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January 2012

International GCSE Mathematics A

(4MA0) Paper 1F
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January 2012
Publications Code UG030739
All the material in this publication is copyright
© Pearson Education Ltd 2012
International GCSE Mathematics A
Specification 4MA0
Paper 1F

General Introduction to 4MA0

January 2012 hosted for the first time, the winter session of the International GCSE
Mathematics A. All previous sessions had taken place in November. The total number of
candidates rose to slightly over 2550, the highest entry for a winter session. Foundation
entries, which had been decreasing, recovered to nearly 450 (from 300 in November 2010).
Candidate entries for the higher tier were just over 2100.

Most of the 480 Foundation tier and 2200 Higher tier candidates took the opportunity the
papers gave them to show what they knew.

Paper 1F

Introduction

In general, candidates found the majority of this paper accessible. Questions that required
basic number skills were well answered, whereas those requiring algebraic manipulation or
remembering terms and/or definitions produced a more mixed response.

Questions which did not score well included Q15, a construction of a rhombus, evidenced by
a sizeable number of candidates starting the exam without a pair of compasses to hand.
Elsewhere Q14 caused many Foundation and Higher candidates to struggle, by including two
sectors marked as red rather than one. The orientation of the triangle in Q20 led many to
select tangent rather than sine to calculate the required angle.

The paper provided a good balance of questions which gave all candidates a fair opportunity
to demonstrate their abilities.

Report on individual questions

Question 1

Mistakes were rare on this opening question. In part (c) in a minority of cases, some
candidates opted to estimate 60% by shading just over a half of the shape, using part squares,
rather than shading 3 full squares as anticipated. In such cases a judgement was required on
behalf of the marker and full marks may have been awarded.

Question 2

All components of part (a) were well answered. Part (b)(ii) was poorly done. Despite
correctly identifying the 3 cards that Ben should choose in part (b)(i) many candidates
reverted back to the original 4 cards in selecting those 3 which should make the largest
possible odd number. Responses which included the card 7 were therefore common.

International GCSE 4MA0_1F January 2012 3

Question 3

There was a pleasing response in part (a) with many candidates correctly identifying that the
sum of the angles should come to 360°. In a small minority of cases some candidates insisted
that either the orientation was wrong or that x should be bigger than y. In part (b) a variety of
misspellings was accepted if, when verbally pronounced, they were close to the correct
answer.

Question 4

Common misconceptions were that Q4(a)(i) was a prism, (or triangular prism) and Q4(a)(ii)
was a hexagon. Both these responses scored no marks.

Question 5

The components referring to the pictogram all scored well. In Q5(c)(ii) partial simplification
to 6/50 or no simplification 12/100, was rare and scored half marks. In part (d) no credit was
given for fractions.

Question 6

Some candidates lost the one mark available in part (a) through miscounting the number of
crosses, or drawing a shape that had lost its symmetry. In part (c) occasionally 109 (from
3 × 37 – 2) was seen as an incorrect answer. Part (d) proved to be a good discriminator
question with sufficient flexibility in the mark scheme to award partial marks. Breaches of
the conventions of algebra, e.g. letters before numbers, including times signs etc were
overlooked so that responses such as N=P3 – 2, N=P×3 – 2, etc were awarded full marks.

Question 7

In part (a) – 21 was treated as + 21 and gained both marks on offer. A common incorrect
answer was – 15 (from – 18 + 3). In part (b) + 7 as an answer with no working scored no
marks and occasionally 29 (from 11 – -18) was seen. Although both parts scored well, part
(b) was attempted better than part (a).

The most common mistake in the last part of the question was to omit, deliberately or
otherwise, the 10 minutes before the item was placed in the oven. Therefore 16.10 or 4.10
were common answers and scored no marks unless some working was seen which the mark
scheme could give credit for. Correct answers in 24 hour or pm notation were accepted.

Question 8

Part (iii) was the most successful component of a generally well answered question. A
surprising number of candidates thought that a day of the week ending in the letter y was
unlikely or impossible and also that it was very likely that a person picked at random would
have a birthday in June.

International GCSE 4MA0_1F January 2012 4

Question 9

In part (a) interpretation of scale, as evidenced by answers such as 3.6, 0.36, 360, rather than
inaccurate measuring, was the cause of most lost marks.

The algebra component of latter part of this question, of stating the correct equation of a
horizontal line, was not particularly well done with a success rate of around 50%. Common
wrong answers were x = 1, AB = 1, AB = y, y = x. In part (d) many responses scored no
marks by reflecting the trapezium in the x axis or moving P or Q onto the line AB. The mark
scheme made it unlikely that only 1 of the 2 marks would be ever awarded.

