Six questions that have a factual answer

1. Which code is on the statement of entry: 4024, 0580 Core, 0580 Extended, 4037, 9709, 4MA1, or a WMA / WME / WST unit? “O Level maths” is not a paper.
2. For 4024, can they say Paper 1 is non-calculator, 2 hours, 100 marks, and Paper 2 is the calculator paper of the same length? For 0580 from the 2028 syllabus, Paper 1 is the Core non-calculator paper. Extended candidates sit Paper 2 without a calculator and Paper 4 with one.
3. For 9709, can they draw the two AS routes? Paper 1 with Paper 5 leaves Paper 3 plus either Paper 4 or Paper 6 at A2. Paper 1 with Paper 4 leaves only Paper 3 with Paper 5. Paper 4 cannot be combined with Paper 6. There is no Mechanics 2.
4. For WMA11, can they say it is 1 hour 30 minutes and 75 marks, that a calculator is allowed but a symbolic-algebra calculator is not, and that an A* is not decided by this unit alone? A* needs a grade A overall, at least 480 of 600 uniform marks, and at least 180 of 200 on P3 and P4 together.
5. Will they mark a script with method and accuracy, not only a percentage? Ask to see one marked question. The working should be on the page.
6. Is mathematics the lesson? A page that sells ten subjects will not have time for a 4024 Paper 1 error log.

Use one past-paper question as the trial

Send a question from the student’s own paper the day before. In the lesson the teacher should attempt it live, name the method mark, and set the redo for the next day. A polished slideshow of “exam tips” with no script is not a trial.

• 9709 Paper 1: a quadratic that has to be factorised or substituted into the formula. The teacher should refuse a bare calculator root.
• 9709 Mechanics: topic-by-topic accuracy, not a stack of unseen yearly papers. The component is smaller and the threshold is often high, and momentum is on the current syllabus. A teacher who is still teaching the old Mechanics list is behind the syllabus.
• 9709 Statistics 1: the normal distribution and the normal approximation are a high-scoring block. Ask for one normal question, with a diagram and continuity correction if the question needs it.
• WMA11: a surd to rationalise, with every line written. The specification requires rationalising denominators. A decimal is not that skill.
• 4024 Paper 1: a fraction or a construction with no calculator on the desk.

A fair test of an A Level teacher is whether they can map 9709 Papers 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6, for a school candidate and a private candidate, on a whiteboard.

Match the teacher to a hub, not to a slogan

After the trial, the notes and the weekly paper should be the ones linked from the hub for that code. If the files are labelled “IGCSE maths” and the entry says 4024, stop. The comparison guides on this site are the map. The teacher should agree with them, or should show you the syllabus page that says otherwise.