Which Liverpool sixth forms teach A-level Further Maths, which exam board and applied papers each has chosen, and what a five- or six-student cohort can honestly tell you.
Book a Free ConsultationA-level Further Maths is the optional fourth mathematics qualification some Liverpool sixth forms enter alongside single Maths, never instead of it, and in 2024/25 only fifteen of the city's thirty-three post-16 establishments recorded an entry for it. Six of those fifteen name their exam board on their own site, five choosing Pearson Edexcel and one, University of Liverpool Mathematics School, choosing OCR B (MEI).
Already know which board your child's Liverpool sixth form has entered for Further Maths? Our expert A-level Further Maths tutors help students across Liverpool with Core Pure and whichever applied papers their department has chosen, Decision Mathematics, Further Statistics or Further Mechanics, alongside their single Maths A-level.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppDfE's institution-level subject value-added dataset lists thirty-three Liverpool establishments with a laEstab code starting 341, the local-authority prefix for the city. Fifteen of them carry a 2024/25 entry for Mathematics (Further); the other eighteen carry none. Of the fifteen, six publish which exam board they use for the subject on their own current site.
Five name Pearson Edexcel. The Blue Coat School's own mathematics page states: "EDEXCEL A Level Further Mathematics (EDEXL 9FM0) (Option E0)". Calderstones School's Further Maths page says its assessments come "from Edexcel". King David High School's Key Stage 5 subject document gives "Exam Board: Pearson Edexcel, Syllabus Code: 8FM0/9FM0". St Edward's College's own exam-boards table lists "Maths/Further Maths" against "Pearson/Edexcel". Liverpool Life Sciences UTC's Key Stage 5 Further Maths curriculum document names the "Pearson Edexcel Level 3 Advanced GCE in Further Mathematics (9FM0)".
One school breaks that pattern. University of Liverpool Mathematics School answers its own published question, "Which specification do you use?", with "We use the OCR B (MEI) A-Level Specifications" — the only Liverpool provider in this dataset naming OCR rather than Edexcel. Our A-level Further Maths page sets out the qualification's four national specifications in full; Liverpool's fifteen entrants, between them, currently use only two of the four.
The other nine of the fifteen — Liverpool College, Broughton Hall Catholic High School, Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, North Liverpool Academy, St Hilda's Church of England High School, The Belvedere Academy, St Margaret's Church of England Academy, West Derby School and The Studio School Liverpool — carry a 2024/25 Further Maths entry in DfE's dataset without a current page on their own site naming which awarding body delivers it.
Naming Edexcel is not the same as teaching the same course. Pearson's A-level Further Mathematics is a compulsory Core Pure half plus an applied half chosen by the department from a bank of optional units, and the three Liverpool schools that publish their choice in enough detail to identify it have each picked a different pair.
Calderstones School's own page is the most explicit: "A-level Further Maths consists of 4 papers and they are completed at the end of Y13 with assessments from Edexcel... Paper 3 Further Mechanics 1, Paper 4 Decision Mathematics 1." Its applied pair is Further Mechanics 1 and Decision Mathematics 1.
The Blue Coat School's own mathematics page publishes an entry option code rather than paper names: Option E0. Pearson's own 2025/26 Qualifications Information Manual decodes that code directly: "9FM0 e0 Paper 1: Core Pure Mathematics 1 Paper 2: Core Pure Mathematics 2 Paper 3B: Further Statistics 1 Paper 3C: Further Mechanics 1". The Blue Coat School's applied pair is therefore Further Statistics 1 and Further Mechanics 1.
King David High School's Key Stage 5 subject document lists its "Applied Mathematics Options" as "Decision Mathematics 1... Further Statistics 1" — a third pair, Decision Mathematics 1 and Further Statistics 1 — though the school's own document does not itself label these "Paper 3" and "Paper 4" the way Calderstones does.
