Playbooks
22 chapter playbooks behind 95.9 of the 100 questions
22 playbooks — one per chapter at 1.5 questions a paper or more. The subtopic split, where the HARD sits, and whether the chapter cherry-picks.
- Playbooks
- 22
- Questions covered
- 2,014
- of 100 q/paper covered
- 95.9
- Papers analysed
- 21
Cornerstone — prepare these first
The five chapters the paper is built on. Four of them keep their HARD questions in one or two pages, so the rest of the chapter is cheap; the playbook says which pages.
5 playbooks · 969 questions · 46.1 of 100 q/paper · 16–23% HARD
Trigonometry
227 q · 20% HARD · 13 a paper on 2024-2026 papers, up from 8.8. Eight of its ten subtopics are cheap; maximum/minimum (37 q, 35% HARD) and eliminating θ (34 q, 47%) hold 29 of its 46 HARD questions. Bank the eight first, then take the two pools with timed reps.
227 q · 10.81/paper · 20% hard · 10 subtopics notesNumber System
223 q · 16% HARD · 13 a paper recently, up from 9.8. The HARD is spread across remainders, factorisation, HCF laws and division rather than pooled, so there is no page to leave out; primes, HCF/LCM applications and irrationals have never set a HARD question.
223 q · 10.62/paper · 16% hard · 12 subtopics notesMensuration 2D
197 q · 23% HARD · about 9.4 a paper. Wheels, arcs and re-bent wires are nearly free; touching circles (62% HARD) and shaded regions (40%) are where the wrong answers come from. Attempt those two only on a clean solve.
197 q · 9.38/paper · 23% hard · 8 subtopics notesMensuration 3D
171 q · 17% HARD · falling from 8.1 to 6.7 a paper. Eight of ten subtopics are under 20% HARD; solids inside solids (53%) is the one page to attempt only when the set-up is clear.
171 q · 8.14/paper · 17% hard · 10 subtopics notesTriangles
151 q · 20% HARD · about seven a paper. The altitude to the hypotenuse is 27 questions with no HARD at all; triangle inequalities and the sine and cosine rules are half HARD but only 16 questions between them.
151 q · 7.19/paper · 20% hard · 10 subtopics notes
Quick-Win — cheap marks
Arithmetic and data chapters with low HARD rates and short questions. Attempt every one you meet, and guess after ruling out an option.
8 playbooks · 460 questions · 21.9 of 100 q/paper · 2–15% HARD
Statistics
80 q · 8% HARD · rising from 3.8 to 5.0 a paper. The cheapest chapter of any size: four of its six subtopics have never set a HARD question. Every question here is one to attempt.
80 q · 3.81/paper · 8% hard · 6 subtopics notesRatio, Proportion and Variation
76 q · 9% HARD · about 3.6 a paper. Ratio and proportion and variation have no HARD at all; partnership and mixtures carry the little there is.
76 q · 3.62/paper · 9% hard · 6 subtopics notesTime, Speed and Distance
75 q · 13% HARD · about 3.5 a paper. Average speed is 22 questions at 5%; races and speed changes are the only pages with any real cost.
75 q · 3.57/paper · 13% hard · 7 subtopics notesPercentage, Profit and Loss
50 q · 6% HARD · about 2.4 a paper — three HARD questions in the whole chapter. The only way to lose a mark is the wrong base.
50 q · 2.38/paper · 6% hard · 4 subtopics notesData Interpretation
52 q · 2% HARD · falling from 2.6 to 1.7 a paper. One HARD question in 52: the work is reading a table or chart carefully and dividing by the right total.
52 q · 2.48/paper · 2% hard · 4 subtopics notesAverages
47 q · 9% HARD · about two a paper. Every question is a total divided by a count, or a weighted mean.
47 q · 2.24/paper · 9% hard · 3 subtopics notesTime and Work
46 q · 7% HARD · falling from 2.7 to 1.3 a paper. Work in rates or man-days, never in days directly, and the chapter is free marks.
