Topics: marks and papers

Every part of the syllabus, with the share of marks it carried and how often it appeared in past papers. Choose one to see its papers and try a question.

All sittings since 2019

In the papers analysed (January 2019 to November 2025, 42 papers).

Number 1

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
The ordinary processes of number manipulation 1A	1.1%	17 of 42
Prime numbers, factors, multiples 1B	1.0%	17 of 42
Indices, powers and roots 1C	0.1%	2 of 42
Simple manipulation of surds 1D	0.8%	12 of 42
Rationalising the denominator 1E	0.7%	9 of 42
Natural numbers, integers and rational and irrational numbers 1F	0.1%	3 of 42
Weights, measures and money 1G	2.1%	20 of 42
Fractions, decimals, ratio, proportion and percentage 1H	5.1%	39 of 42
Expressing numbers to a given degree of accuracy 1I	0.1%	3 of 42
Solve problems using upper and lower bounds where values are given to a degree of accuracy 1J	2.0%	20 of 42
Numbers in standard form 1K	1.8%	21 of 42

Sets 2

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
The idea of a set 2A	Not in the papers analysed
Set language and notation 2B	0.5%	6 of 42
Union and intersection of sets 2C	Not in the papers analysed
Number of elements in a set 2D	Not in the papers analysed
Complementary sets 2E	Not in the papers analysed
Subsets 2F	Not in the papers analysed
Universal set, null set 2G	Not in the papers analysed
Venn diagrams and their use in simple logical problems 2H	2.6%	19 of 42
Use of symbols to represent sets 2I	Not in the papers analysed

Algebra 3

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
The basic processes of algebra 3A	2.0%	20 of 42
The construction, interpretation and use of formulae and their manipulation 3B	2.1%	23 of 42
The factorisation of simple algebraic expressions 3C	1.3%	18 of 42
Use of the factor theorem 3D	1.8%	19 of 42
Algebraic division of a cubic by a linear factor 3E	0.1%	1 of 42
The manipulation of simple algebraic fractions, the denominators being numerical, linear or quadratic 3F	1.6%	18 of 42
Solution of equations of 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree containing one unknown quantity 3G	4.2%	32 of 42
Solution of linear simultaneous equations in two unknowns 3H	1.5%	16 of 42
Solve simultaneous equations in two unknowns, one equation being linear and the other being quadratic 3I	2.0%	14 of 42
Solution of linear inequalities, and the representations of solutions on the number line and two-dimensional space 3J	2.3%	24 of 42
Solve quadratic inequalities in one unknown and represent the solution set on a number line 3K	1.3%	11 of 42
The idea of a sequence 3L	0.9%	17 of 42

Functions 4

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
The idea of a function of a variable 4A	Not in the papers analysed
Function as a mapping or as a correspondence between the elements of two sets 4B	Not in the papers analysed
Use functional notations of the form f(x) = … and f: x ↦ … 4C	0.8%	15 of 42
Domain and range of a function 4D	0.8%	20 of 42
Composite functions 4E	3.3%	18 of 42
Inverse functions 4F	1.3%	17 of 42
Variation, direct and indirect proportion 4G	0.8%	9 of 42
Rectangular Cartesian co-ordinates 4H	0.2%	7 of 42
Recognise that equations of the form y = mx + c are straight–line graphs with gradient m and intercept on the y-axis at the point (0, c) 4I	1.0%	14 of 42
Graphs and graphical treatment of the equation: y = Ax³ + Bx² + Cx + D + E/x + F/x² in which the constants are numerical and at least three of them are zero 4J	3.6%	21 of 42
The gradients of graphs above by drawing 4K	0.4%	9 of 42
Differentiation of integer powers of x 4L	0.5%	9 of 42
Determination of gradients, rates of change, maxima and minima, stationary points and turning points 4M	2.1%	18 of 42
Applications to linear kinematics and to other simple practical problems 4N	1.7%	11 of 42

Matrices 5

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
Representation of data by a matrix 5A	Not in the papers analysed
Addition and multiplication of matrices 5B	1.5%	20 of 42
Multiplication of a matrix by a scalar 5C	0.1%	3 of 42
Unit (identity) matrix and zero (null) matrix 5D	0.1%	1 of 42
Determinants and inverses of non-singular 2 × 2 matrices 5E	1.3%	20 of 42
Transformations of the plane associated with 2 × 2 matrices 5F	1.3%	16 of 42
Combination of transformations 5G	0.5%	7 of 42

