New Edition - 2022

How to score an
A* in Math
4024

4 Part guide for

O’level students

By Tehmasip Rahil
 Contents
3
Table Of
Important message!

Past Papers
4 (2014 - 2021) | P22

20 The Breakdown
Understanding which topics are perceived difficult

23 Detailed Breakdown
Division of topics into subtopics to assist you during revision

The two fold Strategy

30 The 50/30/20 Rule
The 70/30 Rule

2
 IMPORTANT!
There are 4 parts to this Study guide

Past Papers
Clickable links will redirect you to
(2014 - 2021) questions, solutions and videos
P22

Topics broken down according to

The Breakdown their perceived level of difficulty

Detailed Division of major topics into

sub-topics so you don't miss out on
Breakdown anything during revision

The two-fold Two useful study techniques

highlighted to save you time and
strategy energy while you boost your grade

Let’s start
3
 Past Papers section
How to access the questions/solutions?

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Algebra (Example)

Click this
link to
access the
question
Name of topic
Click this from which this
link to question is from
access the
solution

Click this link

to access the
video solution

*If the links don’t work, please download Adobe Acrobat Reader on your phone and open
this document via Adobe Acrobat Reader

4
 2014
May/June
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Loci, Bearings

Algebraic manipulation,
2 Click here Click here Click here Equations and Inequalities

3 Click here Click here Click here Money, percentages, ratios

4 Click here Click here Click here Numbers, Probability

5 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

6 Click here Click here Click here Sequences

Statistical diagrams, Categorical,

7 Click here Click here Click here Numerical and Grouped data

Vectors, Similarity and

8 Click here Click here Click here Congruence

Mensuration, Conversions,
9 Click here Click here Click here Similarity and Congruence

10 Click here Click here Click here Graphs of functions

Similarity and congruence,

11 Click here Click here Click here mensuration, angles

5
 2014
Oct/Nov
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Money, Percentages

Angles, Similarity and

2 Click here Click here Click here Congruence

Probability, equations and

3 Click here Click here Click here inequalities

4 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration, trigonometry

5 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration, angles

6 Click here Click here Click here Geometrical Constructions

Vectors, Transformations,
7 Click here Click here Click here Congruence and Similarity

Algebraic Manipulation,
8 Click here Click here Click here Equations and inequalities

9 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

10 Click here Click here Click here Graphs of functions

Statistical diagrams, Categorical,

11 Click here Click here Click here Numerical and Grouped data

6
 2015
May/June
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

Algebraic manipulation,
1 Click here Click here Click here Coordinate Geometry

2 Click here Click here Click here Rate

Categorical, Numerical and Grouped

3 Click here Click here Click here data, Statistical diagrams, Time

4 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration, Angles

5 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry, Percentages

6 Click here Click here Click here Money, Percentages

7 Click here Click here Click here Functions, Graphs of Functions

8 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry, Loci

Pythagorus theorem, Algebraic

9 Click here Click here Click here manipulation

10 Click here Click here Click here Transformations, Symmetry

11 Click here Click here Click here Probability, Statistical diagrams

7
 2015
Oct/Nov
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Money, Percentages

Coordinate geometry,
2 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

Angles, Similarity and

3 Click here Click here Click here Congruence

4 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration

5 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

Equations and inequalities,

6 Click here Click here Click here Algebraic manipulation

Similarity and Congruence,

7 Click here Click here Click here Equations and inequalities

Mensuration, Algebraic
8 Click here Click here Click here representation
Graphs of functions, Algebraic
9 Click here Click here Click here representation, equations and
inequalities

10 Click here Click here Click here Statistical diagrams, Probability

Vectors, Coordinate Geometry,

11 Click here Click here Click here Transformations

8
 2016
May/June
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Percentages, Money

2 Click here Click here Click here Vectors

Categorical, Numerical and

3 Click here Click here Click here Grouped data, Probability,
Statistical diagrams

Geometrical construction, Similarity

4 Click here Click here Click here and Congruence, Angles

Algebraic representation and

5 Click here Click here Click here formulae, Algebraic manipulation,
equations and inequalities

6 Click here Click here Click here Sets, Matrices, Probability

Categorical, Numerical and Grouped

7 Click here Click here Click here data, Statistical diagrams

Graphs of functions, Coordinate

8 Click here Click here Click here geometry, Functions

9 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

10 Click here Click here Click here Transformations, Matrices

11 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration

9
 2016
Oct/Nov
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Money, Percentages