Between the three applied units in play across these schools — Decision Mathematics 1, Further Statistics 1 and Further Mechanics 1 — there are exactly three ways to choose two, and Liverpool's three board-naming Edexcel departments have, between them, chosen all three. Pearson's national specification permits ten different option pairs in total across its full applied bank, a rule our A-level Further Maths page sets out in full; this page reports only what these three Liverpool departments have actually picked from that wider menu.
Wondering whether your child's own sixth form sits on Decision, Statistics or Mechanics? Our expert A-level Further Maths tutors build every programme around the specific applied papers a student is actually sitting, not a generic Further Maths syllabus.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppUniversity of Liverpool Mathematics School (ULMS) is structurally unlike the other fourteen Liverpool providers with a Further Maths entry, and it carries the largest cohort of any of them. Its own site states: "All ULMaS students are normally entered for: A2 Mathematics, A2 Further Mathematics... The two courses are taught together rather than as two separate A-Levels... Examinations for both courses are taken at the end of Year 13." Further Maths at ULMS is not offered as an optional fourth subject; it is built into the school's single mathematics programme for everyone admitted.
Admission is itself a gate: entry is by aptitude test, and for September 2026 entry the school's own page states "you will need to be available on Saturday 17th January 2026 at 10am to sit the aptitude test." As of 26 September 2026 the school's site names no date for September 2027 entry.
ULMS teaches OCR B (MEI), which requires three optional minor modules, a structure our A-level Further Maths page sets out as MEI's Route C. ULMS's own site states the department has "chosen to deliver to all students the statistics minor module... along with the Extra Pure minor option", with the third minor "taken from either Mechanics Minor of Modelling with Algorithms" at the student's choice.
DfE records 43 matched entries for ULMS's 2024/25 Further Maths value-added figure, the largest published matched-entry count of Liverpool's five schools with a figure, against a next-largest of 30 at The Blue Coat School. The figure itself, and what it does and does not show, is reported in full further down this page.
Which school carries a Further Maths entry in DfE's data is not always the same question as which building teaches it. Two pairs of Liverpool schools run parts of their sixth-form provision jointly, and all four of the schools involved carry a suppressed 2024/25 Further Maths row, meaning DfE has an entry to record but has withheld the figure for a small cohort.
The Studio School Liverpool and Liverpool Life Sciences UTC share sixth-form subjects under an arrangement both sites call the CUC6. The Studio's own curriculum page lists what it can offer through that arrangement: "Students can also select subjects from Liverpool Life Sciences UTC: ... Further Maths ...". Liverpool Life Sciences UTC's own page states the reverse: "You can also select subjects delivered by The Studio".
Broughton Hall Catholic High School and Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School describe a similar arrangement. Broughton Hall's 2025 sixth-form prospectus calls it "our shared Sixth Form provision with Cardinal Heenan", adding that the collaboration "is unique within the city".
A reader checking one of these four schools' own published course list for Further Maths is not necessarily checking where a Liverpool student in that arrangement is actually taught.
Liverpool's published entry bars are not one number. Calderstones School asks for "Grade 7 in GCSE Maths". The Belvedere Academy's own Further Maths course document sets the same bar, "a grade 7 or above in GCSE Mathematics", and adds a structural condition rather than a higher grade: "Further Maths must be chosen in addition to Maths A Level".
Two schools set a Further Maths bar a full grade or more above what they ask for the single subject. St Edward's College's own page states "Grade 8 in GCSE Mathematics" for Further Maths, against Grade 7 in GCSE Mathematics for the single Maths A-level on the same page, one grade higher. The Studio School Liverpool's published entry requirements go further: "A-Level Mathematics: minimum 6 in GCSE mathematics" against "A-Level Further Maths: minimum 8 in GCSE Mathematics", two grades higher for Further Maths than for Maths itself at that school.
St Margaret's Church of England Academy sets no separate Further Maths grade at all; instead its admissions page states "Further Maths and EPQ can only be taken in addition to three other subjects", a condition about subject load rather than attainment. The Blue Coat School publishes no Further-Maths-specific GCSE grade either, stating only that a fourth A-level "should be carefully considered, and students must meet our higher entry requirements".
