Syllabus Changes in Add Maths for O Level and IGCSE (2025-2027)
In this blog post, we are going to go over the syllabus changes in Add Maths for O Level and IGCSE. These changes will be applied from 2025 and onwards, all the way to 2027. So, if you have your exam in Oct/Nov of this year, that is 2024, then this information is completely irrelevant for you. In fact, I suggest you stop reading immediately and go back to studying or whatever it is that you were doing. Keep in mind that these changes apply to BOTH O Level Add Math (4037) as well as IGCSE Add Math (0606). The syllabi, paper pattern, exam papers everything for both is the same. The only difference is that IGCSE has three sessions in a year (Feb/Mar, May/Jun and Oct/Nov and more variants per session).Now, I have broken this post down into three parts:
- Changes in Syllabus
- Changes in Paper Pattern
- New Resources
1. Changes in Syllabus
Content Overview (Before)
All candidates will study the following topics:- Functions
- Quadratic functions
- Equations, inequalities, and graphs
- Indices and surds
- Factors of polynomials
- Simultaneous equations
- Logarithmic and exponential functions
- Straight line graphs
- Circular measure
- Trigonometry
- Permutations and combinations
- Series
- Vectors in two dimensions
- Differentiation and integration
Content Overview (After)
All candidates study the following topics:
- Functions
- Quadratic functions
- Factors of polynomials
- Equations, inequalities, and graphs
- Simultaneous equations
- Logarithmic and exponential functions
- Straight-line graphs
- Coordinate geometry of the circle
- Circular measure
- Trigonometry
- Permutations and combinations
- Series
- Vectors in two dimensions
- Calculus
First thing to notice here is that there are no Indices and surds because they are now part of IGCSE and O Level Math and are now considered assumed knowledge. Secondly, there is the addition of Coordinate geometry of the circle. This is the only major change in the syllabus; everything else remains the same.
2. Paper Pattern
Paper Pattern (Before)
Paper Pattern (After)
Then if we talk about the paper pattern, you can see it's all the same except for one major change: there is no calculator allowed in Paper 1. Other than that, the marks, time, weightage, everything is the same. One thing to note is that the number of questions given in each paper is not fixed. We don’t have a lot of data to figure it out. Now, this begs the question about the topics that are going to come in Paper 1 and Paper 2. If you want me to make a video on it, let me know in the comments section.
3. Resources/Material Needed
Image 1
Image 2
Before we talk about new resources, it's very important to remember that all the old resources are not completely useless, so don’t throw them away. If your teacher at school is still using the old material, that's perfectly alright because 80% of the syllabus is still the same. For example, if you’re the Add Math Book by Ho Soo Thong (Image 1), remember that the following topics are no longer part of the syllabus:
- Sets (1)
- Matrices (6)
- Relative Velocity (24)
If you’re using the newer book by Sue Pemberton (Image 2), then all the topics are relevant; however, it doesn’t include the new topic that has been added to the syllabus, which is Coordinate Geometry of the Circle. It also includes indices and surds, which are now assumed knowledge, so you can treat those sections as extra practice material.
As far as the new resources are concerned, you can check those out on the Cambridge website here. Please note, you don’t have to get all of them—just get one book or a maximum of two, and you’ll be fine.
Summary
To summarise, no topic from the previous syllabus has been removed except for Indices and surds, which are now assumed knowledge. The only new topic added is Coordinate Geometry of a Circle. Now in Paper 1, you cannot use a calculator. All the old resources, for the most part, are still relevant, and you can check out the new resources on the Cambridge website.
That’s it, everyone! That’s all there is to know about the syllabus changes for 2025 to 2027. If there are any updates, I’ll make sure to create a video on it or at least announce it on my Instagram, so make sure to give it a follow and subscribe to the channel if you haven’t done that yet.