Algebraic manipulation,
2 Click here Click here Click here equations and inequalities

3 Click here Click here Click here Graphs of functions, functions

4 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

5 Click here Click here Click here Similarity and Congruence

6 Click here Click here Click here Matrices

Algebraic representation and

7 Click here Click here Click here formulae, Algebraic manipulation,
equations and inequalities

8 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration

9 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry, Rate

10 Click here Click here Click here Vectors, Ratios, Transformations

Categorical, Numerical and Grouped

11 Click here Click here Click here data, Probability, Statistical diagrams

10
 2017
May/June
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no.
Topics covered
link link link

1 Click here Click here Click here Money

2 Click here Click here Click here Percentages, Estimation

3 Click here Click here Click here Probability

4 Click here Click here Click here Matrices

Basic Algebra, Equations &

5 Click here Click here Click here Inequalities, Graphs

6 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

7 Click here Click here Click here Sequences

8 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry, Mensuration

Basic Algebra, Equations &

9 Click here Click here Click here Inequalities, Graphs

10 Click here Click here Click here Geometrical Constructions

11 Click here Click here Click here Statistics, Probability

12 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration

11
 2017
Oct/Nov
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Money, Percentages

2 Click here Click here Click here Statistics

3 Click here Click here Click here Matrices, Percentages

4 Click here Click here Click here Transformations

Basic Algebra, Equations &

5 Click here Click here Click here Inequalities

6 Click here Click here Click here Sets, Probability

7 Click here Click here Click here Graphs

8 Click here Click here Click here Angles, Similarity & Congruence

Mensuration, Ratio, Rate &

9 Click here Click here Click here Proportion, Trigonometry

Basic Algebra, Equations &

10 Click here Click here Click here Inequalities

11 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

12
 2018
May/June
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

Ratio, Rate & Proportion,

1 Click here Click here Click here Percentages, Money

2 Click here Click here Click here Probability, Statistics

Basic Algebra, Equations &

3 Click here Click here Click here Inequalities

4 Click here Click here Click here Sets

5 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration

6 Click here Click here Click here Graphs, Functions

7 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

8 Click here Click here Click here Similarity & Congruence, Vectors

Ratio, Rate & Proportion, Time,

9 Click here Click here Click here Equations & Inequalities

10 Click here Click here Click here Coordinate Geometry

13
 2018
Oct/Nov
Paper 22
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Percentages, Money

2 Click here Click here Click here Statistics

Basic Algebra, Equations &

3 Click here Click here Click here Inequalities

Ratio, Rate & Proportion,

4 Click here Click here Click here Probability

Percentages, Mensuration,
5 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

6 Click here Click here Click here Money, Basic Algebra, Graphs

7 Click here Click here Click here Transformations

Basic Algebra, Equations &

8 Click here Click here Click here Inequalities, Graphs

9 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration, Trigonometry

Similarity & Congruence,

10 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

14
 2019
May/June
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Percentages, Money, Time

2 Click here Click here Click here Statistics

3 Click here Click here Click here Equations & Inequalities, Graphs

4 Click here Click here Click here Angles

Basic Algebra, Equations &

5 Click here Click here Click here Inequalities, Mensuration

Ratio, Rate & Proportion,

6 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

7 Click here Click here Click here Graphs, Coordinate Geometry

8 Click here Click here Click here Probability, Statistics

9 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration, Trigonometry

10 Click here Click here Click here Vectors

11 Click here Click here Click here Functions

15
 2019
Oct/Nov
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Percentages, Money

2 Click here Click here Click here Transformations

3 Click here Click here Click here Statistics

4 Click here Click here Click here Graphs

5 Click here Click here Click here Sets, Probability

6 Click here Click here Click here Basic Algebra

Ratio, Rate & Proportion,

7 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

8 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration, Trigonometry

9 Click here Click here Click here Basic Algebra, Mensuration

Similarity & Congruence,

10 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration, Trigonometry

16
 2020
May/June
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Percentages, Money

