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June 2024 against December 2024

What one sitting asked that the other did not — as a share of each paper, because June 2024 carries 100 subject questions and December 2024 carries 200. Comparing raw counts across papers of different sizes invents a trend in every row.

Asked more in June 2024

  • Probability+4.0 pp

    9.0% (9) in June 2024 · 5.0% (10) in December 2024

  • Vector Spaces and Linear Maps+3.0 pp

    6.0% (6) in June 2024 · 3.0% (6) in December 2024

  • Continuity and Differentiation+2.5 pp

    5.0% (5) in June 2024 · 2.5% (5) in December 2024

  • Cauchy Theory+2.0 pp

    4.0% (4) in June 2024 · 2.0% (4) in December 2024

  • The Real Line+1.5 pp

    7.0% (7) in June 2024 · 5.5% (11) in December 2024

  • Rings and Fields+1.5 pp

    6.0% (6) in June 2024 · 4.5% (9) in December 2024

Asked more in December 2024

  • Limit Theorems and Markov Chains-2.5 pp

    4.0% (4) in June 2024 · 6.5% (13) in December 2024

  • Eigenvalues and Canonical Forms-2.0 pp

    4.0% (4) in June 2024 · 6.0% (12) in December 2024

  • Hypothesis Testing-1.5 pp

    3.0% (3) in June 2024 · 4.5% (9) in December 2024

  • Analytic Functions-1.5 pp

    1.0% (1) in June 2024 · 2.5% (5) in December 2024

  • Groups-1.5 pp

    3.0% (3) in June 2024 · 4.5% (9) in December 2024

  • Determinants and Matrix Tricks-1.5 pp

    0.0% (0) in June 2024 · 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 June 2024

  • — none

Only in December 2024

  • Lebesgue Measure and Integration · 2
  • Metric Spaces · 2
  • Determinants and Matrix Tricks · 3

Every topic, both papers

TopicJune 2024December 2024Change
ProbabilityProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming9.0% (9)5.0% (10)+4.0 pp
The Real LineAnalysis & Linear Algebra7.0% (7)5.5% (11)+1.5 pp
EstimationProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming6.0% (6)6.0% (12)0.0 pp
Ordinary Differential EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics5.0% (5)6.0% (12)-1.0 pp
Limit Theorems and Markov ChainsProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming4.0% (4)6.5% (13)-2.5 pp
Rings and FieldsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology6.0% (6)4.5% (9)+1.5 pp
Linear Models and MultivariateProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming5.0% (5)5.0% (10)0.0 pp
Eigenvalues and Canonical FormsAnalysis & Linear Algebra4.0% (4)6.0% (12)-2.0 pp
Vector Spaces and Linear MapsAnalysis & Linear Algebra6.0% (6)3.0% (6)+3.0 pp
Partial Differential EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics4.0% (4)4.0% (8)0.0 pp
Hypothesis TestingProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming3.0% (3)4.5% (9)-1.5 pp
Inner Product Spaces and FormsAnalysis & Linear Algebra4.0% (4)3.5% (7)+0.5 pp
GroupsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology3.0% (3)4.5% (9)-1.5 pp
Continuity and DifferentiationAnalysis & Linear Algebra5.0% (5)2.5% (5)+2.5 pp
Numerical AnalysisODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.0% (3)3.0% (6)0.0 pp
Calculus of VariationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.0% (3)3.0% (6)0.0 pp
Cauchy TheoryComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology4.0% (4)2.0% (4)+2.0 pp
Linear Integral EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.0% (3)2.0% (4)+1.0 pp
Sequences and Series of FunctionsAnalysis & Linear Algebra2.0% (2)3.0% (6)-1.0 pp
Classical MechanicsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics2.0% (2)2.0% (4)0.0 pp
TopologyComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.0% (2)2.0% (4)0.0 pp
Sampling and Design of ExperimentsProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming2.0% (2)2.0% (4)0.0 pp
Singularities and ResiduesComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.0% (2)2.0% (4)0.0 pp
Functions of Several VariablesAnalysis & Linear Algebra2.0% (2)2.0% (4)0.0 pp
Analytic FunctionsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology1.0% (1)2.5% (5)-1.5 pp
IntegrationAnalysis & Linear Algebra1.0% (1)2.0% (4)-1.0 pp
Zeros and MappingsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology1.0% (1)1.5% (3)-0.5 pp
Linear ProgrammingProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming1.0% (1)1.0% (2)0.0 pp
Determinants and Matrix TricksAnalysis & Linear Algebra0.0% (0)1.5% (3)-1.5 pp
Lebesgue Measure and IntegrationAnalysis & Linear Algebra0.0% (0)1.0% (2)-1.0 pp
Metric SpacesAnalysis & Linear Algebra0.0% (0)1.0% (2)-1.0 pp

19 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.