What this covers
- Every segment of the filename is a code, not a fragment of a title
- The variant number is the segment people miss, and the costliest
- Boards differ in detail, not in structure
- Renaming on download makes the whole problem disappear
The first time you download a past paper, the filename looks like a mistake. It is not: it is a database key, generated by the system that publishes the papers, and it is completely consistent within a board.
Ten minutes of learning the pattern means you can identify any file in your folder without opening it, which is worth more than it sounds when you have sixty of them.
A worked example
Take <code>9709_s23_qp_12.pdf</code>, a Cambridge International file. It breaks into four segments, each of which answers a different question.
<strong>9709</strong> is the syllabus code: A Level Mathematics. <strong>s23</strong> is the series - <em>s</em> for the summer sitting, <em>23</em> for 2023. <strong>qp</strong> is the document type: question paper. <strong>12</strong> is the paper and variant: paper 1, variant 2.
The four segments
Cambridge International, which is the clearest example of the pattern.
| Segment | Values you will see | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Syllabus code | 9709, 9702, 0500 | Which qualification. Constant for your course |
| Series | s (summer), w (winter), m (March) | Which sitting, plus a two-digit year |
| Document type | qp, ms, er, in, gt | Question paper, mark scheme, examiner report, insert, grade thresholds |
| Paper and variant | 11, 12, 13, 21, 22 | First digit is the paper, second is the regional variant |
The variant is the one that catches people
Large international subjects are sat in several time zones and each zone gets different questions. Variant 1, 2 and 3 are genuinely different papers. Sit one and mark it against another's mark scheme and nothing will line up, which is a confusing twenty minutes before you work out why.
Other boards
The structure holds; the spelling changes. UK domestic boards tend to use longer, more human filenames that carry the same information: a specification code, a sitting expressed as month and year, and a document type spelled out rather than abbreviated.
Some publish files whose names include the paper title, which is friendlier and slightly less reliable, because two papers in a series can share a title. Where a board gives you both a title and a code, keep the code - it is the part guaranteed to be unique.
Grade thresholds are the fifth document
Alongside the paper, the mark scheme and the examiner report, most boards publish grade thresholds for each series: the raw marks that corresponded to each grade boundary that year.
They are worth a look once per subject. They tell you what a grade actually cost in marks, which is usually lower than people assume and occasionally much higher on an easy paper. They do not predict your own series, and a paper that is known to have been easy is a paper to be careful with rather than reassured by.
Document type codes
What each file actually is.
| Code | Document | Worth opening? |
|---|---|---|
| qp | Question paper | Yes, obviously |
| ms | Mark scheme | Yes, after you have attempted the paper |
| er | Examiner report | Yes, and almost nobody does - it says where marks were lost |
| in | Insert | Only if the paper refers to one; without it some questions are unanswerable |
| gt | Grade thresholds | Once per subject, for calibration |
| ci | Confidential instructions | Practical subjects only - setup notes for the exam centre |
What to do with this knowledge
Rename the files. The point of being able to read the codes is not to work with them but to translate them once, at the moment of download, into something you can read at a glance.
That is covered in detail in the guide on organising a past paper folder. The short version: Subject-Year-Season-PaperVariant-Type, and alphabetical order becomes chronological order for free.
Once you have the file
Questions and answers
What does the 's' or 'w' in a filename mean?
The series. Summer and winter respectively, followed by a two-digit year. Some boards also use 'm' for a March series, which exists for a small number of subjects in particular regions.
Which variant should I use?
The one your centre sits, which your teacher will know. If you are working alone, any variant is fine for practice as long as you mark it against its own mark scheme.
Why is there an insert as a separate file?
Because in the exam it is a separate booklet - usually source material, data or a case study. If the question paper refers to one and you do not have it, some questions cannot be answered at all.
Are older papers still useful if the specification changed?
Partly. Questions on topics that survived the change are as useful as ever; questions on removed topics are a waste of an evening. Check your current specification before working through anything more than about six years old.
Sources
- Cambridge Assessment International Education - past papersFilename conventions and document types
- AQA - find past papers and mark schemesPublication schedule and naming
