Read the line, not the final tick

Cambridge schemes use the same three ideas as at A Level. M is a method applied to this question. A is the accurate result that follows that method. B is a correct fact that stands on its own. If you only look at whether your final number matches the answer column, you will “lose” marks you had already earned, and you will miss the method you never wrote.

• Match the series and the variant. 4024/12 May/June is not 4024/11, and it is not the November paper.
• A follow-through note means your later correct work can score from an earlier wrong answer. If the scheme does not say so, it does not.
• Alternative methods are often listed as “or”. Your method can be valid and still look different from the first column.
• Ignore the grade boundary while you are marking. The scheme awards marks. The threshold is published later.

Simplest form, exact values, and 3 significant figures

The 4024 conventions for 2028–2030 apply on the calculator paper and wherever a numerical answer is not exact.

• Give a non-exact numerical answer to 3 significant figures unless the question asks for something else. Angles in degrees are often 1 decimal place when the question says so. Do not invent a different rounding.
• An answer that is already exact at 4 or 5 significant figures should not be rounded unless the question tells you to.
• Keep extra figures in the working. Round once, at the end. If a later part needs the value, use the unrounded one.
• “Exact” can mean a surd or a multiple of π. A decimal approximation does not replace it.
• Do not mix a fraction and a decimal in one number. The conventions reject that form.
• 4024 Paper 1 has no calculator, so most of its answers are exact. The 3 significant figure rule is the calculator-paper habit. Do not round a fraction into a decimal on Paper 1.

Recent 4024/12 papers are a run of short questions. May/June 2024 runs to question 25. October/November 2025 and May/June 2025 run to question 23. May/June 2026 runs to question 24. Mark question by question. A scheme line for question 18 does not explain question 4.

Mark tonight, redo one type tomorrow

1. Sit the paper in the real time. 4024 Paper 1 and Paper 2 are each 2 hours and 100 marks. 0580 Extended Paper 2 and Paper 4 are the same length and the same mark total. 0580 Core papers are 1 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks.
2. Open only the matching mark scheme. Tick M and A on your script. Write the command word you misread: calculate, show, describe, construct.
3. Sort the misses into three piles: no method, wrong form (rounding or exact), misread. Redo the pile that is largest, not the whole paper.
4. On a calculator paper, put the syllabus and the matching mark scheme in front of you before you look for shortcuts.