2 Click here Click here Click here Basic Algebra, Mensuration

3 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry

4 Click here Click here Click here Statistics

Ratio, Rate & Proportions,

5 Click here Click here Click here Equations and Inequalities

6 Click here Click here Click here Probability, Statistics

7 Click here Click here Click here Graphs

8 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration

9 Click here Click here Click here Angles

10 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration, Trigonometry

11 Click here Click here Click here Transformations

17
 2020
Oct/Nov
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

1 Click here Click here Click here Percentages, Money

2 Click here Click here Click here Probability, Statistics

Equations and Inequalities,

3 Click here Click here Click here Graphs, Coordinate geometry

4 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration

5 Click here Click here Click here Basic Algebra

6 Click here Click here Click here Functions

7 Click here Click here Click here Similarity & Congruence

8 Click here Click here Click here Vectors

9 Click here Click here Click here Angles, Trigonometry

Ratio, Rate & Proportion, Basic

10 Click here Click here Click here Algebra, Equations and
Inequalities

18
 2021
July
Paper 22

Question Question Solution Video

no. link link link
Topics covered

Statistical diagrams, Categorical,

1 Click here Click here Click here Numerical and Grouped data,
Percentages

2 Click here Click here Click here Percentages, Money

3 Click here Click here Click here Graphs of Functions

4 Click here Click here Click here Sets, Probability

5 Click here Click here Click here Mensuration

6 Click here Click here Click here Time, Trigonometry

Sequences, Algebraic
7 Click here Click here Click here manipulation

8 Click here Click here Click here Coordinate Geometry

Similarity and Congruence,

9 Click here Click here Click here Trigonometry, Mensuration

Algebraic manipulation,
10 Click here Click here Click here Algebraic formulae

19
The
Breakdown
In this section, the entire course of O Level
Maths is broken down into different Topics and
each Topic is assigned a difficulty level based on
the key below.

Easy Medium Difficult

Furthermore, after assigning a difficulty level it

is explained how they fit into the 50/30/20 rule.
This way you will experience a lesser burden
while preparing for your final exams and will
know which topics or sub topics you need to
cover first. It will also give you freedom to focus
on other subjects.

So without wasting a single second, let’s get

right into the nitty gritty’s.

20
Main topics
No. Topic Difficulty level

1 Number

2 Set language and notation

3 Squares, Square roots, Cubes and Cube roots

4 Directed numbers

5 Vulgar and Decimal fractions and percentages

6 Ordering

7 Standard form

8 The four operations

9 Estimation

10 Limits of accuracy

11 Ratio, Proportion, Rate

12 Percentages

13 Time

14 Money

15 Personal and small business finance

16 Algebraic Representation and Formulae

17 Algebraic Manipulation

18 Indices

19 Solutions of equations and Inequalities

20 Graphical Representation of inequalities

21
Main topics
No. Topic Difficulty level

21 Sequences

22 Variation

23 Graphs in practical situations

24 Graphs of functions

25 Function notation

26 Coordinate Geometry

27 Geometrical terms

28 Geometrical constructions

29 Similarity and Congruence

30 Symmetry

31 Angles

32 Loci

33 Measures

34 Mensuration

35 Trigonometry

36 Vectors in two dimensions

37 Matrices

38 Transformations

39 Probability

40 Categorical, numerical and grouped data

41 Statistical diagrams
22
Detailed
Breakdown
Another very important thing we realised after
speaking to multiple students and assessing their
feedback is that a student also fears the possibility
of missing out on certain sub-topics.

Now this can be a problem if you have your CAIEs

coming up pretty soon. So we went a little further
and broke the Major topics down into subtopics so
that it helps you remember which Sub-topics you
may have missed out whilst your preparation.

The next 5 pages have a detailed breakdown of

each Major topic. The purpose of this section is
solely to help you recall which sub-topics you are
yet to cover. This method of recalling will give you
an edge in improving your grade even further.

Let’s get right into it.

23
Sub-topics
Topic What you should know?

Knowledge of natural numbers, integers, prime

numbers, square numbers, cube numbers,
Number common factors and common multiples,
rational and irrational numbers, real numbers

Set Language and Use of Language, Notation and Venn diagrams

Notation to describe Sets and their relationships

Squares, square roots, Calculate squares, square roots, cubes and

cubes and cube roots cube roots of numbers

Use of directed numbers. Example temperature

Directed numbers changes or flood levels

Vulgar and decimal

Use of language and notation of simple vulgar
fractions and and decimal fractions and percentages.
percentages

Order quantities by magnitude and

Ordering demonstrate familiarity with the symbols =, ≠, >,
<, ⩾, ⩽

Use the standard form A × 10ⁿ where n is a

Standard form positive or negative integer, and 1 ⩽ A < 10

Use the four operations for calculations with

whole numbers, decimals and vulgar (and
The four operations mixed) fractions, including correct ordering of
operations and use of brackets

