IGCSE maths topic checklist: every topic, tagged by tier
A complete topic list for the two International GCSE maths courses UAE schools use most: Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics 0580 and Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Maths A (4MA1). Topic numbers follow the official syllabus documents, so your child can rate each line against the real specification.
A Core candidate who revises Extended-only topics — is revising for a paper they will not sit
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An IGCSE maths checklist only works for the right board and tier
This IGCSE maths checklist covers Cambridge 0580, split into Core and Extended, and Edexcel 4MA1, split into Foundation and Higher. Each topic carries a tier tag, so a student can skip the lines their paper will never test and spend the time on the ones it will.
The Cambridge list follows the 0580 syllabus for exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027. The Edexcel list follows Issue 2 of the 4MA1 specification; Pearson publishes any newer issue on its qualifications site, so check there each autumn.
Not sure which course your child sits? Look at the front cover of any school test. 0580/22 means Cambridge Extended Paper 2; 4MA1/1H means Edexcel Higher Paper 1. A cover reading 1MA1 means the UK domestic GCSE, and this is the wrong checklist.
Cambridge 0580 and Edexcel 4MA1 are built differently
The mathematics overlaps heavily. The tiers, grades and papers do not, which is why a checklist for one board misleads a student on the other.
Cambridge IGCSE 0580
Edexcel International GCSE 4MA1
Tiers
Core or Extended
Foundation or Higher
Grades available
Core: C to G. Extended: A* to E
Foundation: 5 to 1. Higher: 9 to 4, with a grade 3 allowed
Papers
Core: Paper 1 (non-calculator) and Paper 3 (calculator), 1 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks each. Extended: Paper 2 (non-calculator) and Paper 4 (calculator), 2 hours and 100 marks each
Two papers per tier (1F and 2F, or 1H and 2H), 2 hours and 100 marks each, calculator allowed on both
Weighting
Each paper 50%
Each paper 50%
Formulas
A list of formulas on page 2 of every paper
A formulae sheet inside every paper, longer at Higher
Figures from the Cambridge 0580 syllabus for 2025–2027 and the Pearson 4MA1 specification, Issue 2.
How to use it
Rate each IGCSE topic green, amber or red, then start with amber
Green topics need an occasional past-paper question. Red topics usually need re-teaching. Amber topics are where marks come back fastest, so they go first.
Green: can answer an exam question on it without notes, including the long worded version.
Amber: can do it with a worked example alongside, or gets the method but drops the accuracy mark.
Red: unsure where to begin, or has not been taught it yet.
Rate from a question, not a memory. One past-paper question per topic before anything is called green; “we did that in October” does not count.
Re-rate every three or four weeks. A topic that stays amber twice needs a different explanation, not a bigger pile of the same practice.
Skip the other tier's lines. Core candidates ignore anything tagged Extended only; Foundation candidates ignore anything tagged Higher only.
Cambridge 0580
Cambridge IGCSE 0580 checklist, Core and Extended
Cambridge numbers each topic twice: a C code for Core and an E code for Extended. Where both exist, Extended goes further. A code that appears only as E is Extended-only content.
1. Number
C1.1 / E1.1 Types of number: primes, factors, multiples, HCF, LCM, rational and irrational · Core + Extended
C1.2 / E1.2 Sets and Venn diagrams · Core + Extended (Core Venn diagrams use two sets only)
C1.3 / E1.3 Powers and roots · Core + Extended
C1.4 / E1.4 Fractions, decimals and percentages · Core + Extended (Extended adds recurring decimals to fractions)
C1.5–C1.6 / E1.5–E1.6 Ordering; the four operations with negatives and order of operations · Core + Extended
C1.7 / E1.7 Indices I · Core + Extended (Extended adds fractional indices)
C1.8–C1.9 / E1.8–E1.9 Standard form; estimation to significant figures and decimal places · Core + Extended
C1.10 / E1.10 Limits of accuracy · Core + Extended (Extended adds bounds of calculations)
C1.11–C1.13 / E1.11–E1.13 Ratio and proportion; rates; percentages including reverse percentages and interest · Core + Extended
C1.14–C1.16 / E1.14–E1.16 Using a calculator; time; money · Core + Extended
E1.17 Exponential growth and decay · Extended only
E1.18 Surds, including rationalising the denominator · Extended only
2. Algebra and graphs
C2.1 / E2.1 Introduction to algebra and substitution · Core + Extended
C2.2 / E2.2 Expanding and factorising · Core + Extended (Extended adds harder quadratics and difference of two squares)
E2.3 Algebraic fractions · Extended only
C2.4 / E2.4 Indices II · Core + Extended
C2.5 / E2.5 Equations: linear, simultaneous, changing the subject · Core + Extended (Extended adds quadratics by factorising, completing the square and the formula)
C2.6 / E2.6 Inequalities · Core + Extended (Extended adds regions on a graph)
C2.7 / E2.7 Sequences and the nth term · Core + Extended
E2.8 Direct and inverse proportion · Extended only
C2.9 / E2.9 Graphs in practical situations · Core + Extended (Extended adds speed-time graphs and area under them)
E9.6 Cumulative frequency diagrams · Extended only
E9.7 Histograms with unequal class widths · Extended only
Source: Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics 0580 syllabus for 2025, 2026 and 2027.
