Matric Maths Paper 1 is on Friday 23 October 2026 at 09:00. You have 3 hours to earn 150 marks, and the paper follows the same CAPS structure every year. With a couple of weeks left, you won't relearn the whole syllabus, and you don't need to. You need to lock in the topics that carry the most marks and stop losing marks to avoidable slips.
Work through this checklist from top to bottom. Tick off each line only when you can do it without notes.
Paper 1 at a glance
- Date: Friday 23 October 2026, 09:00. Paper 2 follows on Monday 26 October 2026, 09:00.
- Length: 3 hours, 150 marks, with the official information sheet and an approved non-programmable calculator.
- Functions and graphs: about 35 marks.
- Differential calculus: about 35 marks.
- Algebra, equations and inequalities: about 25 marks.
- Number patterns, sequences and series: about 25 marks.
- Finance, growth and decay: about 15 marks.
- Counting principle and probability: about 15 marks.
Functions and calculus together are roughly 70 of the 150 marks. If your time is short, revise those first. Trigonometry, Euclidean geometry, analytical geometry and statistics are Paper 2 topics, so leave them for the weekend before Monday.
Algebra checklist (about 25 marks)
- Solve quadratics by factorising and with the quadratic formula, giving answers in surd form or rounded exactly as the question asks.
- Solve quadratic inequalities: find the critical values, then use a sketch or number line to choose the correct interval.
- Solve simultaneous equations where one is linear and one is quadratic, by making x or y the subject and substituting.
- Use the discriminant (b² − 4ac) to describe the nature of roots: real, non-real, equal, unequal, rational or irrational.
- Solve exponential equations and equations with surds, and check every surd answer in the original equation.
Sequences and series checklist (about 25 marks)
- Find the general term of a quadratic pattern: Tₙ = an² + bn + c, where 2a equals the constant second difference.
- Tell arithmetic and geometric sequences apart, and find Tₙ and Sₙ for each.
- Work with sigma notation: the number of terms is the top value minus the bottom value plus 1.
- Know that a geometric series converges only when −1 < r < 1, and find the sum to infinity.
- Be ready to prove the formula for the sum of an arithmetic or geometric series. It comes up often, and it's easy marks if you've practised it.
Functions and graphs checklist (about 35 marks)
- Sketch parabolas, hyperbolas and exponential graphs with every intercept, turning point and asymptote labelled.
- Find the equation of a graph from a sketch, using the points and asymptotes you are given.
- Find inverse functions by swapping x and y, and know that y = log_b x is the inverse of y = bˣ.
- Restrict the domain of y = ax² so that its inverse is a function.
- Read graphs to answer questions like 'for which values of x is f(x) > g(x)' or 'f(x) · g(x) ≤ 0'.
- Apply shifts and reflections, such as finding the equation of y = f(x − 2) + 1.
Finance checklist (about 15 marks)
- Simple and compound interest, plus straight-line and reducing-balance depreciation.
- Convert between nominal and effective interest rates.
- Future value and present value annuities, outstanding balances on a loan, and sinking funds.
- Use logs to solve for n when the number of payments or years is unknown.
- When interest compounds monthly, divide i by 12 and multiply n by 12. Never round until the final answer.
Differential calculus checklist (about 35 marks)
- Find a derivative from first principles, writing the limit notation on every line until you take the limit.
- Use the power rule after rewriting roots and fractions as powers of x.
- Find the equation of a tangent using the derivative for the gradient, then y − y₁ = m(x − x₁).
- Sketch a cubic: intercepts, stationary points (f′(x) = 0) and the point of inflection (f″(x) = 0).
- Describe where a cubic is increasing, decreasing, concave up or concave down.
- Solve optimisation and rate-of-change word problems. Set up the function first, then differentiate.
Probability checklist (about 15 marks)
- Use P(A or B) = P(A) + P(B) − P(A and B).
- Test for independent events (P(A and B) = P(A) × P(B)) and mutually exclusive events (P(A and B) = 0). They are not the same thing.
- Draw tree diagrams and Venn diagrams, and complete contingency tables.
- Use the fundamental counting principle for arrangements, including letters that must stay together and repeated letters.
Your countdown plan to 23 October
- Now to Sunday 11 October: write two full Paper 1s under timed conditions. Mark them with the official memo and list your three weakest topics.
- Monday 12 to Sunday 18 October: drill one weak topic a day with past-paper questions, then write one more full paper at the weekend.
- Monday 19 to Wednesday 21 October: write a final paper and redo every question you got wrong, without the memo.
- Thursday 22 October: light revision only. Go over your notes, the information sheet and your list of common slips, then pack your bag.
You'll find recent NSC papers and memos in one place on our Matric Maths past papers page.
The night before (Thursday 22 October)
- Check your calculator works and is an approved non-programmable model. Pack a spare battery if it takes one.
- Pack two black or blue pens, a pencil, an eraser and a ruler.
- Pack your ID and exam admission letter.
- Know what is on the information sheet: the quadratic formula, finance formulas, sequence and series sums, and the first-principles definition. Know what is not on it, such as exponent and log laws, the derivative rules and the conditions for the nature of roots.
- Sleep. A rested brain makes fewer sign errors than a tired one that crammed until 2 am.
On the day and in the exam room
- Arrive early, eat breakfast and don't start a new topic in the corridor.
- Budget about one minute per mark. That leaves time to check your work at the end.
- Start with the question you're strongest in if that settles your nerves, but number every answer exactly as the paper does.
- Show every step. The memo awards method marks even when your final answer is wrong, as explained in how to get method marks in Matric Maths.
- Keep full calculator values until the end, then round to two decimal places unless the question says otherwise.
- Never leave a question blank. A correct first step can still earn marks.
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