What you are looking at
Choose a subject and paper, and Paper Analysis lays out the specification for that paper in sections and sub-sections. Next to each specification point you can see how many of the counted past papers included a question on it, and you can open the questions behind that number.
The analysis only knows about the papers ALN holds and has reviewed. Before you rely on a figure, check which exam sessions are included and how many papers were counted. Some sittings or older specification versions may be missing.
Paper Analysis is included from Basic upwards, for the courses your plan covers.
Read the fraction, not just the percentage
Every percentage is a fraction underneath. The bottom number is the count of eligible papers that could have tested the point. The top number is how many of those papers actually included at least one question on it. Three questions on the same point in one paper still count as one appearance.
For example, say ALN holds six papers. Four of them pass the checks and cover a particular point, and three of those four include a question on it. The point shows 3/4, or 75%. The two papers that did not qualify are left out of both numbers.
Different points can have different bottom numbers because papers cover different parts of the specification. If no paper qualifies, you will not see a percentage at all. When the bottom number is small, one paper can swing the result a lot, so a 100% based on two papers means much less than 80% based on twenty.
Why a paper might not be counted
A paper is left out of the percentages if it has no questions, if any of its questions is untagged or tagged only to something broader than a specification point, if we do not know which parts of the specification it covers, or if its tags fail a sanity check.
That sanity check looks for a suspicious pattern: a paper with many one-mark questions, where most of them are tagged to the same single point. Tags like that need another look before the paper can be trusted in the counts.
Questions from an excluded paper can still appear when you open a point. “Not counted” means the paper was excluded from the percentages. “Not tagged” means that question is not linked to the point you selected.
Marks, time and difficulty
The page also shows marks, estimated working time and difficulty ratings. Time and difficulty are estimates attached to each question, so your own experience may differ.
Figures for a single point summarise the questions tagged to it. Figures for sections and sub-sections summarise marks per paper. Some of these summaries include questions from papers that were left out of the percentages.
Because one question can sit under several points, adding figures together across points or sections can count the same marks twice. Open the questions before treating any figure as a total or as a fixed number of marks for a topic.
Your weak spots and quick wins
Weak spots use the results you have saved. A point appears when you have recorded at least two questions linked to it and got fewer than 60% of them right, with the points that come up most often in past papers listed first. Each question counts once, using its current result, however many times you have tried it.
Quick wins are points that appeared in at least half of their counted papers and have easy-rated questions you have not yet marked correct. Easy currently means a rating of 1 to 3 out of 10. Both unattempted questions and ones you got wrong can show up here.
A point can be missing from both panels simply because you have not attempted enough questions on it, or because it lacks tags or suitable questions. The page also highlights points that have appeared in almost every counted paper. None of these panels is a complete revision list, and the page shows the current thresholds.
Turning what you see into practice
Pick a point, check its fraction and open the questions behind it. Read what was actually asked, attempt one and check it against the mark scheme. Weigh the historical pattern alongside your own weak areas and the full course specification.
For teachers, it is a quick way to find past questions on a point and build an assignment around a common misconception. Keep assignments broad enough for your teaching goals. A point that has rarely come up can still be examined.
Which courses have it
Paper Analysis is available for course and paper combinations where reviewed tags exist. That is not the same set as the question bank, so some courses have plenty of questions to practise but no analysis view yet.
The live coverage page shows what is available. Once you are in Paper Analysis, the fractions and linked questions give you what you need to judge an individual figure.
What past papers cannot tell you
Any point on the specification can appear in your exam, however often it has come up before. Paper Analysis shows what has been examined. It does not predict what will be, so keep revising the whole specification.
The set of papers may be incomplete, tags may need correcting, and papers or specifications can change. Read the figures together with the questions behind them and the sessions they cover.