Make estimates of numbers, quantities and

lengths, to specified numbers of significant
Estimation figures and decimal places and round off
answers to reasonable accuracy

24
Sub-topics
Topic What you should know?

Limits of accuracy Knowledge of upper and lower bounds

Knowledge of ratio and proportions, increase

Ratio, Proportion, Rate and decrease in quantities using ratios, solving
problems involving average speed

Knowledge of calculating a given percentage of

a quantity, express one quantity as a percentage
Percentages of another, percentage increase or decrease,
reverse percentages

Calculate times in terms of the 24-hour and 12-

Time hour clock. Be able to read clocks, dials and
timetables

Solve problems involving money and convert

Money from one currency to another

Knowledge of solving problems on personal and

Personal business and
small business finance involving earnings,
finance simple interest and compound interest

Knowledge of using letters to express numbers

Algebraic and express arithmetic processes algebraically,
representation and substitute numbers for words and letters in
formulae formulae, construct and transform formulae
and equations

Knowledge of using brackets and extract

common factors, expand products of algebraic
Algebraic manipulation expressions, manipulate algebraic fractions,
factorise and simplify rational expressions

Knowledge of rules of indices and positive,

Indices negative, fractional and zero indices

25
Sub-topics
Topic What you should know?

Knowledge of solving simple linear equations,

Solutions of equations fractional equations, simultaneous linear
and inequalities equations, quadratic equations, simple linear
inequalities

Graphical representation
Represent linear inequalities graphically
of inequalities

Recognise patterns and relationships between

Sequences sequences. Convert sequences to algebraic
statements. Use of the Nth term

Knowledge of Direct and Inverse variation. How

Variation to convert to algebraic terms and find unknown
quantities

Interpret and use Travel graphs and Conversion

Graphs in practical
graphs. Use of Kinematics. How to draw graphs
situations of given data

Draw function graphs from value tables.

Interpret graphs of linear, quadratic, cubic,
Graphs of functions reciprocal and exponential functions. Solve
equations graphically. Estimate gradients of
curves by use of tangents

Knowledge of function notation as well as

Function notation Simple and Inverse functions

Knowledge of Cartesian coordinates, gradient of

straight lines, length and coordinates of the
Coordinate Geometry midpoint of a line segment. Equation of a
straight line, parallel and perpendicular lines

26
Sub-topics
Topic What you should know?

Knowledge of terms: point; line; plane; parallel;

perpendicular; bearing; right angle, acute,
obtuse and reflex angles; interior and exterior
angles; similarity and congruence. Knowledge
Geometrical terms of triangles, special quadrilaterals, circles,
polygons and simple solid figures.
Understanding of the terms: centre, radius,
chord, diameter, circumference, tangent, arc,
sector and segment

Measure lines and angles, construct a triangle,

Geometrical
construct angle bisectors and perpendicular
constructions bisectors, read and make scale drawings

Solve problems and give simple explanations

Similarity and involving similarity and congruence, calculate
congruence lengths of similar figures, area, volume and
surface area

Knowledge of rotational and line symmetry,

Symmetry symmetry properties of 3-D shapes, symmetric
properties of circles

Knowledge of angles at a point, line,

intersecting lines, parallel lines, transversals,
Angles triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, circles,
tangents, semi-circles, tangents, segments in
circles. Knowledge of types of angles

Knowledge of Loci at a distance from a given

point, at a distance from a given straight line,
Loci equidistant from two given points, equidistant
from two given intersecting straight lines

Knowledge of units of mass, length, area,

Measures volume and capacity. Express quantities in
terms of larger or smaller units

27
Sub-topics
Topic What you should know?

Solve problems involving perimeter and area of

basic shapes, parallelograms, trapeziums,
circles. Finding Arc lengths and sector areas.
Mensuration Solving problems involving surface area and
volume of cubes, cuboids, prisms, spheres,
cones, pyramids, cylinders, compound shapes

Knowledge of Pythagorus theorem, basic trig

ratios, angles of elevation and depression, Sine/
Trigonometry Cosine rules, Obtuse angles, Bearings, 3-D
shapes and calculating area

Knowledge of addition, subtraction,

Vectors in two
multiplication of vectors, magnitude, position
dimensions vectors, matrices, Coplanar vectors

