This viewer compares two years for you: the exam year you will sit, and the year of the notes or past papers you are studying from. It shows which changes apply to your exam, which belong to the future, and which resources may be out of date.
The change register inside the viewer is sample data. It exists to show how the tool works and is not an official list. Always confirm every item against the exam board syllabus for your exact qualification.
What does the viewer do?
It holds a small register of changes. Each one has a subject, a year it takes effect, and a source reference. You choose:
- a subject (or all subjects),
- the exam year you will sit,
- the year of your notes or past papers.
Then it sorts the changes into three groups: changes that apply to your exam year, future changes shown for awareness only, and concepts the register treats as unchanged.
How do I use it?
- Choose a subject, or leave it on all subjects.
- Choose your exam year. This is the year you will actually sit, not the year you started the course.
- Choose the year of your notes or past papers. If you mix resources, run the comparison once for each year.
- Press Compare and read the three groups.
- Tick off the task checklist as you check each item against your current syllabus.
How do I read the result?
Each change that applies to your exam carries a label such as “Applies to the 2027 exam”, the source reference, and an older-resource warning if your notes predate it. If your resources are the same year or newer than the change, the viewer says so.
Changes that start after your exam year appear in a separate list headed “future changes”. Each says “Future change (from 2029).
Not a requirement for 2027”, for instance. They are there so you are not surprised, not so that you study them early.
The unchanged-concepts line shows what the register treats as stable for each subject. It is also sample data, so use it as a prompt to check, not as a promise.
Example walk-through
Take the viewer’s opening settings: all subjects, exam year 2027, notes from 2026.
- Applies to 2027: a sample Computer Science item about SQL keywords (effective 2027), a sample Mathematics item about bounds questions (effective 2027), and a sample Chemistry item about practical-skills wording (effective 2026).
- Older-resource warnings: the Computer Science and Mathematics items, because notes from 2026 predate their 2027 start. The Chemistry item takes effect in 2026, so notes from 2026 are not older than it.
- Future changes: a sample Computer Science pseudocode change from 2029, a Mathematics formula-list change from 2028 and a Chemistry data-booklet change from 2028, none of which is a requirement for 2027.
The 2029 Computer Science change is the key case. It must not appear as something you need for a 2027 exam, and in the viewer it does not.
Assumptions and limits
- The register is illustrative sample data, not an official change list.
- Profiles are compared by exact year and source only.
- The tool never infers that similar qualification names mean the same content.
- It cannot replace reading the current syllabus, and it does not know which examination series your exam centre offers.
Where to read more
For the real thing, see how to find the correct Cambridge syllabus for your exam year and the page on checking your Cambridge code and examination year. A practical method for checking a syllabus is in verifying a syllabus without relying on a textbook cover. The example Computer Science case is explained in distinguishing the 2027 to 2028 syllabus from the 2029 changes, and the 0580 code guide shows what to confirm for Mathematics.
This viewer is part of the tools section.