IGCSE Maths is a two-year course, and treating it like one — rather than waking up to it in the final term of Year 11 — is the difference between a calm A and a stressful scramble. Here’s what a realistic schedule looks like across both years.
Year 10: Build, Don’t Cram
Year 10 is for understanding, and the golden rule is simple: never let a gap accumulate. Keep pace with the school’s topics, and the moment something doesn’t make sense, fix it that week — because every later topic builds on the earlier ones. A modest, consistent habit (a few focused practice sessions a week) is plenty; the aim is solid foundations, not exam drilling.
Prioritise the High-Weight Topics
Across both years, weight your effort toward the topics that dominate the exam — algebra, trigonometry, mensuration, and functions. Getting genuinely strong at these has an outsized effect on the final grade.
Year 11: Shift Toward Exam Practice
Year 11 gradually changes gear. The first half consolidates the remaining syllabus; from around the spring, the focus shifts to past papers under timed conditions, error logs, and exam technique. By this point you’re refining, not learning from scratch — which is only possible if Year 10 did its job.
How Much Is Enough?
Consistency beats volume. Two to three focused practice sessions a week through Year 10, rising as the exam nears, outperforms sporadic marathons. The students who struggle are rarely the ones who did too little each week — they’re the ones who did nothing until it was nearly too late.
Build the Routine Early
A regular slot, redoing wrong questions, and an error log are habits best set in Year 10, so Year 11 runs on rails.
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