# Topic Questions: 1.3 The use of the Poisson distribution as an approximation to the binomial distribution. — WST02 The Binomial and Poisson distributions > 36 WST02 The Binomial and Poisson distributions topic questions (113 marks) on 1.3 The use of the Poisson distribution as an… — 26 papers, 2014–2026. Open… - Canonical HTML: https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/the-binomial-and-poisson-distributions/1-3-the-use-of-the-poisson-distribution-as-an-approximation-to-the-binomial/ - Markdown mirror: https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/the-binomial-and-poisson-distributions/1-3-the-use-of-the-poisson-distribution-as-an-approximation-to-the-binomial/index.md --- Edexcel IAL · Mathematics · WST02 · The Binomial and Poisson distributions 36 WST02 The Binomial and Poisson distributions topic questions are tagged to this syllabus point across 26 papers (2014–2026). Only the parts whose knowledge graph matches this syllabus statement are counted, and the table shows which parts of each question are involved. - 36 topic questions - 26 papers - 113 tagged marks - 11.7% of topic questions - 14.2% of topic marks - 2014–2026 - Syllabus 2014–current - [All WST02 The Binomial and Poisson distributions topic questions](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/the-binomial-and-poisson-distributions/) - [All paper codes](https://www.examsci.com/topics/) Core finding **This The Binomial and Poisson distributions syllabus point appears in 26 WST02 papers across 2014–2026, contributing 36 topic questions and 113 marks.** The most recent appearance is WST02/01 January 2026. That equals 11.7% of the 309 topic questions and 14.2% of the 794 marks tagged to The Binomial and Poisson distributions. Only parts tagged to this subtopic are counted, so a four-part question can contribute one item and one part's marks. The table lists every matching question, its tagged parts and marks, with a link back to the paper page. Sessions are newest first, so the statement can be traced back through the full paper history. ## Topic questions by session Newest sessions first. Parts and marks count only the parts tagged to this subtopic; “x of y parts” shows how much of the question is tagged elsewhere. Select the paper cell to open the matching question on the paper page, or use **Go to Practice Hub** to answer that exact question in the Interactive Practice Hub. | Paper | Question | Type | Parts | Marks | Difficulty | Practice | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [**WST02/01** January 2026 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2026-january-wst02-01/#q-4) | **Q4** Hypothesis Testing with Binomial and Poisson Approximation - Edexcel IAL Statistics S2 Jan 2026 Q4 | FRQ | 1 of 3 parts ((b)) | 6 of 8 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=14b2bcbc-6410-4d06-93d2-4472dc900c55&question_id=28bb1f4c-5924-4a0c-bc7e-a75095099a79&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2026) | | [**WST02/02** January 2026 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2026-january-wst02-02/#q-1) | **Q1** Continuous and Binomial Distribution - Edexcel IAL S2 2026 Jan Q1 | FRQ | 1 of 3 parts ((c)) | 3 of 9 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=1336b9c7-1caa-4bf4-8158-471c4e419191&question_id=daee3f5f-c3ca-4ec8-89e1-f7e30c36bf12&source_detail=WST02%2F02+January+2026) | | [**WST02/02** October 2025 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2025-october-wst02-02/#q-3) | **Q3** Approximations of Binomial Distribution - Oct 2025 Q3 | FRQ | 2 of 5 parts ((b), (d)) | 3 of 11 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=5763a03e-ff1a-43ec-b633-f62c1ea0562d&question_id=a9f41ea0-76e8-4479-8b79-47a60a514a39&source_detail=WST02%2F02+October+2025) | | [**WST02/01** June 2025 