BBC Bitesize vs Physics & Maths Tutor (PMT): A full comparison for GCSE and A-Level students

BBC Bitesize and Physics & Maths Tutor (PMT) are two of the most widely used free revision sites for UK students, and they take very different approaches. Bitesize is polished, curriculum-aligned and multimedia, spanning primary school through GCSE. Physics & Maths Tutor (PMT) is a no-frills library of past papers, topic questions and notes aimed squarely at GCSE and A-Level. Both are free, and most students end up using them alongside each other.

BBC Bitesize is the BBC's free online learning and revision platform, funded by the UK TV licence fee. It covers the school curriculum from primary through secondary and is aligned to the England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland specifications, including AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC, CCEA and SQA. Content is a mix of short written study guides, embedded videos, interactive quizzes, revision podcasts and exam-style questions. There's no login required and no ads. Bitesize is used by roughly 47% of UK school children and is one of the most recognised education brands in the country.

Physics & Maths Tutor is a free, ad-supported UK revision site that has been running since 2013. It hosts past papers, topic-organised exam questions, mark schemes, revision notes, worksheets and solution banks across nine subjects: Maths, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Geography, English, Psychology and Computer Science. Coverage is GCSE, IGCSE and A-Level across the main UK boards (AQA, Edexcel, OCR, CAIE and others). Alongside the free library, PMT sells paid Easter and half-term revision courses, Oxford PAT and medical admissions prep, and 1-to-1 online tuition from around £20 per hour.

A feature-by-feature summary of how the two platforms compare.

Honestly, the best move is to find what works for you, and it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

What's great is that both are free at every point, ad-supported, no account required. Bitesize covers a broader subject spread; PMT goes deeper on Sciences, Maths, Economics and a few others.

Broadly, Bitesize suits students who want a quick, ad-free topic recap across many subjects. PMT suits students building their own revision routine around past papers, topic questions and revision notes. If you want teaching plus active recall plus AI-marked exam questions all in one place, Cognito is worth adding to the shortlist.

Cognito is designed to be an all-in-one platform that supports you from learning the content, to remembering it, to knowing how to apply it in your exams. So when you sign up, you can add all of your subjects to your dashboard, ready to go, as you can see below.

Each subject is broken down into sections and subtopics, all mapped precisely to your specification. That means you only ever learn what you actually need to know for your paper, and you can see at a glance what's left to cover.

Each topic has a short video lesson and/or beautifully designed revision notes, and some have a little cheat sheet that summarises everything on one page. It's good for last-minute revision, or printing out and sticking on the wall.

Once you've learned a topic, you can build your own quiz mixing any set of topics you've covered. Cognito uses spaced repetition and interleaving to decide what to bring back and when, adapting to how you're doing. These are the two study techniques with the strongest evidence base in cognitive science.

And when you're ready for exam-style practice, you can work through real exam questions with typed answers. Then either self-mark against the mark scheme point by point, or use AI marking to check your answer against the examiner's points.