Geometry 6

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
Geometrical properties of Euclidean space, as listed below 6A	Not in the papers analysed
Geometrical reasoning 6B	0.2%	2 of 42
Angle properties of parallel lines, triangles and polygons, including regular polygons 6C	1.7%	18 of 42
Properties of the parallelogram, rectangle, square, rhombus, trapezium and kite 6D	Not in the papers analysed
Symmetry about a point, line or plane 6E	0.4%	8 of 42
Use of Pythagoras’ theorem in 2D and 3D 6F	0.4%	8 of 42
Similarity: areas and volumes of similar figures 6G	1.9%	18 of 42
Prove the similarity of two triangles 6H	0.2%	3 of 42
Congruent shapes 6I	Not in the papers analysed
Understand and use SSS, SAS, ASA and RHS conditions to prove the congruence of triangles 6J	0.5%	7 of 42
Chord, angle and tangent properties of circles 6K	2.2%	19 of 42
Properties of a cyclic quadrilateral 6L	Not in the papers analysed
Loci in two dimensions 6M	1.1%	13 of 42
Constructions of bisector of an angle and of perpendicular bisector (mediator) of a straight line 6N	0.5%	9 of 42

Mensuration 7

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
Length, area, and volume 7A	Not in the papers analysed
Mensuration of two-dimensional shapes, rectangle, parallelogram, trapezium, triangle, circle 7B	1.8%	20 of 42
Mensuration of three-dimensional shapes, right circular cylinder, right circular cone and sphere, cuboid, pyramid, prism 7C	3.1%	28 of 42
Length of an arc, area of a sector of a circle 7D	1.6%	17 of 42

Vectors and transformation geometry 8

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
Scalar and vector quantities 8A	Not in the papers analysed
Understand and use vector notation 8B	0.1%	2 of 42
Representation of a vector by a directed line segment 8C	Not in the papers analysed
Parallel vectors, unit vectors and position vectors 8D	0.2%	2 of 42
Sum and difference of two vectors 8E	0.1%	2 of 42
Modulus (magnitude) of a vector 8F	0.3%	5 of 42
Multiplication of a vector by a scalar 8G	Not in the papers analysed
Find the resultant of two or more vectors 8H	1.0%	16 of 42
Apply vector methods to simple geometrical problems 8I	2.2%	19 of 42
Transformations of the plane 8J	1.6%	20 of 42
Combination of transformations 8K	1.2%	17 of 42
Multiplication of a vector by a matrix 8L	Not in the papers analysed

Trigonometry 9

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
Use of sine, cosine and tangent of angles up to 180° 9A	2.9%	26 of 42
Solution of problems in two and three dimensions by calculation and by drawing 9B	2.8%	24 of 42
Angles of elevation and depression 9C	0.5%	5 of 42
Bearings 9D	0.6%	8 of 42

Statistics and probability 10

Topic	Share of marks	On papers
Graphical representation of numerical data 10A	1.4%	18 of 42
Determination of the mean, median and mode for a discrete data set 10B	2.0%	24 of 42
Calculation of an estimate of the mean of a larger number of quantities given in grouped frequencies 10C	1.6%	17 of 42
Determination of a modal class and the class containing the median for grouped data 10D	0.1%	2 of 42
Understand the language and basic concepts of probability 10E	0.7%	15 of 42
Use of addition rule for two or more mutually exclusive events 10F	0.1%	1 of 42
Use of product rule for two or more independent events 10G	0.4%	5 of 42
Determination of the probability of two or more independent events 10H	1.3%	10 of 42
Using simple conditional probability for combined events 10I	1.7%	12 of 42
Finding very simple conditional probability 10J	0.9%	15 of 42
Understand and use the term ‘expected frequency’ 10K	0.7%	12 of 42

In the papers analysed: marks count labelled parts only (most, not all, of each paper), a part's marks split over its subtopics; shares describe past papers, not a forecast. stats.current = the syllabus now examined; stats.all = every sitting analysed