whether they realise it or not.
North Bristol Post 16 Centre publishes its awarding body openly: OCR. Its course page sets out an assessment structure of 100% examination at the end of the course, taken as three papers - Paper 1 Pure Maths, two hours and 100 marks; Paper 2 Pure Maths and Statistics, two hours and 100 marks; Paper 3 Pure Maths and Mechanics, two hours and 100 marks. OCR runs two A-level maths specifications: Mathematics A, coded H240 at A level and H230 at AS, and Mathematics B (MEI), coded H640 and H630. The centre names the board but not which of the two, so the specification code is worth asking the department for before buying revision material.
City of Bristol College names a different board. Its A Level Maths course page gives Edexcel as the awarding organisation. Bristol Grammar School is on OCR as well, but not on the same papers. Its sixth-form mathematics booklet (PDF) gives the exam board as OCR and describes assessment as three written papers covering Pure Mathematics with Mechanics, Pure Mathematics with Statistics, and Pure Mathematics with Comprehension. No comprehension paper appears in the structure North Bristol Post 16 Centre publishes, so two Bristol providers naming the same board are not sitting the same papers.
The practical consequence at North Bristol Post 16 Centre is worth spelling out, because it is a fact about that provider's entry rather than a judgement about the board. The structure it publishes keeps the two applied strands apart: a student there meets statistics only in Paper 2 and mechanics only in Paper 3. A weakness in one applied strand is therefore concentrated in a single one of the three 100-mark papers, rather than distributed across the set. Revision that treats mechanics as a topic to be caught up on "at some point" is planning against the wrong calendar.
Boards do arrange their content differently, and the comparison is a national question rather than a Bristol one. AQA's Mathematics 7357 also runs three written papers of two hours and 100 marks, each worth a third of the A level. The full board-by-board detail sits on our A-level Maths subject page; what matters locally is simply that two of Bristol's state-funded post-16 providers are not entering the same one.
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Sitting OCR's papers at North Bristol Post 16 Centre, or Edexcel's at City of Bristol College? Our expert A-level maths tutors help students across Bristol prepare for the exact papers their own provider enters, from pure to mechanics and statistics.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppA single A-level in mathematics is not the whole picture at any of these providers. In 2024/25 Bristol Grammar School recorded 20 A-level Further Mathematics entries and one at AS. North Bristol Post 16 Centre recorded 17 and five. City of Bristol College recorded one and four.
| Provider | A-level Further Maths | AS Further Maths | Core Maths | AEA Maths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bristol Grammar School | 20 | 1 | 3 (Mathematical Studies) | 14 |
| North Bristol Post 16 Centre | 17 | 5 | 36 (Mathematics Numeracy) | none published |
| City of Bristol College | 1 | 4 | none published | none published |
The Bristol Grammar School figure is the striking one, though not in the way the A-level column alone suggests. Counting AS alongside A level, the two larger providers finish level: 20 plus one at Bristol Grammar School against 17 plus five at North Bristol Post 16 Centre, so 21 Further Maths entries against 22. What separates them is the rate. Bristol Grammar School's A-level cohort of 142 is under a third the size of North Bristol Post 16 Centre's 441, so its 20 A-level Further Maths entries work out at roughly one student in seven, against one in twenty-six at North Bristol Post 16 Centre. Further Maths uptake is not simply a function of how many students a provider has.
City of Bristol College's single A-level Further Mathematics entry is the figure a prospective engineering, physics or mathematics applicant should weigh before enrolling. One candidate is a very different arrangement from a set of twenty, and a student who needs the qualification for a competitive course should confirm with the college that it will run as a taught option in their year rather than as supported self-study. Where Further Maths is genuinely required, our Further Maths tuition covers it, as does our STEP preparation for students whose university offers include that paper.
Two more qualifications sit around the A level. Bristol Grammar School recorded 14 entries for the Advanced Extension Award in Mathematics, which DfE records as a separate level 3 qualification entered alongside the A level; no AEA Mathematics entry appears for either of the other two named providers in the same tables. Core Maths runs at two of the three, under two different titles: North Bristol Post 16 Centre recorded 36 entries for Mathematics (Numeracy), and Bristol Grammar School three for Mathematical Studies, which its own subject booklet gives as the AQA qualification. The 36 is more than double North Bristol Post 16 Centre's 17 A-level Further Maths entries, and the largest of its mathematics figures after the A level itself. Core Maths answers a different question: it suits a student who needs quantitative confidence for a degree in psychology, geography or economics rather than the full A-level course.
Everything above describes a provider. Tuition has to describe a student, so we start from the three things the data on this page makes concrete: which provider they attend, which board it enters, and which of the three papers their weakest topics fall in. A student at North Bristol Post 16 Centre sitting OCR's Paper 3 has a different revision problem from one at City of Bristol College sitting Edexcel, and a generic scheme of work serves neither.