46 q · 2.19/paper · 7% hard · 4 subtopics notesSimple and Compound Interest
34 q · 15% HARD · about two a paper recently. Simple interest is nearly free; compound interest holds most of the HARD.
34 q · 1.62/paper · 15% hard · 3 subtopics notes
Selective — algebra and the rest of geometry
Higher HARD rates, often pooled in one page. Bank the cheap pages; attempt the HARD pool only when you can see the solution.
9 playbooks · 585 questions · 27.8 of 100 q/paper · 19–39% HARD
Algebraic Identities
98 q · 39% HARD · the hardest chapter in the bank, about 4.7 a paper. It cherry-picks: conditional identities (69% HARD) and symmetric expressions (6 of 6 HARD) are the pool; three-variable sums and the cube identity are cheap.
98 q · 4.67/paper · 39% hard · 8 subtopics notesQuadratic Equations
89 q · 24% HARD · about 4.2 a paper, the HARD spread thinly across nine subtopics. Common roots, maximum/minimum and word problems have never set a HARD question.
89 q · 4.24/paper · 24% hard · 9 subtopics notesSurds and Indices
82 q · 22% HARD · falling from 4.6 to 3.0 a paper. Equations with surds are 71% HARD; fractions, exponential equations and square roots of surds are almost free.
82 q · 3.90/paper · 22% hard · 8 subtopics notesPolynomials
79 q · 19% HARD · about 3.8 a paper. The factor theorem has never set a HARD question; HCF and LCM of polynomials is the largest page and holds the most HARD.
79 q · 3.76/paper · 19% hard · 5 subtopics notesCircles
69 q · 26% HARD · about 3.3 a paper. Tangents from an external point have never set a HARD question; the HARD is spread over the chord, circumcircle and touching-circle pages.
69 q · 3.29/paper · 26% hard · 7 subtopics notesQuadrilaterals
54 q · 20% HARD · rising from 2.4 to 3.7 a paper. Rhombus and kite has no HARD; the general-quadrilateral page is the expensive one at 36%.
54 q · 2.57/paper · 20% hard · 5 subtopics notesHeights and Distances
41 q · 34% HARD · about two a paper. Towers on plane figures is 5 of 7 HARD; one line of sight and two points of observation are the pages to bank.
41 q · 1.95/paper · 34% hard · 4 subtopics notesLogarithms
33 q · 24% HARD · about 1.6 a paper. The equations page holds 5 of the 8 HARD; the laws and digit counting are cheap.
33 q · 1.57/paper · 24% hard · 3 subtopics notesLinear Equations
40 q · 20% HARD · fading: 2.7 a paper in 2016-2020, one question in the six 2024-2026 papers. Learn it for word-problem fluency, which the arithmetic chapters use, not for its own weight.
40 q · 1.90/paper · 20% hard · 4 subtopics notes
Why 22 playbooks and not 26
A playbook ships for every chapter at 1.5 questions a paper or more across the 21 papers. The other 4 are named below — between them 82 of the 2,096 questions — and each has full teaching notes. They are also covered on the strategy page.
Sets
28 q · 1.33/paper · 14% hard
1.3 a paper, falling from 1.9 to 0.8. Mostly Venn-diagram counting at 14% HARD — worth a short drill with the quick-wins.
Lines, Angles and Polygons
22 q · 1.05/paper · 0% hard
1.05 a paper, falling from 1.8 to 0.8, and the only chapter with no HARD question. Revise the angle-sum rules once; they are free when they appear.
Sequence and Series
19 q · 0.90/paper · 11% hard
19 questions in 21 papers at 11% HARD. Know the AP and GP sums and the three means so a question is recognisable.
Inequalities
13 q · 0.62/paper · 15% hard
13 questions in 21 papers, mostly data-sufficiency items on signs. Read the notes once.