0.2 Word of Advice

What do the papers actually contain?

The Stage 1 syllabus lists mathematical and computational topics. Reading the 2025 paper and the 2026 paper, we find another useful way to describe the work: a question calls for a mathematical tool, a reasoning move, or both. These are our labels for what the questions demand, not official sections of the exam.

The 2025 paper mixed short, self-contained questions with four longer, multi-part problems. The 2026 paper also began with shorter questions, then moved to longer sections that supplied background and asked several connected questions. Some questions give you a familiar topic in a new story. Others introduce a method or definition inside the problem and ask you to use it.

Look at two short questions from 2025. In Perfectly Priced Park Ticket, you need algebra to turn a ticket price and visitor count into a profit calculation, then use the given restrictions to decide which prices are possible. In Wizardly Wason Safety Check, the main work is logical: find the cards that could disprove a rule. Knowing the words “if” and “then” is a start; you still have to test the cases that could make the rule false.

The longer questions make the same distinction visible. In 2026, WonkaRank defines ranking measures and then asks you to calculate and compare results across several parts. The definitions are there on the page. You have to decide which one applies, keep track of the given conditions, and carry what you learn into the next part.

Two skills working together

Mathematical knowledge gives you concepts and tools: equations, probability rules, graph ideas, matrix operations, and so on. You can learn these in a structured order and practise using them until the calculations become familiar.

Reasoning and deduction are how you turn a description into something you can solve. You identify what is given, spot a pattern, separate possible cases, test a claim against a counterexample, or decide whether an answer satisfies every constraint. These moves are harder to find in a neat list of formulas, even though they appear throughout both papers.

You need the two together. A correct formula will not help if you model the wrong quantity; a promising pattern will not finish a calculation you cannot carry out. This guide will teach the named mathematical concepts and make the thinking moves visible alongside them, so you can see how a solution was found rather than only what the answer was.

How do you begin a question?

First, state what the question wants as precisely as you can. Then list the information and restrictions it gives you. A table, a small diagram, an equation, or a few cases can make the structure easier to see. Choose the mathematical tool that matches that structure, or compare examples and rule out possibilities when the task is deductive. Before accepting an answer, check it against every condition in the question. In a multi-part problem, keep the definitions and results from earlier parts in view as you move forward.