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Paper Comparison

June 2025 against December 2023

What one sitting asked that the other did not — as a share of each paper, because June 2025 carries 100 subject questions and December 2023 carries 96. Comparing raw counts across papers of different sizes invents a trend in every row.

Asked more in June 2025

  • Probability+3.7 pp

    11.0% (11) in June 2025 · 7.3% (7) in December 2023

  • Metric Spaces+3.0 pp

    3.0% (3) in June 2025 · 0.0% (0) in December 2023

  • Sequences and Series of Functions+2.0 pp

    3.0% (3) in June 2025 · 1.0% (1) in December 2023

Asked more in December 2023

  • Continuity and Differentiation-4.3 pp

    2.0% (2) in June 2025 · 6.3% (6) in December 2023

  • Hypothesis Testing-2.2 pp

    3.0% (3) in June 2025 · 5.2% (5) in December 2023

  • Functions of Several Variables-2.1 pp

    1.0% (1) in June 2025 · 3.1% (3) 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 June 2025

  • Linear Programming · 1
  • Metric Spaces · 3

Only in December 2023

  • — none

Every topic, both papers

TopicJune 2025December 2023Change
ProbabilityProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming11.0% (11)7.3% (7)+3.7 pp
Linear Models and MultivariateProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming6.0% (6)6.3% (6)-0.3 pp
Rings and FieldsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology5.0% (5)6.3% (6)-1.3 pp
Eigenvalues and Canonical FormsAnalysis & Linear Algebra6.0% (6)5.2% (5)+0.8 pp
Vector Spaces and Linear MapsAnalysis & Linear Algebra5.0% (5)5.2% (5)-0.2 pp
Ordinary Differential EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics5.0% (5)4.2% (4)+0.8 pp
The Real LineAnalysis & Linear Algebra5.0% (5)4.2% (4)+0.8 pp
Continuity and DifferentiationAnalysis & Linear Algebra2.0% (2)6.3% (6)-4.3 pp
Hypothesis TestingProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming3.0% (3)5.2% (5)-2.2 pp
Partial Differential EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics4.0% (4)4.2% (4)-0.2 pp
EstimationProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming3.0% (3)4.2% (4)-1.2 pp
GroupsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology4.0% (4)3.1% (3)+0.9 pp
Inner Product Spaces and FormsAnalysis & Linear Algebra4.0% (4)3.1% (3)+0.9 pp
Limit Theorems and Markov ChainsProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming4.0% (4)3.1% (3)+0.9 pp
Calculus of VariationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.0% (3)3.1% (3)-0.1 pp
Linear Integral EquationsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.0% (3)3.1% (3)-0.1 pp
Numerical AnalysisODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics3.0% (3)3.1% (3)-0.1 pp
Analytic FunctionsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.0% (2)3.1% (3)-1.1 pp
Sampling and Design of ExperimentsProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming2.0% (2)3.1% (3)-1.1 pp
Cauchy TheoryComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology3.0% (3)2.1% (2)+0.9 pp
Functions of Several VariablesAnalysis & Linear Algebra1.0% (1)3.1% (3)-2.1 pp
Classical MechanicsODE, PDE & Applied Mathematics2.0% (2)2.1% (2)-0.1 pp
IntegrationAnalysis & Linear Algebra2.0% (2)2.1% (2)-0.1 pp
Zeros and MappingsComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology2.0% (2)2.1% (2)-0.1 pp
Sequences and Series of FunctionsAnalysis & Linear Algebra3.0% (3)1.0% (1)+2.0 pp
Lebesgue Measure and IntegrationAnalysis & Linear Algebra1.0% (1)2.1% (2)-1.1 pp
Metric SpacesAnalysis & Linear Algebra3.0% (3)0.0% (0)+3.0 pp
Singularities and ResiduesComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology1.0% (1)1.0% (1)-0.0 pp
TopologyComplex Analysis, Algebra & Topology1.0% (1)1.0% (1)-0.0 pp
Linear ProgrammingProbability, Statistics & Linear Programming1.0% (1)0.0% (0)+1.0 pp

24 of 30 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.