| Dimension | Physics & Maths Tutor | Save My Exams |
|---|---|---|
| Price model | Free to browse and download; no sign-up required | Free plan, then paid monthly, three-month or twelve-month plans |
| What the free tier includes | Papers, mark schemes, notes, topic questions and worksheets | Limited topic questions per subject, sample notes, limited past papers, one or two subjects unlocked |
| Practice format | PDFs and pages you select, print and keep yourself | Online topic questions with model answers, plus downloadable papers |
| Teaching layer | Revision notes, cheatsheets, worksheets, model solutions and 11 university admissions-test sections | Teacher- and examiner-written notes, model answers, SmartMark feedback, Target Tests and mock exams |
| Breadth | AQA, CAIE, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas and WJEC at GCSE, IGCSE, A Level and International A Level | GCSE, IGCSE, A Level, IB and AP across a much wider subject list |
| Best fit | You want free files and you will decide what to practise | You want explanations, worked answers and progress tools in one paid account |
| Main limitation | You do the searching, selecting and printing; the catalogue is narrower | The full feature set sits behind a paid plan, and prices vary by currency and change |
The verdict first, the reasoning after
PMT is a free library. Save My Exams is a paid revision membership. They overlap in the middle, because both can hand you questions on a topic, but they are built for different budgets and different kinds of help.
If tonight's problem is finding a paper, a mark scheme or a worksheet, PMT answers it at no cost. If the problem is not understanding a topic, checking your own answers against a model response, and being told what to revise next, that is what the Save My Exams membership is doing.
What PMT gives you for free, and where the money appears
PMT's past-paper section lists AQA, CAIE, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas and WJEC papers and mark schemes for A Levels, International A Levels, GCSEs and IGCSEs. Its maths revision pages add revision notes, cheatsheets, worksheets, questions by topic, model solutions and past papers for each board. There is also a section covering 11 university admissions tests, including MAT, PAT, STEP, TMUA, TSA and UCAT, plus UCAS guidance.
Two details are worth stating plainly. First, “free” describes the resource site: the same brand sells tutoring and online revision courses through PMT Education, and you can order printed copies of some resources by post. Second, PMT is narrower than its reputation suggests. PMT's own comparison with Save My Exams lists past papers and mark schemes for 13 subjects on its side and over 60 subjects on Save My Exams' side, which is a fair summary of what each catalogue actually holds.
That is not a weakness if your subject is on the list. For a Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics 0580 student, PMT's CIE pages are a genuine free route to real papers and mark schemes, with no account and no paywall in the way.
What Save My Exams gives away, and what it charges for
Save My Exams' free plan is real but thin: a limited selection of topic questions per subject, sample notes, limited access to past papers, and one or two subjects unlocked. Premium unlocks every topic question and mark scheme, revision notes, model answers written by teachers and examiners, SmartMark marking, Target Tests and Mock Exams.
Printing is where the two sites get confused, so check the detail. Save My Exams says its past papers and their mark schemes, plus the question papers for its topic questions, can be downloaded and printed. Its own mark schemes and model answers for exam questions cannot be downloaded or edited, for copyright reasons. So “you cannot print from Save My Exams” is wrong, and so is “you can print everything”.
On price, the last check on 12 September 2026 found $40 for one month, $48 for three months and $96 for twelve months, with a seven-day free trial shown at the join page. Currency matters: PMT's own comparison, published in October 2025, reports £12 per month, £30 per quarter and £48 per year for UK visitors. Treat both figures as dated observations and confirm the live price before you pay.
Who each one actually suits
PMT suits the student who already knows what to practise, or who is happy to work board-by-board through a paper. It also suits anyone preparing for a UK university admissions test, where PMT provides material that a general revision membership does not.
Save My Exams suits the student who is still learning the material, sits several subjects, or wants to check written answers against model responses. Its single membership covers more subjects and more levels than PMT's catalogue, which is the strongest argument for paying.
The failure mode to avoid is buying an annual membership to solve a paperwork problem. If the real reason you keep skipping topical practice is that assembling a targeted set takes an hour, a content library will not fix that. You will have paid for notes you skim once.
Where PastPaperPrep fits, honestly
PastPaperPrep is not a free library and not a revision course. It focuses on live question banks: Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics 0580, Additional Mathematics 0606, Biology 0610, Chemistry 0620, Physics 0625, Co-ordinated Sciences 0654 and Economics 0455, plus IB Mathematics AA and AI, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Economics at HL and SL. The questions are real past-paper questions with source details attached, and you can filter by course, topic, subtopic, year, paper, session, marks and other exam-specific properties before building a printable set.
Prices are $6 per month or $48 per year for one bank. Two to five banks start at $10 per month or $84 per year, with each extra bank at $4 per month or $36 per year. Six or more banks are $25 per month or $216 per year. Complete older exam years can be practised free.
The limits are as real as the benefits. There are no notes, no video lessons and no model-answer library. It will not explain a method you never learned. If your course is outside its supported banks, such as A Level Chemistry or GCSE English, PMT and Save My Exams are the relevant choices and this third option simply is not.
A buying order that wastes the least money
Start free and diagnose. Use PMT or the official board papers for a timed paper, mark it, and write down the two or three skills that actually cost you marks. Save My Exams' free tier is good enough to test whether its notes and question style suit the way you work before you pay for anything.
Then buy only the layer you are missing. If the gap is explanation, that is the Save My Exams membership. If the gap is a repeatable supply of real questions on one weak skill, plus something you can hand to a tutor or print for a lesson, that is PastPaperPrep. If neither gap exists, buy nothing and keep using PMT.
A sensible sequence for one term: free papers to diagnose, one targeted set per week to repair, a mixed paper every fortnight to check transfer, and a decision after four weeks about whether the paid layer is still earning its keep. Cancel the tier you have stopped opening; both PMT's paid courses and PastPaperPrep's subscriptions are easy to keep out of habit.
- You need papers and mark schemes tonight: PMT, free.
- You need a concept explained and your answers checked: Save My Exams.
- You need the same weak topic drilled across many real questions, on paper: PastPaperPrep.
- You need a university admissions test: PMT.
Frequently asked questions
Is Physics & Maths Tutor really free?
Its resource site is free to browse and download, needs no account and carries advertising. The money sits elsewhere: PMT Education sells tutoring and revision courses, and printed copies of some resources can be ordered by post.
Is Save My Exams worth it when PMT is free?
Only if you are using what PMT does not provide. If you need notes, model answers, self-marking practice and mock exams across several subjects, the membership does something PMT cannot. If you only ever download papers and mark schemes, PMT covers that at no cost.
Which is better for IGCSE Maths 0580?
Both routes work and neither is universally better. PMT gives you free CIE papers, mark schemes and topic questions. Save My Exams adds notes and model answers for a subscription. If what you want is a filtered printable set of real 0580 questions from one weak topic, that is PastPaperPrep's narrower job.
How much does Save My Exams cost?
At the last check on 12 September 2026 the join page listed $40 for one month, $48 for three months and $96 for twelve months, with a seven-day free trial. Prices depend on your currency and change over time, so read the live join page rather than trusting a figure in an article.
Can I use PMT and Save My Exams together?
Yes, and that is the cheapest sensible combination. Use PMT for free full papers and mark schemes, and Save My Exams for the notes and model answers you cannot get free anywhere. Add a targeted question source only when the diagnosis is already clear.