You can revise very well for Cambridge exams without paying anything. The most useful resources are the official syllabus and real past papers with their mark schemes, and both are free. Notes, videos and flashcards fill the gaps. Below is a plain rundown of what each free option is good for and where it stops.
Start with the syllabus
Cambridge publishes the full syllabus for every subject on its website, free of charge. It lists what can be examined, the paper structure, the command words used in your subject and, for maths and the sciences, the formulae or data you will be given. Students revise topics that are not on the syllabus, or miss ones that are, because they never open this document.
Download the syllabus for your exam year (the year is printed on the front page) and use its content list as your checklist. When your notes disagree with the syllabus, the syllabus wins.
Past papers and mark schemes
Real questions are the best practice material, because they are written in the style you will see in the exam. Where to get them:
- Cambridge International: each syllabus page links to past papers, examiner reports and specimen papers. Schools registered with Cambridge can also reach a School Support Hub, so ask your teacher or exams officer what your school can access.
- Independent archives: several sites collect papers and mark schemes. Cambridge itself links to advice about online scams and fake exam papers, so stay with sites you recognise.
- ExamPal: official Cambridge papers and mark schemes are free to read and download, and a free account adds AI marking (more on that below).
Whatever source you use, download the mark scheme with the paper. The mark scheme is where you learn what earns credit. How to revise with Cambridge past papers covers a routine for using them well.
The limit: a past paper tells you whether you were right, not why you were wrong, so you still need notes, a teacher or an explanation for the questions you miss.
Free notes and question sites
Free notes save you from building every summary yourself. Quality varies, so treat them as a starting point.
| Type of resource | Good for | Honest limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free notes and topic question sites | Quick summaries and topic-by-topic questions | Coverage and accuracy vary by subject and topic |
| Large revision platforms (some have a free account) | Well-organised notes | At the time of writing, fuller access to questions and answers is behind a subscription on several of them; check what is free for your subject |
| Student-shared notes and flashcard decks | Fast recall practice | Anyone can write them, so errors slip in |
| Cambridge endorsed textbooks | Full, reliable coverage | You may need to borrow one from school or a library |
Examples of sites that offer free material include Physics and Maths Tutor and Save My Exams. What is free and what is paid on each can change, so check your subject before relying on either. If a free note contradicts your textbook or a mark scheme, trust the official source.
Free video
Video is excellent when a written explanation has not clicked. Search with your subject, topic and level (for example "IGCSE Physics moments" or "9709 differentiation") to find focused explanations. The limit is that video is passive: you must close it and do questions afterwards.
Free tools for revising smarter
- Flashcards with spaced repetition. Anki is a widely used free option on desktop and Android, and the iPhone version is a paid app. Spaced repetition is a well established way of remembering facts: review a card just as you are about to forget it.
- A timer. It turns any paper into practice for managing time. How to manage time in Cambridge exams has a method.
- A timetable. A simple weekly plan stops you drifting to your favourite subject only.
Where ExamPal fits
Notes and videos teach content. Past papers test it. What most students lack is someone to mark the paper properly, which takes a teacher's time.
ExamPal does that one job. You sit a real past paper by writing on it by hand with a finger, stylus or mouse, on a phone, tablet or laptop, and the AI reads your handwriting and marks it against the official mark scheme. It shows where each mark came from and applies follow-through marking. Pal gives hints but not answers, and topical sets let you drill one topic at a time using questions from past papers.
Some limits are worth stating. ExamPal launches with six subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science, Islamiyat and Pakistan Studies) at IGCSE, O Level and A Level. The 2023 and 2024 papers are marked first, and earlier years are being added, so not every paper is markable yet. It is not a notes site and does not replace your textbook. The free plan has a daily limit on marking, and a paid plan exists with a price that depends on your country.
A free revision plan that works
- Download the syllabus and use its content list as a checklist.
- Learn a topic from notes, a textbook or a video.
- Make flashcards for the facts you keep forgetting.
- Do questions on that topic, then a full past paper when you are ready.
- Mark it against the official mark scheme and write down every mark you missed and why.
- Fix the weak topics, then repeat with a different paper.
Take the free route first
Use the official syllabus, real past papers and free notes before you spend money on anything. If you want your handwritten answers marked, choose a paper from the past papers hub, write your answers by hand and have them marked against the mark scheme. Reading and downloading are free, and a free account adds AI marking. To see how the free and paid parts differ, read the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
- Where can I get Cambridge past papers for free?
- Each syllabus page on the Cambridge International website links to past papers, examiner reports and specimen papers, and your school may have fuller access through the School Support Hub. Several independent sites also collect papers, including ExamPal, where reading, downloading and viewing mark schemes is free. Always pair a paper with its mark scheme.
- Are free revision notes as good as paid ones?
- They can be, for the core content. The quality varies by site and by topic, so cross-check anything surprising against your syllabus or textbook. What usually separates paid and free resources is polish, structure and the size of the question bank, not whether the facts are correct.
- What is the single most useful free resource?
- The official syllabus plus real past papers with their mark schemes. The syllabus tells you what can be examined, and the papers show how it is examined and how marks are given. Everything else supports that habit.
- Should I trust every free past paper site?
- Take care. Cambridge itself links to advice about online scams and fake exam papers, so download from sources you recognise and compare what you find with the official syllabus.