Permutations and combinations: past paper questions
Real questions on permutations and combinations
The newest 20 of 133 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.
- 9709/52 · October/November 2025 · Q4a[4]
4-mark “Write” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · October/November 2025 · Q7a[4]
4-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · October/November 2025 · Q7b[3]
3-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/51 · May/June 2025 · Q2a[3]
3-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · May/June 2025 · Q3a[2]
2-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · May/June 2025 · Q6a[3]
3-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · May/June 2025 · Q6b[3]
3-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · May/June 2025 · Q6c[3]
3-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/53 · May/June 2025 · Q7d[4]
4-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/62 · May/June 2025 · Q1a[1]
1-mark “Explain” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · February/March 2025 · Q6a[1]
1-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · February/March 2025 · Q6b[2]
2-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · February/March 2025 · Q6c[3]
3-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · February/March 2025 · Q6d[4]
4-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/11 · October/November 2024 · Q10a[3]
3-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/11 · October/November 2024 · Q10b[5]
5-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/51 · October/November 2024 · Q7a[2]
2-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/51 · October/November 2024 · Q7b[3]
3-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/51 · October/November 2024 · Q7c[4]
4-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9709/52 · October/November 2024 · Q2a[1]
1-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper →
What examiners said
This was a standard textbook style question, which was successfully answered by the majority of candidates. The best solutions stated clearly the unevaluated expression. The most common error was to omit one or more of the repeated colours from the denominator. A small number of candidates did not state the exact value before rounding to 3 significant figures.
— Examiner report, February/March 2025, 9709/52 Q6(a) (Cambridge)
Both standard approaches were seen successfully completed by many candidates. The best solutions did provide some explanation to explain the calculation, often in the form of a simple diagram where the 3 blue books are treated as a single unit.
— Examiner report, February/March 2025, 9709/52 Q6(b) (Cambridge)
Some good solutions were seen, but many candidates failed to appreciate that the repeated colours were still present and needed to eliminated using values on the denominator. Again, solutions where a possible acceptable solution was illustrated, e.g. ^ Y ^ ^ ^ ^ Y ^ ^ ^, were frequently more successful in identifying all possible arrangements. Weaker solutions often included additional factors for...
— Examiner report, February/March 2025, 9709/52 Q6(c) (Cambridge)
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