Career Launcher UAE offers IGCSE maths tuition for Cambridge 0580 and 0980, Pearson Edexcel 4MA1 and OxfordAQA 9260, at every tier, in Dubai and Sharjah, from centres in Bur Dubai, Al Nahda 2 and Al Qasimia, and online.
Lessons follow the syllabus your school enters you for, at the tier you will sit, and use that board’s past papers and mark schemes. Classes run as batch classes, small groups or one to one.
THE SYLLABUS, BOARD BY BOARD
IGCSE Maths: the papers you will sit.
Schools in the UAE enter IGCSE maths with Cambridge (0580, or 0980, the same course graded 9 to 1, which Cambridge offers to UAE schools), Pearson Edexcel (4MA1) or OxfordAQA (9260). The code is on the school’s subject list and on every past paper.
Cambridge
Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics (0580)
Grades
A* to G. Cambridge IGCSE (9–1) Mathematics, 0980, is the same course and papers graded 9 to 1.
Tiers
Core (Papers 1 and 3, grades C to G) or Extended (Papers 2 and 4, grades A* to E). Cambridge advises Extended for anyone aiming at A* to C.
Exams
June and November. A March series is for schools in India only.
Paper 1 (Core)1 hour 30 minutes, 80 marks, 50%Non-calculator. Structured and unstructured questions.
Paper 3 (Core)1 hour 30 minutes, 80 marks, 50%Calculator. Structured and unstructured questions.
Paper 2 (Extended)2 hours, 100 marks, 50%Non-calculator. Structured and unstructured questions.
Paper 4 (Extended)2 hours, 100 marks, 50%Calculator. Structured and unstructured questions.
The non-calculator papers are new since 2025. A list of formulas is printed in every paper, but not all of them: Pythagoras, the trigonometric ratios, interest and the areas of a rectangle, parallelogram and trapezium must be known. The syllabus for 2028 to 2030 keeps the same papers.
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Mathematics A (4MA1)
Grades
9 to 1, on the total of both papers.
Tiers
Foundation (grades 5 to 1) or Higher (grades 9 to 4, with a 3 allowed).
Exams
May/June and November. November replaced the January series from 2023.
Papers 1F and 2F (Foundation)2 hours, 100 marks, 50% eachCalculator allowed on both. Aimed at grades 5 to 1.
Papers 1H and 2H (Higher)2 hours, 100 marks, 50% eachCalculator allowed on both. Aimed at grades 9 to 4.
There is no non-calculator paper. A formulae sheet comes with every paper; the Higher sheet adds the quadratic formula, the sine and cosine rules, and the cone and sphere formulas. Both papers are sat in the same series.
Core (grades 5 to 1) or Extension (grades 9 to 4, with a 3 allowed).
Exams
May/June and November.
Papers 1C and 2C (Core)1 hour 30 minutes, 80 marks, 50% eachScientific calculator on both. Short questions to multistep problems.
Papers 1E and 2E (Extension)2 hours, 100 marks, 50% eachScientific calculator on both. Short questions to multistep problems.
The specification lists the formulas students must know, such as the quadratic formula; they are not normally given in the exam. A revised syllabus, 9233, is first examined in 2029.
Number: types of number; sets; powers and roots; fractions, decimals and percentages; ordering; the four operations; indices; standard form; estimation; limits of accuracy; ratio and proportion; rates; percentages; using a calculator; time; money; exponential growth and decay (Extended); surds (Extended)
Algebra and graphs: introduction to algebra; algebraic manipulation; algebraic fractions (Extended); indices; equations; inequalities; sequences; proportion (Extended); graphs in practical situations; graphs of functions; sketching curves; differentiation (Extended); functions (Extended)
Coordinate geometry: coordinates; drawing linear graphs; gradient; length and midpoint (Extended); equations of linear graphs; parallel lines; perpendicular lines (Extended)
Geometry: geometrical terms; constructions; scale drawings; similarity; symmetry; angles; circle theorems; more circle theorems (Extended)
Mensuration: units of measure; area and perimeter; circles, arcs and sectors; surface area and volume; compound shapes and parts of shapes
Trigonometry: Pythagoras’ theorem; right-angled triangles; exact trigonometric values (Extended); trigonometric functions (Extended); non-right-angled triangles (Extended); Pythagoras and trigonometry in 3D (Extended)
Transformations and vectors: transformations; vectors in two dimensions (Extended); magnitude of a vector (Extended); vector geometry (Extended)
Probability: introduction to probability; relative and expected frequencies; combined events; conditional probability (Extended)
Statistics: classifying and interpreting data; averages and measures of spread; charts and diagrams; scatter diagrams; cumulative frequency diagrams (Extended); histograms (Extended)
Edexcel 4MA1 syllabus
Numbers and the number system: integers; fractions; decimals; powers and roots; set language and notation; percentages; ratio and proportion; degree of accuracy; standard form; applying number; electronic calculators
Equations, formulae and identities: use of symbols; algebraic manipulation; expressions and formulae; linear equations; proportion (Higher); simultaneous linear equations; quadratic equations; inequalities
Sequences, functions and graphs: sequences; function notation (Higher); graphs; calculus (Higher)
Geometry and trigonometry: angles, lines and triangles; polygons; symmetry; measures; construction; circle properties; geometrical reasoning; trigonometry and Pythagoras’ theorem; mensuration; 3D shapes and volume; similarity
Vectors and transformation geometry: vectors (Higher); transformation geometry
Statistics and probability: graphical representation of data; statistical measures; probability
OxfordAQA 9260 syllabus
Number
Algebra, including functions, graphs and calculus
Geometry and measures, including transformations, matrices and vectors
Statistics and probability
WHERE MARKS ARE LOST
What the examiners keep pointing out.
