Treat any claim about a future route or a second code as open until Cambridge or your exam centre confirms it. We call this being source-gated: a claim counts only when you can point to its source.
Our own pages follow a similar rule. We follow 0478 by default, and we do not promise availability of any other code. The 0265 code guide states what we can say, and this lesson is the last step in digital versus paper route checking.
Why can a rumour affect your revision?
If you believe a change is coming, you may drop topics, switch notation or stop using notes that still apply. A wrong guess costs revision time. A short check costs far less.
How do you test a claim, step by step?
- Write the claim in one sentence, with where you saw it.
- Find the source. Open the Cambridge page for the code. Does it say this?
- Check your entry. Does your centre’s written reply mention it?
- Classify it: confirmed (a source says so), open (no source yet) or contradicted (a source says otherwise).
- Date the note with today’s date and keep the link.
- Decide what changes. Confirmed and relevant to your entry: adjust the plan. Open: change nothing.
Worked example
A student, Hakim, reads a post: “0265 will replace 0478 for everyone next year.”
Step 1. Claim: 0265 replaces 0478 for everyone next year. Seen in a post, no link.
Step 2. He opens the Cambridge 0265 page and reads its notices. He looks for any statement matching the claim. If the page does not say it, the claim is not backed.
Step 3. He asks his centre for his code and exam year. The reply says 0478, 2027.
Step 4. Classification: open. The post has no source, and his written entry names 0478.
Step 5. He writes in his file: “Claim about 0265 replacing 0478: open. Checked Cambridge page today. Entry confirmed as 0478, 2027.”
Step 6. Nothing changes in his plan. He will look again before he makes any decision that depends on it.
If a Cambridge notice had backed the claim and his centre had confirmed a different code for him, then step 4 would read “confirmed” and he would change his plan. The rule is the same either way: the source decides.
What mistake should you avoid?
Mistaken approach: “The post says my code is changing, so I will stop revising the 0478 topics.”
An unsourced post is not a notice. Stopping revision early may leave gaps if your entry stays the same.
Correction: keep revising from your confirmed entry and treat the claim as open until a source and your centre agree.
Check yourself
1. A video says a new code starts next year. There is no link. How do you classify it?
Show answer
Open. There is no source. Check the Cambridge page and ask your centre.
2. Cambridge’s page for your code states a notice, and your centre confirms it applies to your entry. How do you classify it?
Show answer
Confirmed. A source and your centre agree, so update your plan.
3. Why write the date next to a note about a notice?
Show answer
Pages can change. The date shows when you last checked, so you know when to look again.
Where this leads next
You have now covered the full route check. Try the mixed practice set, and use the syllabus navigator to keep your confirmed and open items together.
Our team teaches online one-to-one from your confirmed entry, and our Computer Science tuition page explains how enquiries and the paid trial work.