IGCSE Math RevisionWhat the examiners said — and exactly what to do about it
After every exam series the boards publish reports on where students lost marks. We read them, map every question to a topic, and turn the comments into a ranked checklist for your next exam. IGCSE Maths 0580: we have not yet read the reports themselves, so that page is built from public summaries and says so.
Choose your course
Each page: the top mistakes with fixes and worked examples, a topic trend table and a per-paper view where we have mapped the papers, and what to focus on next (clearly labelled as prediction).
IGCSE Maths 4MA1 Higher
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Mathematics A (4MA1) Higher · 8 reports read
- Completing the square, quadratic inequalities and harder quadratics
- Probability (trees, combinations, conditional) and Venn diagrams
- Reverse percentages and compound interest
IGCSE Maths 0580
Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics (0580), Core and Extended · public sources
- Accuracy: keep full values, round once, 3 s.f. and 1 d.p. for angles
- Combined events: multiply along a route, add different routes
- Units in area and volume (cm, m, litres)
The two mistakes that cost the most marks, course by course
The first two on each course page, ordered by how often and how widely they were reported, with the fix in one line. The course page has the worked examples and the rest of the list.
IGCSE Maths 4MA1 Higher
- Reverse percentages: finding a percentage of the new amount. Write "original × multiplier = new", then divide. Check by multiplying back.
- Compound interest and depreciation done as simple interest. Use amount × multiplierⁿ. For depreciation the multiplier is below 1 (e.g. 0.85).
IGCSE Maths 0580
- No working, so no part marks. Write one line per step (what you work out, then the number). Keep going to the answer even if you are unsure of an earlier step.
- Rounding in the middle of a calculation. Keep every intermediate value in the calculator (use the memory or ANS key, or write at least 4 or 5 significant figures). Round only the final answer.