Use A Level Maths past papers in two stages. While you are still learning the course, use questions from them topic by topic. Once you have covered most of a paper's content, sit full papers under timed conditions, mark them strictly with the official mark scheme, and keep a list of every mark you lost and why. The list, not the score, is what makes past papers worth the time.
This post covers when to start, how to sit and mark a paper, how to read the codes in an Edexcel mark scheme, and how to stop past papers turning into a ritual that does not move your grade.
When to start
Full papers are most useful when you can do nearly every question on them. If you sit a whole paper in October of Year 13 and half the topics are unfamiliar, you learn mainly that you have not finished the course. Before that point, take individual questions from past papers on topics you have covered, alongside exam-style questions by topic.
There is a limited supply of papers. Pearson publishes 9MA0 papers from June 2018 onwards, and our 9MA0 past papers page notes that the newest series is for teachers only for now. Keep the most recent papers you can get for the last few weeks before the exam, so you still have unseen papers to sit then.
Sit them like the real thing
A past paper done with notes open, over three evenings, tells you very little. Sit it in one go, at the real length, with only what you will have in the exam: your calculator and the formula booklet.
| Paper | Length | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Edexcel 9MA0 Papers 1 and 2 (Pure) | 2 hours | 100 |
| Edexcel 9MA0 Paper 3 (Statistics and Mechanics) | 2 hours, two 50-mark sections | 100 |
| Edexcel IAL units such as P1 | 1 hour 30 minutes | 75 |
If you run out of time, draw a line where you were when the time ran out, and then finish the paper in a different colour. You need to know both your timed score and what you can do with more time; they point to different problems.
Mark strictly, line by line
Mark the paper the next day with the official mark scheme. Go through it mark by mark, not answer by answer. Write the code next to the line in your working that earned it, or circle the line where it was lost.
The codes in an Edexcel mark scheme:
- M1: a method mark, for a correct method applied to the right numbers.
- A1: an accuracy mark. It only follows the M mark it depends on.
- B1: an independent mark for a correct result or statement, with no method needed first.
- dM1: a dependent method mark, only available if an earlier M mark was earned.
- ft: follow-through, allowed only where the scheme says so.
- cao, oe, awrt, isw: correct answer only, or equivalent, answers which round to, and ignore subsequent working.
Our mark scheme codes guide has an example of each mark being gained and lost.
Worked example: how a question is split into marks
Here is a question in the style of an IAL P1 differentiation question, with a mark split of the kind you see in Edexcel mark schemes. The question and the split are my own.
Example · P1 style · 6 marks
The curve $C$ has equation $y = 4x^{3/2} - 6x + 2$, $x > 0$.
(a) Find $\dfrac{dy}{dx}$. [2]
(b) Find the equation of the tangent to $C$ at the point where $x = 4$, giving your answer in the form $y = mx + c$. [4]
Solution
(a) $\dfrac{dy}{dx} = 6x^{1/2} - 6$
M1 for reducing a power by one on at least one term; A1 for the fully correct derivative.
(b) At $x = 4$: $\dfrac{dy}{dx} = 6(2) - 6 = 6$ M1 (substituting $x = 4$ into their derivative)
$y = 4(8) - 6(4) + 2 = 10$ B1
$y - 10 = 6(x - 4)$ dM1 (a straight line through their point with their gradient, dependent on the previous M1)
$y = 6x - 14$ A1 cao
Two things to notice. The B1 for $y = 10$ is independent: you can earn it even if your derivative is wrong. And the dM1 is only available if the M1 before it was earned, so a tangent drawn with the gradient taken from the original equation, rather than from the derivative, gets neither mark. The final A1 is cao: only $y = 6x - 14$ earns it.
Read the examiner report too
For most series Pearson also publishes an examiner report, which says, question by question, where students lost marks. After marking a paper, read the report's comments on the questions you dropped marks on. It often names the exact slip you made. Our IAL P1 Examiner Insights page pulls those comments together by topic, in our own words.
Keep a log, and redo
For every lost mark, write down the paper, the question, the topic and the reason: did not know the method, slip, incomplete working, wrong form, or time. Then, a week later, redo those questions without looking at your previous attempt. A past paper is only finished when you can do every question on it.
After three or four papers, the reasons column shows what to change. Lots of "did not know" means going back to topic practice; lots of "slip" means slowing down and setting out working more clearly; lots of "time" means timed practice on shorter sets.
A word on grade boundaries
It is tempting to convert every score into a grade. Do it occasionally, not after every paper, and compare against several recent series, because boundaries move with how hard the papers were. For UK A Level the grade is set on the total of all three papers; IAL units are converted to uniform marks. Our grade boundaries page links each board's official tables.
When you run out of papers
When you have used the papers you can get, our predicted papers are full practice papers in the same format, written by us. They are not board papers, but they let you practise the timing and the mixing of topics.
A free account (no card) adds 5 more practice questions on every topic with instant feedback, answers and mark schemes on free questions, and your streak and progress on any device. Create a free account to keep your practice and progress in one place between papers.
Practise this topic
FAQ
When should I start doing A Level Maths past papers?
Start full papers once you have covered most of the content for that paper. Before then, practise exam-style questions topic by topic. Keep the most recent papers for the last few weeks, so you have unseen papers left to sit under exam conditions.
What does dM1 mean in an Edexcel mark scheme?
A dependent method mark. It can only be awarded if a particular earlier method mark has been earned, so a later method built on a wrong start gets no credit.
Where can I find IAL past paper mark schemes?
Pearson publishes International A Level papers, mark schemes and examiner reports. Our past paper pages link each one, by unit and series, straight to Pearson.
Edexcel, AQA, OCR and International A Level papers, mark schemes and examiner reports, linked straight to the boards, with a timer.
Open the past papers →