Giving Up Is Not Slacking Off—It's About Spending Your Time Where You Can Score
The CSCA Math exam lasts 60 minutes and contains 48 single-choice questions worth 100 points in total. Given the time limit and the number of questions set out in the official syllabus, each question allows only about 75 seconds on average. At that pace, finishing every question calmly is unrealistic; trade-offs are unavoidable.
There is only one core idea: secure the high-frequency must-know points first, then use your target score to decide which low-frequency points can be set aside for now.
One point should be made clear at the outset: the topic distribution in this article comes from our count of 7 past papers, 333 questions in total. It is not an officially published weighting table for exam points. It is suitable for setting review priorities and should not be treated as "the official word that it will definitely be tested this way."
First, Let's Be Clear About the Exam Rules
What Has Been Confirmed
- The official syllabus states: 60 minutes, 48 single-choice questions, full score 100.
- Each question has 4 options, with 1 correct answer.
- Neither the official website nor the syllabus has published the point value of each question.
- Neither the official website nor the syllabus states whether wrong answers are penalised.
What Cannot Currently Be Confirmed
- How many points each question is worth, and whether wrong answers are penalised: neither the official website nor the syllabus has published this, and the official website also states that the scoring criteria are confidential. If an explanation is given at the exam site, the on-site explanation prevails.
- What score the target school requires: the official website says each university sets this itself according to its programme requirements; please check the admissions instructions of your target school.
For this reason, this article will not convert a "target score" into "how many questions you must answer correctly." Since the point value of each question has not been published, such a conversion would be unreliable. What we can do is break "the more questions you answer correctly, the better" down into an actionable review order.
Topic Distribution Across 333 Questions in 7 Past Papers
Question Counts and Proportions of the Four Major Modules
- Functions: 198 questions, 59%.
- Geometry and Algebra: 94 questions, 28%.
- Sets and Inequalities: 35 questions, 11%.
- Probability and Statistics: 6 questions, 2%.
What Can Be Read From the Distribution
- Functions have the highest proportion. Giving up functions is equivalent to giving up more than half of the paper.
- Probability and Statistics have very few questions and can be treated as a module to postpone.
- The proportion of question counts does not equal the proportion of points, because the point value per question has not been published. The proportions here can only be used to judge "where topics appear more often," not directly as "where they are worth more."
What You Must Secure: 16 High-Frequency Must-Know Points
Our statistical criterion is this: all 16 of these knowledge points appeared in each of the 7 past papers, accounting for 223 questions, or 67% of the 333 questions in total. They are listed below from most to fewest questions:
- Definition and Relationships of Trigonometric Functions: 36 questions
- Cartesian Coordinate Plane: 23 questions
- Arithmetic Sequences: 21 questions
- Logarithms and Logarithmic Functions: 16 questions
- Circles: 14 questions
- Concepts of Sequences and Related Formulas: 13 questions
- Geometric Sequences: 13 questions
- Concepts of Functions: 12 questions
- Parallelism and Perpendicularity of Lines in the Plane: 12 questions
- Solving Quadratic Inequalities in One Variable: 10 questions
- Graphs and Properties of Sine and Cosine Functions: 10 questions
- Ellipses: 10 questions
- Inverse Functions: 9 questions
- Inclination Angle and Slope of Lines in the Plane: 9 questions
- Equations of Lines in the Plane: 8 questions
- Operations Between Sets: 7 questions
(Each question is counted only once, under the knowledge point it mainly tests.)
This 67% is the common foundation for any target score band. Whether you are aiming for a high score or simply want to stay steady, this is not the part to give up on.
Suggested review actions:
- Go through these 16 points one by one, by knowledge point, and make sure you can “do them,” not just that you have “seen them.”
- Test yourself with timed practice instead of only reading solutions. Reading solutions easily creates the illusion that “I understand it”; only timed practice exposes speed problems.
- The higher your target score, the higher the accuracy you need in this part. The foundation tier means losing no points on basic questions; the advanced tier means being both fast and accurate.
What Can Be Considered for Skipping: 13 Zero-Appearance Knowledge Points
The criterion is this: not one of these 13 knowledge points appeared in the 7 past papers.
