What the examiners said about IAL P2 (WMA12) — and exactly what to do about it
We read every Pearson Edexcel examiner report for WMA12 from June 2024 to June 2025, mapped each question to a topic, and turned the comments into a checklist of the mistakes that cost the most marks.
Summaries are in our own words with links to the originals. Predictions are informed guesses, not a guarantee.
Ranked for January 2027
What to focus on for January 2027
IAL units are sat in January, June and October. The October 2026 series is next; the ranking below is for your next sitting, whichever it is. Ranked by how often each area appeared, how many marks it carried and how weakly it was answered.
Informed prediction, not a guarantee: any topic on the specification can be examined.
1
Factor and remainder theorems, and proof
Two questions in every series (about 13–14 marks), including a proof each time.
Ordered by how often and how widely they were reported. The first 5 are free in full; Pro unlocks the fix and a worked example for every other one.
#1Logarithms: log laws not shown, and roots not rejected
What examiners saw: The paper instructs candidates to show all stages; combining logs without showing the law, removing logs incorrectly, and keeping a root that makes a log undefined all lose marks.
Fix: One log law per line, then remove the log (log₂ A = 3 ⇒ A = 2³). Reject any root that makes an argument ≤ 0 and say why.
Worked example (our own): Solve log₂(x + 2) + log₂ x = 3.
What examiners saw: The strip width is found from the number of ordinates instead of strips, and the outer bracket is missing. Some use the calculator instead of the log laws needed to reach an exact form.
Fix: h = (b − a)/n for n strips; write ½h[first + last + 2(middle ones)] in full.
Worked example (our own): Use the trapezium rule with 4 strips to estimate ∫₀² √(1 + x²) dx.
Loses marks
h = 2/5
½ × h × y₀ + y₄ + 2(y₁ + y₂ + y₃)
Earns the marks
4 strips ⇒ h = (2 − 0)/4 = 0.5, x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2
#3Factor theorem: "= 0" not set up from the start; roots not justified
What examiners saw: f(−3) is evaluated but not set equal to 0 at the outset (the "= 0" appears late or only by implication), and questions asking how many real roots there are get an answer without a reason.
Fix: Write "f(−3) = 0" first. To justify the number of roots, factorise fully and use the discriminant of the quadratic factor.
Worked example (our own): (x + 3) is a factor of f(x) = x³ + ax² − 4x − 12. Find a.
Loses marks
f(3) = 27 + 9a − 12 − 12 …
Earns the marks
(x + 3) is a factor ⇒ f(−3) = 0
−27 + 9a + 12 − 12 = 0 ⇒ 9a = 27 ⇒ a = 3
Why: The factor theorem is f(−3) = 0 for the factor (x + 3). Write "= 0" at the start, not at the end.
#4Proof: examples instead of general cases; weak conclusions
What examiners saw: Proof by exhaustion answered by trying numbers; disproof by counter-example without a conclusion; confusion between rational and irrational numbers.
Fix: Cover every case with algebra (3k, 3k + 1, 3k + 2), and finish with a sentence stating what has been shown.
Worked example (our own): Prove that the square of any integer leaves a remainder of 0 or 1 when divided by 3.
#7Circles: signs of the centre, midpoints and radius
What examiners saw: Completing the square gives the centre with the wrong signs; midpoints are found by subtracting coordinates; the radius picks up arithmetic errors.
Pro: the fix and a worked example (wrong vs right method) for this mistake are in Pro. See plans
How often each topic appeared, and for how many marks
Every question in the papers we read, matched to a topic. Numbers are marks (from the published mark schemes; a question that tests two topics has its marks split). Columns marked * count questions (q) because the marks could not be verified from the mark scheme. Hover or tap a cell to see the questions.
Confidence: high for the series shown — every question was read and mapped by hand. "Series" = how many of the 4 series examined the topic.
Paper by paper
Every paper we analysed, question by question
Topics are ours (matched from each report's question-by-question comments). We don't reproduce the questions: open the official paper from our past-paper page.
A one-page PDF of the ten most common mark-losing mistakes and how to avoid them. Print it and stick it inside your revision folder.
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Sources
Where this comes from
We read the examiner report for every series from June 2024 to June 2025 in full and matched each question to a topic; marks come from the published mark schemes where the per-question totals could be checked against the paper total.
What do examiners say students get wrong in IAL P2 (WMA12)?
The most repeated points are: Logarithms; Trapezium rule; Factor theorem. Each one on this page has the fix and, where free, a worked example showing the wrong and right method.
Which IAL P2 (WMA12) topics come up most?
In the material we analysed, the biggest areas were Factor and remainder theorems, proof, Sequences and series, Exponentials and logarithms.
Is this a prediction of the January 2027 paper?
No one outside the exam board knows what will be on the next paper. The "focus" list is an informed prediction from how often topics appeared and how weakly they were answered; it is not a guarantee, so revise the whole specification.
Where does this information come from?
We read 4 Pearson Edexcel examiner reports (June 2024, October 2024, January 2025, June 2025) in full, summarised them in our own words and linked each point to the original.
A Level Math Revision