Edexcel 4MA1
Edexcel 4MA1 checklist, Foundation and Higher
Pearson groups 4MA1 into six content areas and marks some sections Higher tier only. Higher papers assume the Foundation content too, so a Higher student rates every line.
1. Numbers and the number system
1.1–1.3 Integers, fractions, decimals · Foundation + Higher
1.4 Powers and roots · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds surds and rationalising)
1.5 Set language, notation and Venn diagrams · Foundation + Higher
1.6–1.7 Percentages; ratio and proportion · Foundation + Higher
1.8 Degree of accuracy · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds bounds of calculations)
1.9–1.11 Standard form; applying number; calculators · Foundation + Higher
2. Equations, formulae and identities
2.1–2.3 Symbols, algebraic manipulation, expressions and formulae · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds triple brackets and algebraic fractions)
2.4 Linear equations · Foundation + Higher
2.5 Proportion · Foundation + Higher (Higher sets it up algebraically)
2.6 Simultaneous equations · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds one linear with one quadratic)
2.7 Quadratic equations · Higher only
2.8 Inequalities · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds quadratic inequalities)
3. Sequences, functions and graphs
3.1 Sequences · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds arithmetic series)
3.2 Function notation, including composite and inverse functions · Higher only
3.3 Graphs · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds perpendicular lines and transformations of graphs)
3.4 Calculus: differentiation, turning points, kinematics · Higher only
4. Geometry and trigonometry
4.1–4.5 Angles, polygons, symmetry, measures, construction and loci · Foundation + Higher
4.6 Circle properties · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds the circle theorems)
4.7 Geometrical reasoning · Foundation + Higher
4.8 Trigonometry and Pythagoras · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds sine and cosine rules and 3D problems)
4.9–4.10 Mensuration of 2D shapes; 3D shapes and volume · Foundation + Higher
4.11 Similarity · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds area and volume scale factors)
5. Vectors and transformation geometry
5.1 Vectors · Higher only
5.2 Transformation geometry · Foundation + Higher
6. Statistics and probability
6.1 Graphical representation of data · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds histograms and cumulative frequency)
6.2 Statistical measures · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds quartiles and interquartile range)
6.3 Probability · Foundation + Higher (Higher adds dependent events and conditional probability)
Source: Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Mathematics (Specification A), Issue 2.
UAE note
Edexcel students in the UAE sit regional R papers in June
Pearson requires UAE centres to use regional versions of most International GCSE papers in the June series, maths included, marked with an R in the paper code (4MA1/1HR, for instance). The specification behind them is identical, so nothing on this checklist changes.
What changes is practice. When your child works through a June past paper, the R version is the one UAE candidates actually sat that year. The R papers are a Pearson arrangement and do not apply to Cambridge 0580.
When ambers pile up
A checklist full of ambers needs a teacher's order, not more effort
Bring the rated checklist to a free 55-minute ClassArc class. The teacher who would go on to teach your child picks the topics most likely to move the grade, starts just above where your child is secure, and teaches the first one in that lesson.
After that class you hear what was found, including if the gaps are small enough to close without us. Weekly classes then run beside the school's own scheme, because the teacher checks which unit school has reached before every lesson.
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Two ambers in algebra usually cost more marks than five reds in topics that barely appear.
Does this IGCSE maths checklist cover the 2027 exams?
The Cambridge 0580 list follows the syllabus for exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027, so it covers either 2027 series. The Edexcel 4MA1 list follows Issue 2 of the specification; check Pearson's site each autumn in case a newer issue appears.
My child sits Extended but struggles with some Core topics. Should they rate those too?
Yes. Extended content is built on the Core version of each topic, so a red on Core fractions (C1.4) turns into lost marks on algebraic fractions (E2.3). Treat any red on a shared topic as the first thing to fix.
Which IGCSE maths topics carry the most marks?
Neither board publishes marks per topic, and the balance moves from paper to paper. Algebra, though, turns up on every paper at both boards and hides inside geometry, graph and probability questions at the higher tiers, so it is the safest place to start.
Can my child change tier after rating the checklist?
Tier entry is the school's decision, and entries close well before the exam. If the checklist suggests your child is clearly above or below their tier, raise it with the maths department early in the final year.
Can I send you the completed checklist?
Yes. Send a photo on WhatsApp to +91 78781 48026 and we will suggest where to start and match your child to a teacher. One-to-one class prices are on the UAE pricing page.
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