Confirmed zero-appearance points include:
- Permutations and Combinations
- Binomial Theorem
- Conditional Probability
- Random Variables
- Normal Distribution
- Basic Concepts of Statistics
Note that “zero appearance” does not mean “outside the syllabus,” nor does it mean “definitely not tested next time.” It means only this: when time is short, these points can be left until last.
How to use this list properly:
- Do not ignore them completely just because they “have not been tested.” Zero appearance reflects only the sample of the past 7 papers.
- If your target score is very high and the 16 high-frequency points are already solid, come back and fill in these.
- When you do, check them against the syllabus rather than simply memorizing conclusions, and focus on whether they might appear in combination with points already tested.
Making Trade-offs by Target Score: A Three-Tier Strategy
The three tiers below are not tied to specific scores. Which tier fits you depends on your target school's requirements and your current level.
Foundation Tier: Secure the Points You Should Get First
- Focus only on the basic question types among the 16 high-frequency must-know points.
- Do not spend time on the 13 zero-frequency points for now.
- In the Probability and Statistics module, do only the most basic questions.
- Exam principle: finish what you can do first, and do not linger on unfamiliar question types.
The key to the foundation tier is not "learning a lot" but "securing the points you can get." Repeated mistakes on basic questions are more regrettable than not knowing rare ones.
Intermediate Tier: Full Coverage of High-Frequency Points Plus Common Question Types Within Modules
- The 16 high-frequency points must be consistently correct.
- Cover the regular question types in Geometry and Algebra and in Sets and Inequalities.
- You can work in small doses on the parts of the zero-frequency points that are closely related to high-frequency points.
- Leave time for checking, so you reduce the number of times you think "I knew how to do it but got it wrong."
The most common problem at the intermediate tier is not an inability to do hard questions but instability on regular ones. Getting the high-frequency points consistently correct is worth more than doing a few more unusual questions.
Advanced Tier: No Blind Spots in High-Frequency Points, Then Recover Zero-Frequency Points
- Make the 16 high-frequency points fast and accurate, leaving time for hard questions.
- Go through the 13 zero-frequency points one by one against the syllabus, so that you do not meet completely unfamiliar questions on exam day.
- Pay attention to how low-frequency knowledge points may combine with points already tested.
- The official point value per question has not been published, so a target score cannot be precisely converted into "how many questions you need to answer correctly"; you can only set priorities on the basis that the more questions you answer correctly, the better.
The advanced tier is not about "learning everything" but about being fast where you should be fast, stable where you should be stable, and not leaving low-frequency points completely blank.
On Exam Day: Leave It Blank or Guess?
Remember the conclusion first: a blank answer definitely scores nothing. On a 4-option single-choice question, the chance of guessing correctly at random is 1/4.
Whether wrong answers are penalized depends on the on-site exam instructions. Strategy differs by situation:
- If the on-site instructions clearly state that wrong answers are not penalized: answer every question and never leave a blank.
- If the on-site instructions clearly state that wrong answers are penalized: do not rely on the intuition that "guessing costs nothing"; judge according to the rules.
- If there are no on-site instructions at all: remember that a blank definitely scores nothing, then weigh for yourself whether to guess.
Practical suggestions:
- Confirm the rule instructions before the exam starts.
- When time is short, prioritize guessing on questions where you can eliminate one or two options.
- Leave pure guesses for the end and handle them together; do not keep agonizing over a single question.
Time Allocation Tips
- Work through the questions in order. If you have thought about a question for about a minute and still have no idea, write its number on your scratch paper and skip it for now.
- Keep the last 5–10 minutes for checking unanswered questions and going back to guess.
- Adjust the exact split based on how long you take on your own mock exams.
Use the Right Tools: Practise by Knowledge Point, Not Just Full Papers
- Begin by mastering the 16 high-frequency knowledge points one at a time.
- Then give the 13 zero-frequency knowledge points light coverage.
- Review your mistakes and distinguish "didn't know how" from "ran out of time".
In the CSCA.PRO Learning Center, you can read explanations and practise by knowledge point. Combine the trade-off approach in this article with your own mistakes, and your review order will become clear.