Question 10

Apart from misunderstanding what a prime number was, the first 3 components scored well.
In part (d) common mistakes were to find √41 which led to a more difficult rounding process
or in rare cases (√41)3.

Question 11

Anticipated accuracy issues of measuring angles built into the mark scheme failed to
materialise and those with protractors usually obtained 60° and 40° to give a scale factor of
1.5. It could be interpreted that this was the most challenging question so far on the paper but
both parts were well answered, with a commendable success rate.

Question 12

The majority of components were answered well. Parts (a)(ii) and (d)(ii) were the most
challenging elements. In the former many failed to recognise they were adding 4 like terms
and were unsure how to treat the indices. Answers of 4p12 or p12 were therefore common. In
(d)(ii) either the brackets were multiplied out incorrectly (e.g. 3y2 instead of y3 and/or 10y
instead of 10y2) or subsequent incorrect simplification took place on what was an originally
correct answer. Therefore y3 + 10 y2 became 10y5 or 10y6. In this latter case 1 mark was
deducted from the 2 that would have been awarded.

Question 13

Although mistakes were much more prevalent from Foundation candidates than those
attempting the same question on the Higher paper, generally responses were well done,
particularly in part (a). Here the most common mistake was to attempt to work out 7% of 32
and then sometimes go on to multiply this by 10 to get a more reasonable size answer,
leading to 22.4 instead of the 21.9 required. An answer of 22% with no working therefore
gained no credit.

In part (b) it was to be hoped that by putting “million” on the answer line it would encourage
candidates to work in millions rather than become embroiled in trailing zeros associated with
large numbers. Foundation candidates who ignored this prompt sometimes lost track of how
many zeros were involved. Candidates who wrote 33,000,000 or 33,300,000 or 33280,000 on
the answer line gained full credit.

International GCSE 4MA0_1F January 2012 5

Question 14

As mentioned in the preamble many candidates latched on too quickly that because the
spinner had 5 sections each colour had a probability of a 1 in 5 chance of occurring. Answers
of 6 (from 1/5 × 30) were almost as common as the required answer of 12.

Question 15

This was the least successful question on the paper and beyond the abilities of most
Foundation candidates in this cohort. Awarding full marks was rare but not unknown. For
those who could produce an accurate rhombus without construction lines a special case of 1
mark was awarded.

Question 16

Candidates generally coped well with the idea that the set theory symbol in part (a)(i)
represented the empty set and hence there were no candidates who studied both German and
Maths. Marks were withheld if they went on to add erroneous information such as “they
didn’t study Maths but did study French”. This rule also applied in part (a)(ii)... “Preety
doesn’t study French but she does study Maths/German”. A sizeable number of responses
mentioned that Preety did in fact study French, possibly because they did not examine the
negation symbol closely enough.

Although Venn diagrams do not form part of the Foundation specification many used this
visual device to reach the correct result in part (b).

Question 17

At Foundation level there were frequent misunderstandings about rounding to 3 significant

figures but these were not penalised provided a more accurate answer was found in the body
of the script. Most recognised the need to divide the 15 by 2 to use a radius of 7.5 in the
volume formula. Those who did not picked up 1 mark out of 3 for using the value of 15.

Question 18

Because of the tariff (3 marks) and the level (Grade C) an algebraic start was required in
order to award marks. The answer of – 10 was sufficiently obscure to dissuade candidates
from guessing or spotting the answer correctly with no working which would have led to no
marks awarded. In fact there was not one instance where a candidate was successful with this
approach. Correct answers were awarded full marks if one method mark had been obtained.
This was given for multiplying out the brackets correctly (3x – 12) as a first stage. Many
candidates fell short of obtaining the second mark by failing to reduce the equation down to a
two term statement equivalent to – 20 = 2x.

International GCSE 4MA0_1F January 2012 6

Question 19

In part (b) answers of 8 for the number of texts sent, for those candidates who were troubled
by the decimal value as a final answer, were accepted for full marks provided 3 method
marks had been awarded prior. The table gave a clear structure on how to proceed and most
candidates followed this lead. One arithmetic error was condoned for those candidates unable
to choose and use the correct mid-interval values.

Question 20

The orientation of the triangle led some candidiates to incorrectly select tangent for the
trigonometric function to be used, instead of sine, and hence they scored no marks. In part
(b) 5.84 was mistakenly selected more times than 5.85 as the upper bound whilst 5.75 had
more success as the lower bound.

International GCSE 4MA0_1F January 2012 7

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