Our expert A-level maths tutors help students across Bristol with both the pure and applied papers, whichever board their provider enters. Work begins with the student's own class tests, mock papers and marked homework rather than a diagnostic written for the average candidate, because the gap between a B- cohort average and a particular student's position inside it is exactly what a provider-level figure cannot show. From there the programme runs topic by topic across pure, mechanics and statistics, weighted towards whichever paper is carrying the loss.
We work with students at any of the 34 schools and colleges with 16-18 provision registered under the Bristol, City of local authority - a list that already includes the city's independent schools, which report separately and appear in none of the state-funded averages above. Further Mathematics and Core Maths are supported alongside the single A level rather than as an afterthought, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades. For the wider picture of what we cover in the city, see our tutoring in Bristol overview, and for entry to sixth form rather than performance inside it, our Bristol 16+ tuition page.
Ready to start A-level maths tuition in Bristol? Our expert A-level maths tutors help students across Bristol through Year 12 and Year 13, whichever provider and board they sit with. Leading Tuition is rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 58 reviews, read on 22 August 2026.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppIt depends on the provider, and two of Bristol's state-funded post-16 providers do not use the same board. North Bristol Post 16 Centre states OCR as the awarding body for its A-level Mathematics, assessed by 100% examination at the end of the course in three two-hour, 100-mark papers. City of Bristol College names Edexcel as the awarding organisation for its A Level Maths. Bristol Grammar School's sixth-form booklet also gives OCR, but describes a different set of three papers, one of them combining Pure Mathematics with Comprehension. Because boards and specifications structure applied content differently, which one a provider enters changes the paper a student meets mechanics or statistics in, so it is worth confirming before Year 12 begins.
Across the three providers examined here, 118 A-level Mathematics entries were recorded at North Bristol Post 16 Centre in 2024/25, 74 at Bristol Grammar School and 16 at City of Bristol College. The scale differs sharply relative to cohort size, measured the same way at each. North Bristol Post 16 Centre's 118 entries came from a 441-student A-level cohort, a little over a quarter. Bristol Grammar School's 74 entries came from a 142-student A-level cohort, so maths appeared on more than half the timetables. City of Bristol College's 16 entries came from 88 A-level students, fewer than one in five.
The Bristol, City of state-funded average in 2024/25 was C+, or 34.29 points per entry, against an England figure of B- and 36.1 points covering all schools and colleges. Against that, Bristol Grammar School averaged B+ and 44.18 points, North Bristol Post 16 Centre B- and 37.32 points, and City of Bristol College C- and 26.9 points. Progress scores tell a slightly different story: +0.37 at Bristol Grammar School and +0.19 at North Bristol Post 16 Centre, both banded above average, against -0.53 and below average at City of Bristol College.
DfE measures completion against the students a provider enrolled to study mainly A levels: 380 at North Bristol Post 16 Centre and 108 at City of Bristol College. In 2024/25, 97.4% of that group at North Bristol Post 16 Centre completed their main study programme, against 74.1% at City of Bristol College, so around one in four of City of Bristol College's 108 did not finish. The Bristol, City of state-funded average was 90.6% and the England state-funded average 93.1%. The measure covers the whole study programme rather than maths alone, and independent schools such as Bristol Grammar School are recorded as NA because they are not measured on it.
Not on equal terms. In 2024/25 Bristol Grammar School recorded 20 A-level Further Mathematics entries and one at AS; North Bristol Post 16 Centre recorded 17 and five; City of Bristol College recorded one and four. Counting both levels the two larger providers are level, 21 against 22; relative to cohort size they are not, at 20 from 142 A-level students against 17 from 441. A single A-level entry is a very different proposition from a set of 20, so a student who needs Further Maths for a maths, physics or engineering degree should confirm with the provider that the course will actually run as a taught option before enrolling.
The Advanced Extension Award is recorded by DfE as a separate level 3 mathematics qualification entered alongside the A level. In 2024/25 Bristol Grammar School recorded 14 AEA Mathematics entries. No AEA Mathematics entry appears for North Bristol Post 16 Centre or City of Bristol College in the same subject tables for that year. For a student already secure on the A-level specification, it is the extension route that shows up in Bristol's published entry data.
At two of them, under different titles. North Bristol Post 16 Centre recorded 36 entries for Mathematics (Numeracy) as a Core Maths qualification at level 3 in 2024/25, more than double its 17 A-level Further Mathematics entries, and Bristol Grammar School three for Mathematical Studies, which its own subject booklet gives as the AQA qualification. No Core Maths entry appears for City of Bristol College in the same tables. Core Maths suits a student who needs quantitative skills for a degree in another subject rather than the full A-level Mathematics course.
Yes. Our expert A-level maths tutors help students across Bristol with both the pure and applied papers, whichever board their provider enters. We work with students at any of the 34 schools and colleges with 16-18 provision registered under the Bristol, City of local authority - a list that already includes the city's independent schools, which report separately. Programmes are built from a student's own class and mock papers rather than from a provider-wide average, and 91% of our students achieve their desired grades.
Book a free consultation and our A-level maths tutors will build a programme around the papers your provider actually enters.
See also our tutoring locations and our A-level Maths guide.
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