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December 2024 against December 2023

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

Asked more in December 2024

  • Limit Theorems and Markov Chains+3.4 pp

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

  • Sequences and Series of Functions+2.0 pp

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

  • Ordinary Differential Equations+1.8 pp

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

  • Estimation+1.8 pp

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

  • Determinants and Matrix Tricks+1.5 pp

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

Asked more in December 2023

  • Continuity and Differentiation-3.8 pp

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

  • Probability-2.3 pp

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

  • Vector Spaces and Linear Maps-2.2 pp

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

  • Rings and Fields-1.8 pp

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

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 2024

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

Only in December 2023

  • — none

Every topic, both papers

TopicDecember 2024December 2023Change
ProbabilityProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming5.0% (10)7.3% (7)-2.3 pp
Linear Models and MultivariateProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming5.0% (10)6.3% (6)-1.3 pp
Eigenvalues and Canonical FormsAnalysis & Linear Algebra6.0% (12)5.2% (5)+0.8 pp
Rings and FieldsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology4.5% (9)6.3% (6)-1.8 pp
Ordinary Differential EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics6.0% (12)4.2% (4)+1.8 pp
EstimationProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming6.0% (12)4.2% (4)+1.8 pp
Hypothesis TestingProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming4.5% (9)5.2% (5)-0.7 pp
The Real LineAnalysis & Linear Algebra5.5% (11)4.2% (4)+1.3 pp
Limit Theorems and Markov ChainsProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming6.5% (13)3.1% (3)+3.4 pp
Continuity and DifferentiationAnalysis & Linear Algebra2.5% (5)6.3% (6)-3.8 pp
Vector Spaces and Linear MapsAnalysis & Linear Algebra3.0% (6)5.2% (5)-2.2 pp
Partial Differential EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics4.0% (8)4.2% (4)-0.2 pp
GroupsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology4.5% (9)3.1% (3)+1.4 pp
Inner Product Spaces and FormsAnalysis & Linear Algebra3.5% (7)3.1% (3)+0.4 pp
Calculus of VariationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.0% (6)3.1% (3)-0.1 pp
Numerical AnalysisODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.0% (6)3.1% (3)-0.1 pp
Analytic FunctionsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.5% (5)3.1% (3)-0.6 pp
Functions of Several VariablesAnalysis & Linear Algebra2.0% (4)3.1% (3)-1.1 pp
Linear Integral EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics2.0% (4)3.1% (3)-1.1 pp
Sampling and Design of ExperimentsProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming2.0% (4)3.1% (3)-1.1 pp
Cauchy TheoryComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.0% (4)2.1% (2)-0.1 pp
Classical MechanicsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics2.0% (4)2.1% (2)-0.1 pp
IntegrationAnalysis & Linear Algebra2.0% (4)2.1% (2)-0.1 pp
Sequences and Series of FunctionsAnalysis & Linear Algebra3.0% (6)1.0% (1)+2.0 pp
Zeros and MappingsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology1.5% (3)2.1% (2)-0.6 pp
Lebesgue Measure and IntegrationAnalysis & Linear Algebra1.0% (2)2.1% (2)-1.1 pp
TopologyComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.0% (4)1.0% (1)+1.0 pp
Singularities and ResiduesComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.0% (4)1.0% (1)+1.0 pp
Determinants and Matrix TricksAnalysis & Linear Algebra1.5% (3)0.0% (0)+1.5 pp
Linear ProgrammingProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming1.0% (2)0.0% (0)+1.0 pp
Metric SpacesAnalysis & Linear Algebra1.0% (2)0.0% (0)+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.