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December 2023 against December 2024

What one sitting asked that the other did not — as a share of each paper, because December 2023 carries 96 subject questions and December 2024 carries 200. Comparing raw counts across papers of different sizes invents a trend in every row.

Asked more in December 2023

  • Continuity and Differentiation+3.8 pp

    6.3% (6) in December 2023 · 2.5% (5) in December 2024

  • Probability+2.3 pp

    7.3% (7) in December 2023 · 5.0% (10) in December 2024

  • Vector Spaces and Linear Maps+2.2 pp

    5.2% (5) in December 2023 · 3.0% (6) in December 2024

  • Rings and Fields+1.8 pp

    6.3% (6) in December 2023 · 4.5% (9) in December 2024

Asked more in December 2024

  • Limit Theorems and Markov Chains-3.4 pp

    3.1% (3) in December 2023 · 6.5% (13) in December 2024

  • Sequences and Series of Functions-2.0 pp

    1.0% (1) in December 2023 · 3.0% (6) in December 2024

  • Ordinary Differential Equations-1.8 pp

    4.2% (4) in December 2023 · 6.0% (12) in December 2024

  • Estimation-1.8 pp

    4.2% (4) in December 2023 · 6.0% (12) in December 2024

  • Determinants and Matrix Tricks-1.5 pp

    0.0% (0) in December 2023 · 1.5% (3) in December 2024

Present on one paper and absent from the other

Absent from one sitting is not absent from the syllabus. A topic carrying two questions one session and none the next has told you almost nothing.

Only in December 2023

  • — none

Only in December 2024

  • Linear Programming · 2
  • Determinants and Matrix Tricks · 3
  • Metric Spaces · 2

Every topic, both papers

TopicDecember 2023December 2024Change
ProbabilityProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming7.3% (7)5.0% (10)+2.3 pp
Linear Models and MultivariateProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming6.3% (6)5.0% (10)+1.3 pp
Eigenvalues and Canonical FormsAnalysis & Linear Algebra5.2% (5)6.0% (12)-0.8 pp
Rings and FieldsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology6.3% (6)4.5% (9)+1.8 pp
Ordinary Differential EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics4.2% (4)6.0% (12)-1.8 pp
EstimationProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming4.2% (4)6.0% (12)-1.8 pp
Hypothesis TestingProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming5.2% (5)4.5% (9)+0.7 pp
The Real LineAnalysis & Linear Algebra4.2% (4)5.5% (11)-1.3 pp
Limit Theorems and Markov ChainsProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming3.1% (3)6.5% (13)-3.4 pp
Continuity and DifferentiationAnalysis & Linear Algebra6.3% (6)2.5% (5)+3.8 pp
Vector Spaces and Linear MapsAnalysis & Linear Algebra5.2% (5)3.0% (6)+2.2 pp
Partial Differential EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics4.2% (4)4.0% (8)+0.2 pp
GroupsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology3.1% (3)4.5% (9)-1.4 pp
Inner Product Spaces and FormsAnalysis & Linear Algebra3.1% (3)3.5% (7)-0.4 pp
Calculus of VariationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.1% (3)3.0% (6)+0.1 pp
Numerical AnalysisODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.1% (3)3.0% (6)+0.1 pp
Analytic FunctionsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology3.1% (3)2.5% (5)+0.6 pp
Functions of Several VariablesAnalysis & Linear Algebra3.1% (3)2.0% (4)+1.1 pp
Linear Integral EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.1% (3)2.0% (4)+1.1 pp
Sampling and Design of ExperimentsProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming3.1% (3)2.0% (4)+1.1 pp
Cauchy TheoryComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.1% (2)2.0% (4)+0.1 pp
Classical MechanicsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics2.1% (2)2.0% (4)+0.1 pp
IntegrationAnalysis & Linear Algebra2.1% (2)2.0% (4)+0.1 pp
Sequences and Series of FunctionsAnalysis & Linear Algebra1.0% (1)3.0% (6)-2.0 pp
Zeros and MappingsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.1% (2)1.5% (3)+0.6 pp
Lebesgue Measure and IntegrationAnalysis & Linear Algebra2.1% (2)1.0% (2)+1.1 pp
TopologyComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology1.0% (1)2.0% (4)-1.0 pp
Singularities and ResiduesComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology1.0% (1)2.0% (4)-1.0 pp
Determinants and Matrix TricksAnalysis & Linear Algebra0.0% (0)1.5% (3)-1.5 pp
Linear ProgrammingProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming0.0% (0)1.0% (2)-1.0 pp
Metric SpacesAnalysis & Linear Algebra0.0% (0)1.0% (2)-1.0 pp

22 of 31 topics moved by less than 1.5 percentage points and are greyed out — at four to thirteen questions a topic, a swing of one or two questions is noise, not a signal.

Two sittings are two sittings. Everything above describes what these two papers contained. None of it predicts the next one, and a topic that fell here is not a topic to drop — the examiners are not running a trend. The aggregate across every complete paper is the more reliable number, and it is still only four papers.