Knowledge of displaying matrices, addition,

Matrices subtraction, multiplication and division of
matrices(inverse matrices), determinant

Knowledge of translation, reflection, rotation,

Transformations enlargement, shear, coordinate & matrix
transformations
Knowledge of probability of single events, event
occurring and not occurring, relative
Probability frequencies, estimation, combined events using
possibility & tree diagrams

Knowledge of the following: Collect, classify and

tabulate data. Read and interpret data. Mean,
Categorical, numerical
Median, Mode & Range. Individual and discrete
and grouped data data. Grouped and Continuous data. Modal
class from grouped frequency distribution

Knowledge of Constructing or interpreting bar

charts, pie charts, pictograms, frequency
distributions, frequency polygons, histograms,
Statistical diagrams cumulative frequency curves, correlations,
scatter diagrams, percentiles, quartiles, line of
best fit, frequency density
28
 There are about 34 different
topics which are highlighted
with Green and Blue labels
above. These topics are rated as
the EASIEST and MEDIUM in
terms of difficulty.

However, the ones with the Red

labels, as you can see above, are
7 topics that are rated most
DIFFICULT and we need to
attack them first with full force.

Let’s See how?

The two fold Strategy
The two fold Strategy is simple and easy to
understand. This one strategy can save you time
and energy while you prepare for your CAIEs.

2 Parts

50/30/20 Rule 70/30 Rule

Only purpose is Only purpose is

PREPARATION EXECUTION

Let’s drill down further..

30
 The 50/30/20 Rule
Spend 50% of your time working on the 7 topics
mentioned above which are rated as the most
difficult topics. Spend 30% of your time on topics
that are rated medium in difficulty level. And
spend the remaining 20% time on the easy topics
mentioned in the start. This strategy will allow
you to save time and energy and PUMP up your
math skills and you’ll unlock a part of yourself you
didn’t know existed.

HOWEVER, this does not mean that you don’t

attempt complete Past Papers in one go while
practicing. If you are aiming for a good grade you
still have to put in the time and effort to make it
happen for you. Nothing comes without hard
work!

Now you know how to spend your time studying

math, let’s have a look at how to ATTACK both
Paper 1 and Paper 2 with our learnings.

31
 The 70/30 Rule
For the past 8 years or so Paper 1 has been a 2
hour paper with the total number of questions
ranging between 20 to 27. The max marks are
now capped up at 80 which means on average
each question ranges between 3 to 5 marks.

Paper 2 has about 10 to 12 questions on average.

A 2 hour 30 min paper capped at a 100 marks,
which are unequally divided between 10 to 12
questions. Which means on average each
question ranges from about 10 to 8 marks.

Now consider this, you are aiming to get an A

grade, but the maximum you think you can
score is a B grade. The problem isn’t that you
don’t know math. The problem is that you are
less experienced in the difficult topics and
therefore lose marks there. Great teachers may
give you this feedback when you are paying to
attend their classes.

Isn’t this true ??

Shouldn’t this advice be for free ??
32
For Paper 1: On average 70 percent of the
questions that you get are considered easy on
the difficulty level. Only the remaining 30% are
considered difficult. If there are 24 questions in
your paper and on average 70% are easy that
means that about 17 questions are easy. Let’s
assume that the average mark per question is 4.
If you get 17 questions right, which means 17 x 4
= 68 marks, you just secured 68 marks out of 80
which is about 85%.

For Paper 2: Let's say it has an average of 10

questions. We discussed earlier that at least 70%
of those questions are relatively easy, it’s true for
Paper 2 as well. If you attempt and get those 70%
coupled with the 85% in Paper 1, you just ensured
a 'B Grade’ with a decent amount of effort.

BUT I DONT WANT A ‘B GRADE’!

From the 50/30/20 rule, you have already
learned about the difficult topics, since you
have been preparing for those difficult topics
after listening to this advice, it is time you go
for the remaining 30% of difficult questions in
your exam now. You have less to worry about,
you know exactly what to do and how to zero in
your focus on what’s important.
GO FOR IT NOW!

33
There is a sure shot strategy, to BOOST your
grade which I have handed over to you in
this book.
I am saying this once again. Stay focused,
channelize your energy and work hard.

There is Absolutely nothing that you are

not capable of.

If you want us to help you further you can

reach out to us on this number
0300 2027875
Instagram/teachwink/ Youtube/teachwink/