From the boards’ own reports on recent exams, in our words. These are the points lessons and practice papers are built around.
Rounding too early. Candidates rounded part-way through, or used a rough value of π, and the final answer came out wrong. Keep at least four significant figures in the working and round only at the end. Cambridge 0580 examiner report, June 2024
Working the examiner cannot follow. Method marks went when two algebra steps were squeezed onto one line, digits were unclear, or a “show that” answer had no clear step-by-step route. Cambridge 0580 examiner report, June 2024
Answering a different question. On the Core papers, candidates gave a percentage when the question asked for a number, or centimetres when it asked for millimetres. Cambridge 0580 examiner report, June 2024
Two methods, one wrong answer. Some wrote a correct method, then started a different, wrong one and put its answer on the line. That scored nothing. Pearson 4MA1 examiner report, June 2025
Percentages the wrong way round. Profit was divided by the income instead of the cost, and in reverse percentages 28% was added back to a sale price instead of treating it as 72% of the original. Pearson 4MA1 examiner report, June 2025
Formulas on the sheet, used wrongly. Candidates could not rearrange the cylinder volume formula printed in the paper, and expanded (x + 2)² as x² + 4. Pearson 4MA1 examiner report, June 2025
HOW LESSONS WORK
Start from the gap. Build to the exam.
Start from the syllabus code. The first conversation takes the board, the code, the tier and a recent test or mock, so lessons start from where marks are actually going.
Teach the topic, then the question. Each topic is taught for understanding, then practised on the board’s own past papers and marked against its mark scheme.
Mocks, then the exam. Timed papers and mock review in the run-up to the exams, so method, wording and pace hold up on the day.
TAKING GCSE INSTEAD?
GCSE Maths.
UK GCSE Mathematics is a separate qualification. AQA 8300 and Pearson Edexcel 1MA1 each have three papers of 1 hour 30 minutes and 80 marks, the first without a calculator, at Foundation (grades 5 to 1) or Higher (9 to 4). For exams in 2025 to 2027 a formulae sheet comes with every paper. Tell us the board, and lessons follow that specification.
WHERE TO FIND US
IGCSE maths tuition in Dubai and Sharjah.
Three centres, and online classes for students who live further away. Contact the closest centre and the team will confirm where and how IGCSE maths is taught for your board.
On Cambridge 0580, Core leads to grades C to G and Extended to A* to E, and Cambridge advises Extended for anyone aiming at A* to C. Schools usually decide after the mocks, so the months before them are when tuition can change the decision.
It depends on the board. Since 2025 Cambridge 0580 and 0980 have one non-calculator and one calculator paper on each tier. Pearson Edexcel 4MA1 and OxfordAQA 9260 allow a calculator on every paper.
What is the difference between 0580 and 0980?
They are the same Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics course with the same papers. 0580 is graded A* to G and 0980 is graded 9 to 1, and Cambridge offers 0980 to schools in the UAE. A student is entered for one or the other in a series, not both.
Are formulas given in IGCSE maths exams?
Some. Cambridge prints a list of formulas in every paper but expects others to be known, such as Pythagoras, the trigonometric ratios and interest. Edexcel 4MA1 has a formulae sheet for each tier. OxfordAQA 9260 lists the formulas students must know, such as the quadratic formula, and does not normally give them.
Does IGCSE maths include calculus?
A little, on the higher tiers. Cambridge Extended includes differentiation, Edexcel 4MA1 has calculus on the Higher tier, and OxfordAQA 9260 includes functions, graphs and calculus.
Is IGCSE maths tuition at a centre or online?
Both. Classes run at our centres in Bur Dubai, Al Nahda 2 and Al Qasimia, Sharjah, and online, as batch classes, small groups or one to one. The team confirms the format, the tutor and the timings before you enrol.
Ideally early in Year 10, when the two-year course begins, and at the latest once the Year 11 mocks show where marks are being lost. An early start leaves time to fix gaps in core topics rather than cramming past papers in the spring.
