# WMA12/01 October 2021

> WMA12/01 October 2021: 10 questions, 75 marks. Difficulty 0.41, deviation 0.18, algebraic 0.39, text density 0.25. Edexcel IAL Mathematics P2.

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Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · 2021 October

This Pure Mathematics 2 (WMA12) paper contains 10 questions worth 75 marks. The profile below reports five mark-weighted difficulty and complexity measures, and every question row repeats them. Full question text and the mark scheme require Pro access.

- Edexcel IAL
- P2
- 10 questions
- 75 marks
- Pro paper
- [Open in Interactive Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97)
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Core finding

**WMA12/01 October 2021 is a past paper for Edexcel IAL Pure Mathematics 2 (WMA12), with 10 questions worth 75 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.41 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.18 and a mark split of 29.3% Easy, 50.7% Medium and 20.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.39; text density and modelling average 0.25. All five measures use 30 part-level tags, not candidate results. Every question row below repeats them and opens the Interactive Practice Hub for that question.

## Difficulty & complexity profile

All five measures are mark-weighted and calculated from 30 parts carrying 75 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 30 parts, algebraic tags 30 and text-density tags 30. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.41 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.18 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 29.3 / 50.7 / 20.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.39 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.25 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low

Scale: Easy 0.20 · Medium 0.45 · Hard 0.75, and Low 0.20 · Medium 0.45 · High 0.75 for the two complexity measures. [How each band is defined and how the values are calculated →](https://www.examsci.com/guides/difficulty-and-complexity-measures/)

### Definitions and calculation

| Measure | Paper value | Formula |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Difficulty Measure** | 0.41 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.18 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 29.3% Easy / 50.7% Medium / 20.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.39 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.25 | Σ(t_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with t = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |

w_i equals the part marks, except for a Hard part worth 4 or more marks, where w_i = marks^0.75 to offset the accessible starter steps inside long structured questions.

## Question list

Each measure is recalculated from the parts of that question and uses the same weights as the paper profile.

| Question | Topic | Marks | Difficulty Measure | Algebraic Complexity Measure | Text Density and Modelling Measure | Practice |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Q1** FRQ | [4. Sequences and series](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/sequences-and-series/) | 6 | 0.33 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=fc4d3e40-b65d-4111-887d-664930d354e2&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [4. Sequences and series](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/sequences-and-series/) | 5 | 0.35 Medium | 0.35 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=ce8f17e6-15d6-4761-b07d-d638ddb7ad96&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [8. Integration](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/integration/) | 8 | 0.39 Medium | 0.39 Medium | 0.29 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=e5fa3746-4d4b-49c6-9bfb-da600bff1f5e&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [2. Algebra and functions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/algebra-and-functions/) | 8 | 0.36 Medium | 0.36 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=9d63aabd-ff51-4e8e-8a43-335be19b16ed&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [4. Sequences and series](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/sequences-and-series/) | 6 | 0.33 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=999df440-8d3a-42a9-8719-bf166b197e3a&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [3. Coordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/coordinate-geometry-in-the-x-y-plane/) | 8 | 0.33 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=b2048965-4ce9-48df-8fb7-78f3f37f57b8&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [4. Sequences and series](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/sequences-and-series/) | 10 | 0.35 Medium | 0.35 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=a7ab97a4-448e-499a-b54a-23b6343719cc&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |
| **Q8** FRQ | [7. Differentiation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/differentiation/) | 10 | 0.57 Medium | 0.38 Medium | 0.33 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=bfd2f813-7054-4766-be2f-93c5ea27d8c9&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |
| **Q9** FRQ | [1. Proof](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/proof/) | 4 | 0.39 Medium | 0.39 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=e9d80fdb-50ee-473d-8195-044411315084&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |
| **Q10** FRQ | [6. Trigonometry](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/trigonometry/) | 10 | 0.75 Hard | 0.60 Medium | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97&question_id=90b9a4db-e399-4042-8811-fe3b92c79eb8&source_detail=WMA12%2F01+October+2021) |

## Full questions and mark scheme

This paper is from 2021. Question text, options and the mark scheme are available with Pro access. The metadata above is public so you can still plan revision by topic and difficulty.

[Open this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=93238783-dcf0-4ffd-8ca6-1528ee01fa97)

## Topics in this paper

- [4. Sequences and series](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/sequences-and-series/)
- [8. Integration](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/integration/)
- [5. Exponentials and logarithms](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/exponentials-and-logarithms/)
- [2. Algebra and functions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/algebra-and-functions/)
- [3. Coordinate geometry in the (x, y) plane](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/coordinate-geometry-in-the-x-y-plane/)
- [7. Differentiation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/differentiation/)
- [1. Proof](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/proof/)
- [6. Trigonometry](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/trigonometry/)

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## Paper FAQ

**How are the difficulty and complexity measures calculated?**

Each part is weighted by its official marks. Difficulty uses Easy 0.20, Medium 0.45 and Hard 0.75; algebraic complexity and text density and modelling use Low 0.20, Medium 0.45 and High 0.75. A Hard part worth 4 or more marks is down-weighted to marks^0.75, so the accessible starter steps inside a long structured question do not inflate the difficulty result. This paper's Difficulty Measure is 0.41 from 30 parts.

**What does the Difficulty Deviation show?**

It is the mark-weighted standard deviation of the part difficulty values around the paper mean. A value of 0 would mean every tagged part has the same difficulty; this paper's deviation is 0.18, so its parts are more mixed than a single-level paper.

**Is the Difficulty Ratio based on question counts or marks?**

It is based on official marks, not question counts. This paper's shares are 29.3% Easy, 50.7% Medium and 20.0% Hard; the three shares sum to 100% before rounding.

**Are these official difficulty ratings?**

No. They are derived from the platform's part-level difficulty and static-question-profile tags. They are not exam-board grade boundaries and are not calculated from candidate outcomes. Use them to compare the demand profile of papers, not to predict a grade.

**Why does each question row show its own measures?**

Each row recalculates the same mark-weighted formula from that question's parts. A single-part MCQ therefore shows the tag value directly, while a multi-part structured question blends the tags of its parts using the same Hard-part decay as the paper profile.

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Full page with native tables, bar charts and Practice Hub links: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/pure-mathematics-2-wma12/2021-october-wma12-01/