Edexcel A level Mathematics · For schools

Beat the Traps for schools.

Beat the Traps is built from the mistakes Edexcel examiners report year after year, and it comes with a dashboard that shows teachers exactly who has done what.

Order a licence

A licence runs for one year from the day you order. We invoice on 30-day terms, and your access goes live as soon as the order is confirmed rather than when payment clears.

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A trap screen from the Functions module, titled "Inverse: not finished until you state the domain". It shows that the trap was asked in four sittings, a short explanation, a worked example giving the domain and range of f, and multiple-choice options. — **Functions — trap 3 of 3.** Every trap names the sittings it was asked in and how badly it was answered, then works through it with the student, explaining each wrong answer as well as the right one.

Examiner note — Inverse Functions

The domain is a separate mark on parts whose wording never asks for it. Reports across four sittings say candidates rearrange, write the inverse and stop. One calls it a point made in many previous reports.

From the examiner note in P10, Functions. Edexcel 9MA0/02 Q1 (June 2018) · 9MA0/01 Q7 (June 2023) · 9MA0/01 Q8 (June 2024) — examiner reports and mark schemes, summarised.

Where the traps come from

Built from what the examiners said went wrong.

Every trap begins with an examiner report. When a report says that a large majority lost a mark, or that very few candidates stated the domain, that mistake goes back to the question paper and the mark scheme so we can see precisely where the mark was dropped. Only when all three sources agree does it become a trap, and there are 139 of them across 39 modules of Pure, Statistics and Mechanics, drawn from every 9MA0 and 8MA0 paper between June 2018 and June 2025.

✓The examiner report

✓The question paper

✓The mark scheme

Each module opens with theory cards and a three-minute warm-up, works through its traps one at a time, and finishes with Exam Ready, a set of full exam-style questions marked by a scheme that teaches as it marks.

For teachers

A class dashboard that says which trap to teach next.

Teachers can see how far each student has gone: which modules they have opened and finished, how many traps they have beaten, how they scored on the warm-ups, whether they have done Exam Ready, and when they last logged in. Anything in the course can be put on the board for a whole class or set as independent study.

A one-minute tour: what your students work through, and what you can see as their teacher.

The Review screen for an example class of eight students, showing the number active this week, the average number of traps beaten and modules finished, and a table of every student with traps, modules and when they last used it. — **Review — Class.** This is an example class of eight made-up students. Every name comes from the class list a teacher pastes in, and nothing else about a student is held.

Tapping a student opens their own summary, with a bar for every module they have touched.

One student's row opened out, showing 17 of 139 traps beaten, 2 of 7 modules finished, last used two days ago, warm-up and Exam Ready counts, and a progress bar for each module from Indices to Differentiation. — **Review — one student.** Tapping any name opens the same detail for that student.

Looking at a single module shows every student’s traps as coloured squares, so the columns that are not yet green tell you what to teach next.

The Quadratics module by student: a row for each of eight students with five coloured squares for the five traps, then traps beaten, warm-up score and whether Exam Ready is done. A key reads beaten, opened but not beaten, not opened. — **Review — by module.** Green means the trap is beaten and amber means it has been opened but not beaten yet.

See how it all works, step by step, in the teacher guide.

What a licence includes

Your licence covers student seats up to the band you choose. Each seat belongs to one named student, and when someone leaves you archive them so the seat passes to another.

Teacher accounts are unlimited and cost nothing extra, so anyone in the department can use it.

The licence runs for a year from the day you order and does not renew itself. We remind your named contact about a month before it ends.

Your teachers set the accounts up themselves. Paste in a class list and the system generates a username and a starting password for each student, ready to print. We never ask for a student’s email address and never hold one.

If your numbers move up a band partway through the year, we invoice the difference rather than the full higher band, and nobody already using it is locked out.

Price

Every price below is for one year and there is no VAT to add, as we are not VAT-registered.

£220 Up to 20 seats

£230 Up to 30 seats

£250 Up to 50 seats

£275 Up to 75 seats

£300 Up to 100 seats

Larger schools and multi-school trusts are quoted individually, so please ask.

How to order

1 Fill in the order form and accept the licence It asks for the school, an invoice address, a contact, how many students, and a purchase order number if your school uses them.

2 We set up your access and send the invoice We do this within one working day, along with a one-page DPIA sheet for your data protection officer. Payment is due within 30 days by bank transfer.

3 Your contact sets a password and adds the class They paste in the class list and print the slips, so the class can start before the finance office has done anything.

Order a licence

Prefer email? Send the same details to hello@sakatismaths.co.uk.

Who makes it

A maths teacher who is still in the classroom.

Beat the Traps is written and maintained by Leonie Sakatis.

I have taught A level Maths since 2009 and have been Head of A level Maths at three schools. I have an arguably unique hobby of reading examiner reports in my spare time, which is where every trap in this course came from.