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2025-june-wst02-01/#q-3) | **Q3** Binomial and Poisson Approximations - Edexcel IAL S2 Summer 2025 Q3 | FRQ | 2 of 4 parts ((c)(i), (c)(ii)) | 4 of 10 on the paper | Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=7b41e39a-add0-4d36-99ba-87335c3a6b26&question_id=16a775c5-4f6a-4e4e-abbc-1b7f56f9f749&source_detail=WST02%2F01+June+2025) | | [**WST02/01** January 2025 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2025-january-wst02-01/#q-1) | **Q1** Binomial and Poisson Distributions - Edexcel IAL S2 Jan 2025 Q1 | FRQ | 3 of 5 parts ((b), (c), (d)) | 5 of 11 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=154f2d40-caed-481c-87f7-700856e3a4b7&question_id=4f077e02-9384-4881-b322-6f52555c12c1&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2025) | | [**WST02/01** June 2024 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2024-june-wst02-01/#q-5) | **Q5** Poisson and Uniform Distributions - Edexcel IAL S2 June 2024 Q5 | FRQ | 1 of 4 parts ((b)) | 3 of 12 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c917a3a0-784b-4d3a-a286-6af513d8d5ed&question_id=8751cbbf-3c88-4d31-9480-03c845b209cc&source_detail=WST02%2F01+June+2024) | | [**WST02/01** January 2024 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2024-january-wst02-01/#q-2) | **Q2** Normal Distribution and Approximations - Edexcel IAL S2 Jan 2024 Q2 | FRQ | 1 of 3 parts ((c)) | 3 of 8 on the paper | Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=325ce792-2a12-4eff-8cac-7cfe4a4eebf0&question_id=7a516c65-3ec0-4fea-94d1-3a05bb19d26c&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2024) | | [**WST02/01** June 2023 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2023-june-wst02-01/#q-4) | **Q4** Poisson Approximation and Hypothesis Testing - Edexcel IAL S2 2023 Jun Q4 | FRQ | 2 of 5 parts ((a), (b)) | 5 of 13 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=d8dab4f6-2b3d-4e8e-8bfe-12c57a8fe05b&question_id=e8641497-9f6e-4c7d-9937-fbafff8875b4&source_detail=WST02%2F01+June+2023) | | [**WST02/01** October 2022 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2022-october-wst02-01/#q-3) | **Q3** Hypothesis Testing and Approximations - Edexcel IAL S2 October 2022 Q3 | FRQ | 1 of 3 parts ((c)) | 5 of 10 on the paper | Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6c42d132-14b9-431d-9eed-afb3c044a404&question_id=8f48475e-7473-4693-92a6-f6fa95e9e475&source_detail=WST02%2F01+October+2022) | | [**WST02/01** June 2022 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2022-june-wst02-01/#q-4) | **Q4** Hypothesis Tests - Edexcel IAL S2 2022 Jun Q4 | FRQ | 1 of 2 parts ((b)) | 6 of 9 on the paper | Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9f6914eb-5e53-428c-8964-d4888d4d5a86&question_id=43cd177e-02dd-4ad2-8a21-51e5b03cb97a&source_detail=WST02%2F01+June+2022) | | [**WST02/01** January 2022 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2022-january-wst02-01/#q-5) | **Q5** Binomial to Poisson and Normal Approximations - Edexcel IAL S2 Jan 2022 Q5 | FRQ | 2 of 5 parts ((c), (d)) | 5 of 14 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=f354e734-a4a2-433d-ac31-c2812ea6e7b8&question_id=21c28ec3-cb14-40df-86a5-8b5155e53601&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2022) | | [**WST02/01** June 2021 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2021-june-wst02-01/#q-1) | **Q1** Binomial and Poisson Distributions - Edexcel IAL S2 2021 Jun Q1 | FRQ | 1 of 5 parts ((d)) | 6 of 14 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=6f1bf773-b5a4-4156-8fe9-4b4365817785&question_id=c41ba065-46c2-44c3-a875-bdf24664f24b&source_detail=WST02%2F01+June+2021) | | [**WST02/01** January 2021 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2021-january-wst02-01/#q-1) | **Q1** Binomial and Poisson Distributions - Edexcel IAL Statistics S2 Jan 2021 Q1 | FRQ | 1 of 6 parts ((d)) | 3 of 14 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=1fc666ae-cb4a-4f49-88e4-685f567dba28&question_id=8b699746-a517-46ac-ba85-a01db35d6ce7&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2021) | | [**WST02/01** October 2020 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2020-october-wst02-01/#q-4) | **Q4** Poisson Distribution and Hypothesis Testing - Edexcel IAL S2 June 2020 Q4 | FRQ | 1 of 6 parts ((e)) | 3 of 16 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=fed673c5-882c-48d5-9e24-7901c099637a&question_id=21b87064-b08a-442d-9ac0-4c94006d6efc&source_detail=WST02%2F01+October+2020) | | [**WST02/01** January 2020 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2020-january-wst02-01/#q-1) | **Q1** Poisson Distribution and Approximations - Edexcel IAL S2 January 2020 Q1 | FRQ | 2 of 5 parts ((d)(i), (d)(ii)) | 4 of 14 on the paper | Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=751855fb-d3c0-400c-bfc3-b99733038379&question_id=985f2cde-0361-4afe-b760-7cdcfdd09f87&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2020) | | [**WST02/01** October 2019 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2019-october-wst02-01/#q-6) | **Q6** Uniform Distribution and Normal/Poisson Approximations - Edexcel IAL S2 October 2019 Q6 | FRQ | 1 of 3 parts ((c)) | 4 of 8 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=07694c98-38fb-461c-aaf2-5b1b89a8e110&question_id=be489b51-6861-4a73-ab7a-a71593478d97&source_detail=WST02%2F01+October+2019) | | [**WST02/01** January 2019 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2019-january-wst02-01/#q-6) | **Q6** Approximations and Sampling - Edexcel IAL S2 2019 Jan Q6 | FRQ | 2 of 6 parts ((i)(a), (i)(b)) | 4 of 12 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=53fefb90-8de7-4b26-8179-ca19ddc1b028&question_id=c16df989-9453-4561-8488-3f52bb61b8b7&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2019) | | [**WST02/01** October 2018 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2018-october-wst02-01/#q-6) | **Q6** Continuous Uniform Distribution - Edexcel IAL S2 Oct 2018 Q6 | FRQ | 1 of 4 parts ((c)) | 4 of 9 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=e0fa16c2-3bc6-4e13-9d1a-aa7e6c0a5d96&question_id=1d3d5135-8cdb-4ea5-bb3a-5183e8ec9975&source_detail=WST02%2F01+October+2018) | | [**WST02/01** October 2017 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2017-october-wst02-01/#q-1) | **Q1** Normal Distribution and Approximations - Edexcel IAL S2 October 2017 Q1 | FRQ | 1 of 3 parts ((c)) | 3 of 9 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=a57bafdb-c12d-4ea0-9708-234ab37a04e7&question_id=ff03f5c2-4b4e-4f1a-aad3-b30919253084&source_detail=WST02%2F01+October+2017) | | [**WST02/01** June 2017 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2017-june-wst02-01/#q-4) | **Q4** Poisson Approximation and Binomial Hypothesis Testing - Edexcel IAL S2 June 2017 Q4 | FRQ | 1 of 5 parts ((b)(ii)) | 5 of 13 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=2c59387d-3418-40a4-a253-4f75663d7962&question_id=f4f90d53-086e-4c38-8000-2e2f5d15da2a&source_detail=WST02%2F01+June+2017) | | [**WST02/01** January 2017 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2017-january-wst02-01/#q-6) | **Q6** Hypothesis Testing with Poisson Approximation - Edexcel IAL S2 Jan 2017 Q6 | FRQ | 1 part | 7 | Hard | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4bee0927-c665-431e-a727-8b7b0917a422&question_id=3e6b4a42-358e-48e2-a1e3-b063faef6fd0&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2017) | | [**WST02/01** October 2016 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2016-october-wst02-01/#q-1) | **Q1** Hypothesis Testing - Edexcel IAL S2 October 2016 Q1 | FRQ | 1 of 2 parts ((b)) | 4 of 