A grade 7 clears Calderstones' and The Belvedere Academy's published bar and falls one short of St Edward's College's, and a grade 6 that would admit a student to Maths at The Studio School Liverpool is two grades short of that same school's own Further Maths requirement.
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DfE's institution-level value-added measure scores a school's Further Maths entrants against pupils nationally who started with the same prior attainment. A score is a finding only when its 95% confidence interval sits entirely above or entirely below zero; an interval that spans zero says nothing about the department, whatever the single figure reads.
| School | 2024/25 matched entries | Value added | 95% confidence interval | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liverpool College | 6 | 0.13 | -0.81 to 1.06 | Spans zero |
| Calderstones School | 8 | -0.59 | -1.4 to 0.22 | Spans zero |
| King David High School | 8 | 0.98 | 0.18 to 1.79 | Above zero |
| The Blue Coat School | 30 | 0.26 | -0.16 to 0.67 | Spans zero |
| University of Liverpool Mathematics School | 43 | -0.04 | -0.39 to 0.31 | Spans zero |
Table sorted by cohort size, smallest first, not by score. King David High School's 2024/25 Further Maths value-added figure is 0.98, with a 95% confidence interval of 0.18 to 1.79 on 8 matched students, the only one of Liverpool's five published figures whose interval lies entirely above zero; this is DfE's own progress measure for 2024/25 entrants only, not a measure of teaching quality, and a figure built from eight students is a statement about those eight students, no more.
Liverpool College's figure is 0.13 on 6 matched students; its interval spans zero. Calderstones School's figure is -0.59 on 8 matched students; its interval spans zero. The Blue Coat School's figure is 0.26 on 30 matched students; its interval spans zero. University of Liverpool Mathematics School's figure is -0.04 on 43 matched students; its interval spans zero. None of these four is a finding by DfE's own significance rule.
Ten of Liverpool's fifteen Further Maths rows are suppressed by DfE outright rather than published with a confidence interval at all: Broughton Hall Catholic High School, Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, North Liverpool Academy, St Edward's College, Liverpool Life Sciences UTC, St Hilda's Church of England High School, The Belvedere Academy, St Margaret's Church of England Academy, West Derby School and The Studio School Liverpool. DfE names no reason on the row itself; a suppressed row typically indicates too few matched pupils sat the exam that year for a figure to be published.
Two different DfE datasets give two different counts for Liverpool's post-16 providers, and this page reports both rather than forcing them to agree. This page counts every establishment whose laEstab code begins with Liverpool's local-authority prefix, 341, in DfE's institution-level value-added dataset: 33 in total, the same rule stated on our Liverpool A-level Geography page. Leading Tuition's Liverpool A-level History, Physics and English pages instead state a 30-provider set built from a different DfE dataset of subjects-entered records. The two counts sit close together because three of this page's 33 are recorded by the Get Information about Schools service as closed: St Francis Xavier's College, Notre Dame Catholic College and Assess Education, checked again directly on 27 September 2026, leaving 30 open establishments in this dataset. That 30 is not the same claim as the 30 stated on the History and Physics pages, which comes from the other dataset and has not been enumerated here.
A single confidence interval on eight students is not a verdict on a department. Our expert A-level Further Maths tutors work with the papers and grade bar a student's own sixth form actually sets, not a citywide score.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppEighteen of Liverpool's 33 DfE-listed post-16 establishments carry no 2024/25 Further Maths entry in this dataset at all. That is a statement about DfE's value-added dataset for that year, not a claim this page can make about every one of those eighteen schools' current timetable.
At least two of the fifteen establishments that do carry a 2024/25 Further Maths row do not name the subject anywhere on their own current site. Broughton Hall Catholic High School's published sixth-form course index lists thirty subjects and does not include Further Maths, and neither does its own 12-page 2025 sixth-form prospectus. Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School's own sixth-form subjects page lists twenty-two subjects and does not include Further Maths either. Both schools carry a suppressed DfE Further Maths entry for 2024/25, so at least one student sat the qualification there that year even though it is not on either school's current published list; that gap is one this page can report, not resolve, since neither site explains it.
