Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics runs on two tiers. Core candidates sit Papers 1 and 3 and are eligible for grades C to G. Extended candidates sit Papers 2 and 4 and are eligible for grades A* to E. Extended carries all of the Core content and adds to it, and the tier is chosen when the school files the entry.
- Core sits Paper 1 without a calculator and Paper 3 with a scientific calculator
- Extended sits Paper 2 without a calculator and Paper 4 with a scientific calculator
- Both tiers study the same nine topics, and Extended adds subtopics inside them
- Syllabus 0580 awards A* to G, syllabus 0980 awards 9 to 1, and the scale is chosen at entry
What the tier decides
A tier is picked when a school enters a candidate, and it settles two things at once: which two papers sit in front of them in the exam hall, and the range of grades the qualification can award. On Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics 0580, Core candidates take Papers 1 and 3 and are eligible for grades C to G, and Extended candidates take Papers 2 and 4 and are eligible for grades A* to E. Syllabus 0980, the 9 to 1 version of the same subject, keeps those four papers and changes the scale: Core awards 5 to 1, Extended awards 9 to 3. Cambridge lists 0980 as available in June and November to centres in Oman and the UAE, so families here meet both scales. Cambridge frames its own advice around the grade a candidate is expected to achieve: Core entry for a grade D or below, Extended entry for a grade C or above.
Core and Extended papers side by side
| Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics | Core tier | Extended tier |
|---|---|---|
| Papers sat | Paper 1 and Paper 3 | Paper 2 and Paper 4 |
| Paper sat without a calculator | Paper 1 | Paper 2 |
| Paper needing a scientific calculator | Paper 3 | Paper 4 |
| Length of each paper | 1 hour 30 minutes | 2 hours |
| Marks in each paper | 80 | 100 |
| Weighting of each paper | 50% | 50% |
| Grades available, syllabus 0580 | C to G | A* to E |
| Grades available, syllabus 0980 | 5 to 1 | 9 to 3 |
| Cambridge entry advice, syllabus 0580 | Candidates expected to achieve a grade D or below | Candidates expected to achieve a grade C or above |
Cambridge introduced a paper sat without a calculator at each tier for exams from 2025, and rebalanced the papers so each one carries half the marks, half the time and half the weighting. Teaching time was left unchanged.
Source: Cambridge International Education, IGCSE Mathematics 0580 syllabus 2025-2027, pages 9, 57-59 and 70, and IGCSE (9-1) Mathematics 0980 syllabus 2025-2027, page 9
What the Extended tier adds to the content
Nine topics, studied by everyone
Number, Algebra and graphs, Coordinate geometry, Geometry, Mensuration, Trigonometry, Transformations and vectors, Probability and Statistics are on the course for every candidate. Extended reaches further inside those same nine headings.
Source: Cambridge International Education, IGCSE Mathematics 0580 syllabus 2025-2027, pages 8 and 12-57
Number, algebra and functions
Exponential growth and decay, surds, algebraic fractions, proportion, differentiation and functions appear on the Extended papers alone. The Extended list also asks for certain squares, cubes and roots from memory.
Source: Cambridge International Education, IGCSE Mathematics 0580 syllabus 2025-2027, pages 12-57 and 69
Geometry, trigonometry and data
Length and midpoint, perpendicular lines, circle theorems II, exact trigonometric values, trigonometric functions, non-right-angled triangles, Pythagoras' theorem and trigonometry in three dimensions, vectors in two dimensions and their magnitude, vector geometry, conditional probability, cumulative frequency diagrams and histograms all sit on the Extended side.
Source: Cambridge International Education, IGCSE Mathematics 0580 syllabus 2025-2027, pages 12-57
What moved in and out for 2025
Proper subsets, linear programming, congruence criteria, data collection as an examined topic and box-and-whisker plots left the Extended content. Surds, domain and range, exact trigonometric values and graphs of ax to the power n, taking in the half and negative half powers, came in.
Source: Cambridge International Education, IGCSE Mathematics 0580 syllabus 2025-2027, page 69
Calculators, formula lists and where IGCSE maths marks go
The tiers differ in the balance of the questions as well as in the topic list. Cambridge weights the Core qualification 60 to 70% towards knowledge and understanding of mathematical techniques and 30 to 40% towards analysing, interpreting and communicating mathematically. On the Extended qualification those weights move to 40 to 50% and 50 to 60%, so more of the paper asks a candidate to choose a method and say what the answer means. Every paper mixes structured and unstructured questions and prints a list of formulas on page 2, with the syllabus notes naming the formulas expected from memory. The calculator rule follows the paper: Papers 1 and 2 are sat without one, Papers 3 and 4 need a scientific calculator, one carrying trigonometric functions is strongly recommended, and algebraic or graphical calculators are barred. Cambridge examiners have named the habits that cost marks: rounding too early in a multi-step calculation, working to two significant figures where three are wanted, leaving the method unwritten, and answering in the wrong form.
Settling the tier before entries close
- Which syllabus the school enters: 0580 for A* to G, or 0980 for 9 to 1
- Which grade the school expects, since Cambridge frames its tier advice around that
- Whether the ceiling of the Core tier fits what the next stage of study asks for
- Whether the Extended subtopics have been taught, since they sit on Papers 2 and 4 alone
- How a paper without a calculator is being practised, since Paper 1 and Paper 2 allow none
- The entries deadline, since a 9 to 1 entry cannot be switched to the A* to G scale after it
- Core sits Papers 1 and 3; Extended sits Papers 2 and 4.
- Syllabus 0580 gives Core C to G and Extended A* to E; syllabus 0980 gives 5 to 1 and 9 to 3.
- Extended holds all of the Core content and adds subtopics inside the same nine topics.
- Each tier has one paper sat without a calculator and one that needs a scientific calculator.
- Pearson Edexcel names its tiers Foundation and Higher, and allows a calculator in both of its papers.