To Cambridge International Education,

On 30 September 2026, candidates sat Cambridge International A Level Mathematics Paper 12 (Pure Mathematics 1). Many of us left the exam feeling it was much harder and more time-pressured than any recent past paper or the other variants in the same series.

We are not asking for easier exams or higher marks. We know Cambridge sets grade thresholds for each variant separately to account for differences in difficulty. We are asking Cambridge to make sure that process fully reflects what happened in this paper.

Students prepare using past papers to understand the expected standard. When a paper departs sharply from that standard, it doesn't just cost marks on hard questions. Students lose confidence and run out of time, and then skip questions they could have answered. A grade threshold set months later can't undo that, but it can make sure it isn't held against us.

Many of us are resitting to secure university places, so this one paper carries real weight for our futures.

We respectfully ask Cambridge International Education to:

Review whether 9709/12 was comparable in difficulty and time demand to other variants and recent series.
Set grade thresholds that fairly reflect the paper's difficulty.
Explain how comparability between variants was checked for this paper.
A grade should reflect a student's mathematical ability, not which variant they happened to be given.

Yours faithfully, The undersigned students, teachers, parents and supporters