For a student whose own sixth form genuinely does not run Further Maths, the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP) runs a national alternative. Its own site states it "can provide support for students in state-funded schools and colleges who would benefit from studying AS/A level Further Mathematics in cases where it can't be offered in your school/college", and that it enables "150 students to study A level Further Mathematics each year through our online programme", a national figure, not a Liverpool-specific one.
Whichever route your Liverpool sixth form takes, teaching Further Maths in-house, sharing it with a partner school, or not offering it at all, our expert A-level Further Maths tutors can help a student prepare for it.
Book a Free Consultation Message us on WhatsAppA Liverpool student's Further Maths programme depends on facts this page has set out school by school: which board their sixth form enters, which two applied units their department has actually chosen from Decision Mathematics 1, Further Statistics 1 and Further Mechanics 1, and whether Core Pure content or an MEI minor route governs their course. Our expert A-level Further Maths tutors build a student's programme around that specific combination rather than a generic Further Maths syllabus, working alongside their single Maths A-level rather than in place of it.
91% of Leading Tuition's students achieve their desired grades, and we are rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews, read 3 October 2026. Explore tutoring across Liverpool or our national Further Maths tuition service, or see how the wider subject is examined on our A-level Further Maths page.
Pearson Edexcel, syllabus code 8FM0/9FM0. King David High School's own Key Stage 5 subject document names Decision Mathematics 1 and Further Statistics 1 as its two applied options, alongside the compulsory Core Pure content.
Grade 8 in GCSE Mathematics. The same page on the college's own site asks for Grade 7 in GCSE Mathematics for the single Maths A-level, so the Further Maths bar sits one grade higher there.
No. The school's own site states that all ULMaS students are normally entered for both A2 Mathematics and A2 Further Mathematics together, taught as one course and examined at the end of Year 13. Entry is by aptitude test, held on Saturday 17 January 2026 for September 2026 admission; the school's site names no date yet for September 2027 entry.
It is the only one of Liverpool's five published 2024/25 Further Maths value-added figures whose confidence interval, 0.18 to 1.79, lies entirely above zero, on 8 matched students. DfE's other four published Liverpool figures all have an interval spanning zero, so there is no second significant score to compare it against, and a figure built from eight students is not a basis for calling any department the best.
Both schools state they share Sixth Form provision, which Broughton Hall's own 2025 prospectus calls unique within the city, but neither currently lists Further Maths on its own published sixth-form subject index. Both still carry a suppressed 2024/25 DfE Further Maths entry, which their own published subject lists do not explain.
Eighteen of Liverpool's 33 DfE-listed post-16 establishments carry no 2024/25 Further Maths entry at all. The Advanced Mathematics Support Programme (AMSP) runs a Further Mathematics Online Programme for students in state-funded schools and colleges where the subject cannot be offered locally, supporting around 150 students a year nationally through that route.
None of the three Liverpool schools that specify their choice use an identical pair. Calderstones School enters Further Mechanics 1 and Decision Mathematics 1. The Blue Coat School's published entry code decodes, via Pearson's own Information Manual, to Further Statistics 1 and Further Mechanics 1. King David High School enters Decision Mathematics 1 and Further Statistics 1. Between them the three schools have chosen all three possible pairs from the same three applied units.
Six of the fifteen Liverpool establishments with a 2024/25 Further Maths entry name their board: five state Pearson Edexcel (The Blue Coat School, Calderstones School, King David High School, St Edward's College and Liverpool Life Sciences UTC) and one, University of Liverpool Mathematics School, states OCR B (MEI). The other nine publish no named awarding body for the subject on their current site.
Liverpool's fifteen Further Maths departments do not sit on one course: six name a board between two different specifications, and the three that specify their papers have chosen three different applied pairs from the same three units. 91% of Leading Tuition's students achieve their desired grades, and we are rated 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 59 reviews. Explore tutoring across Liverpool or our national Further Maths tuition service.
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