The 2025 Specimen Paper: What to Know

When a syllabus changes, there is a gap: the new-format real past papers don’t exist yet. Cambridge fills it with a specimen paper, a sample exam showing the format and question style of the new-look papers. For the 2025–2027 0606, the specimen is the single clearest official picture of what changed, and worth studying deliberately.

Why the specimen matters more this cycle

The 2025 changes altered the shape of the exam, not just its content, so older papers cannot show you the new look:

• Paper 1 is now non-calculator. The specimen shows how questions are set for by-hand working, cleaner numbers, exact-value answers, which an old calculator-era Paper 1 doesn’t demonstrate.
• Coordinate geometry of the circle is new. The specimen is one of the few official sources showing how this topic is examined, since no pre-2025 paper contains it.
• Indices and surds are now assumed, woven through rather than taught standalone. The specimen shows how that assumed knowledge surfaces in context.

For these three things specifically, the specimen is more informative than any older paper.

How to use it well

Treat the specimen as a format and style guide, not a volume resource, it is one paper:

1. Read it early to internalise the new-look structure, especially the non-calculator Paper 1’s feel.
2. Study the circle-geometry question closely, it is a rare official example of the new topic. Pair it with our circle worked examples built to the current spec.
3. Note the exact-value expectations on Paper 1, answers in surds, fractions and multiples of $\pi$, and let that shape how you practise.

Then get the bulk of your practice from the still-valid older papers on the unchanged topics. The division of labour: specimen for the new-look picture and the new topic; old papers for volume on everything unchanged.

Where to find current materials

Cambridge publishes the specimen paper and the current syllabus through its official channels and registered centres, we link to Cambridge’s own materials rather than reproducing copyrighted content here. Your school will usually have access, and private candidates can obtain them through their entry centre.

Understanding the 2025 changes and building a practice plan around them, specimen plus old papers, is exactly the kind of orientation a specialist gives efficiently. A trial class can map out what to use and in what order for your child’s session. Message us on WhatsApp to book.