Where the Marks Are: Weighting Your 0606 Revision

Revision time is finite, and spreading it equally across fourteen topics of wildly different sizes is a poor use of it. Calculus carries far more of the syllabus than simultaneous equations; treating them as equal shortchanges the big topic. Weighting revision toward where the marks sit is smart, provided it never becomes an excuse to skip anything. A note first: Cambridge does not publish a fixed per-topic mark allocation, so this is informed judgement, not an official formula.

Weight by size and frequency

The syllabus itself tells you where the content depth is. The largest topics, by the number of distinct skills they contain, are:

• Calculus, comfortably the biggest, differentiation, integration, applications, kinematics. It deserves the largest single slice of revision time.
• Trigonometry, identities, equations, graphs, a large second.
• Functions and quadratics, both substantial and foundational to other questions.

These four are where most of the paper’s marks concentrate, and where revision returns most. If time is tight, they come first.

Then weight by your own gaps

Topic size is only half the equation, the other half is your child’s personal weak spots, surfaced by the error log. A student strong in calculus but shaky in logarithms should not pour more time into calculus just because it is bigger. The best weighting multiplies topic importance by personal weakness: big topics you are weak in are the top priority; small topics you have mastered are the lowest.

This is why generic “revise calculus” advice is only half-useful. The other half is diagnostic, which part of which topic leaks marks for this particular student.

Cover everything, gamble on nothing

Weighting is about order and depth, never about omission. The single-tier, no-choice format means a topic you skipped can appear and cost several marks with no fallback. The winnable “small” topics, circular measure, series, permutations, are exactly the ones students under-revise and then lose easy marks on. Cover them; just cover them after the big four are secure.

The practical shape: heavy on calculus and trig, solid on functions and quadratics, reliable on the formula-driven smaller topics, and nothing left untouched. The 8-week revision plan sequences exactly this. To find where your child’s personal weighting should sit, a trial class gives an honest diagnosis in an hour. Message us on WhatsApp to book.