Before you choose revision resources, confirm which components your subject includes and which ones your exam centre will enter you for. The answer affects what you practise, how you practise it and whether the route suits you at all.
This page shows what to read in the syllabus, who to ask and how to turn the answer into a revision plan. The private-candidate readiness checklist covers the questions for an independent centre, and the page belongs within the exam guidance section.
Who is responsible for the route?
Cambridge sets the assessment structure for each syllabus: which components exist, which are compulsory and what alternatives are allowed. Your exam centre decides which of those options it can offer and makes your entry.
You and your family check that the route is realistic for your circumstances. We are a tuition team and do not enter candidates, run practicals or supervise coursework.
Why check before buying resources?
Revision books and online courses are written for a particular assessment route. A practical-skills guide helps only if your route includes a practical test or its written alternative, and coursework support helps only if your subject includes coursework.
A wrong assumption here can mean weeks spent on material that does not match your assessment.
What should you check, and where?
- Confirm your exact subject code and exam year. Related codes may be assessed differently. The finding the correct syllabus guide shows how.
- Open the syllabus from the Cambridge subject catalogue. For example, the science subject pages such as Chemistry 0620 and Physics 0625 link to their syllabuses.
- Find the assessment overview. Note whether it mentions practical work, an alternative to practical, coursework, an oral or listening component, or none of these.
- Read any conditions. Look for wording on who may enter for which component. Do not rely on a forum summary.
- Ask your exam centre what it can offer for your subject and series, and get the answer in writing.
What should you ask your exam centre?
- Which components of my subject will I be entered for?
- If my subject has a practical test or a written alternative, which one will I sit?
- If my subject has coursework or an oral component, how is it arranged at your centre?
- Are there facilities or supervision needs I should know about?
- What is the process for a private candidate in my subject, if that applies to me?
Do not ask for, or rely on, figures such as deadlines or fees from a third party. Ask your centre and Cambridge.
A worked example of turning the route into a plan
A student checks the assessment overview and finds that their science syllabus includes a component on experimental skills. The centre confirms which form the student will sit.
The student then builds a revision plan with two strands.
| Strand | What to practise | Where the material comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Topic knowledge and calculations | Syllabus topic list and practice questions |
| Experimental skills | Planning, recording results, describing methods, evaluating evidence | Practice tasks matched to the component the centre confirms |
If the overview had shown no such component, the second strand would not be needed. The plan follows the route, not the other way around.
A common mistake
Students sometimes decide that practical work is “only for school candidates” and skip it, or assume they will be able to add a component later. Whether a component applies, and whether a private candidate can take it, depends on the syllabus and the centre.
Check first, then choose resources.
Practical and coursework: where does your own work begin?
Where coursework or a similar component applies, the work submitted must be your own. A teacher can explain what a task expects, for example how to plan an investigation or organise an argument, and can point out what a good answer needs.
The writing, the data and the conclusions must remain yours. See academic integrity and AI for the wider principle.
How can a teacher help?
A teacher can help you practise the skills behind these components, such as recording results, describing methods and evaluating evidence, without doing the assessed work for you.
If you would like this kind of support, read how our tuition works and the paid trial. The subject tuition pages explain what we can address in each subject.