10 on the paper | Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=c63e980b-bb97-49fe-81c9-cd74781ea555&question_id=cb6b6e78-17fa-46a4-bb30-dbcfd0193da3&source_detail=WST02%2F01+October+2016) | | [**WST02/01** June 2016 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2016-june-wst02-01/#q-7) | **Q7** Binomial and Poisson Hypothesis Test - Edexcel S2 2016 Jun Q7 | FRQ | 1 of 5 parts ((d)) | 6 of 15 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=33eeab29-cde4-4990-9446-9d46d0bbd486&question_id=f34046a1-6f92-4d11-a5ec-941fb749136e&source_detail=WST02%2F01+June+2016) | | [**WST02/01** January 2016 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2016-january-wst02-01/#q-3) | **Q3** Poisson and Normal Approximation to Binomial - Edexcel IAL S2 Jan 2016 Q3 | FRQ | 2 of 5 parts ((b), (d)) | 3 of 11 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=78e8bbaa-28b6-41e1-9a32-98a24be7e3ed&question_id=1abcc436-e3f0-40a3-831f-bd8561df4041&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2016) | | [**WST02/01** June 2014 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2014-june-wst02-01/#q-1) | **Q1** Poisson Approximation and Hypothesis Testing - Edexcel IAL S2 June 2014 Q1 | FRQ | 2 of 3 parts ((a), (c)) | 6 of 7 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=63ec63ed-ddc3-43d5-b01d-977b457fe429&question_id=785134e8-4c08-4b31-aca7-78ebd98efec8&source_detail=WST02%2F01+June+2014) | | [**WST02/01** January 2014 · Edexcel IAL](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/2014-january-wst02-01/#q-1) | **Q1** Binomial and Poisson Distribution - Edexcel IAL S2 Jan 2014 Q1 | FRQ | 1 of 3 parts ((b)) | 3 of 8 on the paper | Easy | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=0bc6d1b9-aeb4-4db3-b222-61e62b8fdf0e&question_id=c66fa618-111b-4695-ad92-2aeac022a2f0&source_detail=WST02%2F01+January+2014) | ## Related topic questions in The Binomial and Poisson distributions - [1.1 The binomial and Poisson distributions.](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/the-binomial-and-poisson-distributions/1-1-the-binomial-and-poisson-distributions/) — 247 question items · 36 papers — 604 marks · 2014–2026 - [1.2 The mean and variance of the binomial and Poisson distributions.](https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/the-binomial-and-poisson-distributions/1-2-the-mean-and-variance-of-the-binomial-and-poisson-distributions/) — 56 question items · 29 papers — 170 marks · 2015–2026 ## Topic question rules and edge cases **How many topic questions cover this syllabus point?** 26 question stems cover this subtopic across 26 papers, but only 36 tagged parts and 113 marks belong to it. Other parts of the same questions are assessed under different statements and are excluded from this page. **Which papers include this subtopic?** The table lists every matching session from 2014–2026. Each row links to the question anchor on the paper page, where the full paper context and practice entry point are available. **Why can one question appear under several subtopics?** The parts of one question can assess different syllabus statements. Each part is counted under its own subtopics, so the same question stem can appear on several subtopic pages while each page lists only the parts and marks tagged to that statement. **Can I practise these questions with AI marking?** Yes. Open a paper from the table and use the Interactive Practice Hub entry point. The page itself is static HTML so search engines and retrieval agents can read the full question list without executing JavaScript. --- Full page with native tables, bar charts and Practice Hub links: https://www.examsci.com/topics/edexcel-ial/mathematics/statistics-2-wst02/the-binomial-and-poisson-distributions/1-3-the-use-of-the-poisson-distribution-as-an-approximation-to-the-binomial/