There is no magic number, and Cambridge does not publish a required count of past papers. The more useful question is how many papers you can do properly, meaning attempted, marked honestly and learned from. One paper fully reviewed will teach you more than several that you skim and put away.
This post gives you a way to decide, and a suggested plan you can adjust. It is a suggestion, not data.
Why a single target number misleads
You will hear numbers from friends and tutors: ten papers, twenty, every paper since 2015. These are personal habits, not rules. They ignore three things:
- how strong your content knowledge already is
- how long you take to mark and review each paper
- how many papers actually exist for your syllabus
A student who sits ten papers and reviews none of them has practised the same mistakes ten times. A student who sits four and writes up every lost mark has four rounds of real feedback.
Four questions that set your number
Ask yourself these, in order.
- How many weeks do I have? Work backwards from the exam date, and subtract the week before for light revision.
- How long does one proper paper take me? Count the sitting, the marking and the error log. For many students that is the paper time plus about the same again.
- How secure is my content? If you cannot attempt many questions, your next hours belong to the textbook and topic questions, not full papers.
- How many papers does my syllabus have? Look at the past papers page for your syllabus code and count the recent years available.
Your number is the smaller of what your time allows and what your content knowledge justifies.
A sensible shape of progression
Instead of a total, think about the shape of your practice across the weeks.
- Early: mostly topic questions, untimed, with a lot of marking and relearning. Few or no full papers.
- Middle: a mix. One full paper a week or so, with the rest topic work on the weak areas your error log reveals.
- Late: full timed papers, closed book, at the time of day of your real exam. Fewer papers, but each one reviewed in depth.
- Final week: no new papers after the first couple of days. Review your log and mark schemes.
If you are not sure how to run the review, the method in how to revise with Cambridge past papers walks through the error log in detail.
A suggested plan by weeks left
Treat this table as a starting point. Change the numbers to fit your time and how fast you review. It is a suggestion, not research.
| Weeks left | Suggested focus | Full papers (suggestion) |
|---|---|---|
| 12 or more | Cover the syllabus, topic questions after each topic | 0 to 1 per fortnight, untimed |
| 8 to 11 | Topic questions, weak topics from your log | About 1 per week |
| 4 to 7 | Mix of topics and full papers, begin timing | 1 to 2 per week |
| 2 to 3 | Full timed papers, careful review | 2 per week at most |
| Final week | Light: error log, mark schemes, rest | 1 early in the week, then none |
If you only have three weeks left in total, do not try to squeeze in the plan for twelve. Pick your weakest topics first, then do a small number of full papers with proper review.
Know your pool, and do not burn it too early
How many papers exist depends on your syllabus code. Many components have more than one version in a series, and the paper codes on your syllabus past papers page show what is available. Count them for the recent years only: older papers may belong to an earlier syllabus, so check the years of examination listed on your syllabus.
If your pool looks small:
- Save the most recent full papers for the last few weeks, when you want a realistic test.
- Use topic questions to practise earlier without spending a whole paper.
- Redo questions you got wrong after a gap. A repeated question you now answer correctly is real progress.
A topic-based approach also stretches the pool. See how to use topical questions for ways to do this.
An example of the arithmetic
Suppose you have six weeks and can give yourself about eight hours a week to past papers. If one properly reviewed paper takes you around four hours in total, that is two papers a week, or at most twelve over the six weeks, and in practice fewer once you add topic work and rest days. A realistic figure for you might be six to eight. These numbers are made up to show the method: your own timings will give you your own answer.
If your honest total comes out low, that is fine. Choose the papers that test your weakest areas, and review them fully.
Quality over quantity: a quick test
After each paper, ask:
- Did I mark every answer against the mark scheme, line by line?
- Can I name the three most common reasons I lost marks?
- Did I schedule time to relearn or redo those parts?
If you cannot answer yes to most of these, do not start the next paper yet. Finish learning from this one.
Try it on a real paper
Choose a paper from the past papers hub, or go straight to your subject, such as O Level Chemistry or A Level Physics. Write your answers by hand and have them marked against the official mark scheme so each paper gives you real feedback. Reading papers, downloading PDFs and viewing mark schemes is free, and a free account adds AI marking.
You can also drill your weakest topic with topical sets. The 2023 and 2024 papers are marked first, so not every year is available yet.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there an official number of past papers I must do?
- No. Cambridge does not publish a required number, and no number guarantees a result. What matters is how much you learn from each paper you attempt.
- Is it better to do many papers quickly or a few carefully?
- A few carefully reviewed papers are usually worth more than many skimmed ones. If you do not study your mistakes, the next paper repeats them.
- Will I run out of past papers?
- It is possible to run low on recent papers for a subject, so use topic questions to extend your supply and keep some papers back for later. Check your syllabus past papers page to see what exists for your code.
- Should I do papers from before the current syllabus?
- Only with care. If your syllabus has changed, older questions may cover content you do not need or miss content you do, so check each question against your current syllabus.