OCR A-Level Mathematics A Past Papers & Mark Schemes

OCR A-Level Mathematics A (H240) splits its assessment across three papers of equal weight, each lasting 2 hours and worth 100 marks. The first paper tests pure mathematics exclusively; the second and third papers each combine further pure content with an applied strand — statistics or mechanics respectively. Paper 1: Pure Mathematics (H240/01, 2 hours, 100 marks) covers the core algebraic and analytical techniques: proof, algebra and functions, coordinate geometry, sequences and series (including binomial expansion), trigonometry (including radians and identities), exponentials and logarithms, differentiation (chain rule, product rule, quotient rule), integration (by substitution and by parts), and numerical methods (including the Newton-Raphson method and the trapezium rule). Paper 2: Pure Mathematics and Statistics (H240/02, 2 hours, 100 marks) extends the pure content with vectors (in two and three dimensions) and further calculus, then tests statistical methods — sampling, data presentation, probability (including conditional probability and set notation), statistical distributions (binomial and normal), and hypothesis testing using correlation coefficients and the binomial distribution. Paper 3: Pure Mathematics and Mechanics (H240/03, 2 hours, 100 marks) combines additional pure content with mechanics — kinematics (constant and variable acceleration using calculus), forces and Newton's laws (including connected particles and pulleys), and moments (static equilibrium problems). Notably, Paper 1 is the only paper where a calculator is not permitted. Papers 2 and 3 both allow scientific or graphical calculators. The pure content examined in Papers 2 and 3 is distinct from Paper 1, meaning all three papers test different areas of the specification — there is no overlap or repetition.