To: Cambridge International Education,

Student Petition Concerning O Level Additional Mathematics 4037/12 – October/November 2026

We, the undersigned students and candidates, respectfully submit this petition to raise our collective concerns regarding the Cambridge O Level Additional Mathematics 4037/12 examination taken during the October/November 2026 examination series.

We fully recognise that Additional Mathematics is intended to be a challenging qualification requiring strong mathematical reasoning, problem-solving ability and fluency. Our concern is therefore not simply that the examination was difficult. Rather, it is the overall level of difficulty combined with the complexity of several questions and the pressure of completing the paper within the allocated two hours.

Following the examination, candidates from different schools and online student communities independently expressed remarkably similar concerns. Students described the paper as significantly more challenging than expected from their preparation with previous Cambridge papers. Particular concerns were raised regarding the polynomial, logarithm and arithmetic progression questions, while others reported that familiar question types appeared in considerably more complicated forms than they had encountered in previous papers. 

Time was another recurring concern. Candidates reported spending substantially longer than expected on individual questions, leaving insufficient time for later sections of the examination. Some students consequently left questions partially completed or entirely unanswered. Importantly, these concerns have not only come from students who struggled with the subject generally; candidates who described themselves as normally strong in Additional Mathematics also reported finding this paper unusually demanding.

Cambridge states that O Level Additional Mathematics is intended to develop candidates' problem-solving ability, mathematical reasoning, confidence and fluency, while providing progression towards advanced mathematical study. Cambridge International We therefore believe it is reasonable to ask whether the combined difficulty and time demands of this particular component allowed sufficiently prepared candidates to demonstrate those abilities fairly.

We respectfully request that Cambridge International Education:

• Carefully examine the overall performance of candidates on 4037/12, particularly where there is evidence of widespread difficulty across the cohort.
• Consider the relative difficulty and time demands of the paper as part of the awarding process.
• Ensure that the grade thresholds appropriately reflect the demonstrated performance of candidates in this examination series.
• Examine whether particular questions or sections produced unusually low performance, and consider whether this resulted from their level of demand or the overall time pressure of the paper.
• Take the collective concerns raised by candidates into consideration when evaluating the examination and its outcomes.

This petition does not seek free marks, automatic compensation or a reduction in Cambridge's academic standards. Nor does it suggest that an Additional Mathematics examination should be easy. It asks only that the unusual concerns surrounding this paper and the actual performance of the candidate cohort receive appropriate consideration through Cambridge's established assessment and awarding procedures.

Students spent months, and in many cases years, preparing for this qualification. The purpose of this petition is therefore to ensure that their concerns are formally heard and that their final results represent their mathematical ability as fairly as possible.

We respectfully ask Cambridge International Education to consider the evidence from candidate performance and the concerns expressed by those who sat the examination.

Respectfully signed,
The students and candidates affected by Cambridge O Level Additional Mathematics 4037/12