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Which O-Level Additional Maths topics come up most often?
We counted every question in 19 O-Level Additional Maths papers in Rae's library: 679 questions across 30 topics. The most common single topic is Kinematics: displacement, velocity, acceleration via calculus, at 8.2% of all questions.
Every topic, ranked
| Topic | Questions | Share | Papers | Avg marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kinematics: displacement, velocity, acceleration via calculus | 56 | 8.2% | 18 | 2.7 |
| Solving exponential/log equations and modelling | 54 | 8.0% | 19 | 3.2 |
| Applications: tangents, normals, rates of change, extrema | 52 | 7.7% | 18 | 3.6 |
| Linearising data to find constants from graphs | 47 | 6.9% | 18 | 2.9 |
| Quadratic functions: max/min, sign conditions, modelling | 36 | 5.3% | 14 | 2.7 |
| Polynomial multiplication, division, remainder and factor theorems | 34 | 5.0% | 15 | 3.2 |
| Increasing/decreasing functions and stationary point classification | 32 | 4.7% | 15 | 3.4 |
| Binomial theorem expansions and coefficients | 31 | 4.6% | 16 | 3.3 |
| Solving trig equations within given range | 29 | 4.3% | 15 | 2.9 |
| Congruence, similarity, midpoint and tangent-chord theorems | 28 | 4.1% | 15 | 2.6 |
| Circle equations and properties | 27 | 4.0% | 13 | 2.9 |
| Graphs and transformations of sine, cosine, tangent | 25 | 3.7% | 13 | 2.4 |
| R sin/cos form and simplifying trig expressions | 24 | 3.5% | 15 | 2.9 |
| Quadratic equations, inequalities, and line-curve intersections | 21 | 3.1% | 10 | 2.9 |
| Trigonometric identities and angle sum/double angle formulas | 20 | 2.9% | 13 | 3.2 |
| Coordinate geometry: lines, midpoints, parallel/perpendicular conditions | 17 | 2.5% | 12 | 3.4 |
| Integration as reverse of differentiation, standard integrals | 15 | 2.2% | 11 | 4.1 |
| Exponential and logarithmic functions, laws and graphs | 14 | 2.1% | 8 | 2.4 |
| Definite integrals and area under curves | 14 | 2.1% | 9 | 5.6 |
| Derivatives of trig, exponential, log functions | 13 | 1.9% | 10 | 2.5 |
| Partial fractions decomposition | 12 | 1.8% | 11 | 4.8 |
| Trigonometric ratios for general angles and special values | 11 | 1.6% | 8 | 2.5 |
| Plane geometry proofs: triangles, circles, quadrilaterals | 11 | 1.6% | 9 | 2.5 |
| Surds: operations, rationalising, solving surd equations | 11 | 1.6% | 9 | 3.3 |
| Proving trig identities | 10 | 1.5% | 9 | 3.8 |
| Differentiation rules: power, product, quotient, chain | 10 | 1.5% | 8 | 3.0 |
| Simultaneous equations with one linear one nonlinear | 8 | 1.2% | 7 | 4.1 |
| Area of polygons via coordinates | 6 | 0.9% | 6 | 2.5 |
| Sum/difference of cubes identities | 6 | 0.9% | 5 | 2.0 |
| Inverse trig principal values | 5 | 0.7% | 4 | 1.0 |
How to use this
Topic frequency is a guide to where revision time pays back, not a prediction. The three topics that appear most here (Kinematics: displacement, velocity, acceleration via calculus, Solving exponential/log equations and modelling, Applications: tangents, normals, rates of change, extrema) are worth being fluent in, but a topic near the bottom of the table can still carry a whole question in any given year.
Method, and what this is not
These counts come from real O-Level Additional Maths papers held in Rae's library (papers dated 2022 to 2025), which include school preliminary papers as well as national papers. Each question is labelled with one topic. This is a count of what our library contains, not an official SEAB distribution, and it does not tell you what will be set in a future exam. Questions that could not be labelled with a single topic are excluded from the counts.
You are welcome to cite or link to this page. If you would like the underlying counts in another format, get in touch through the O-Level Additional Maths page.