Mathematics 0580 · syllabus C1.16, E1.16
Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics 0580 — Money and exchange rates topical past papers
Calculating with money and converting between currencies using an exchange rate, including conversions there and back and comparing prices across currencies.
- Questions
- 126
- Years
- 2009–2026
- With mark scheme
- 90%
- Questions 2022–2026
- 29
Anyone can browse these pages. Opening the questions and their mark schemes takes a free Momentum account.
What Money and exchange rates covers
Money questions test careful arithmetic in a familiar setting, such as totals, change, wages, bills and prices, with amounts given to two decimal places, so a calculator display of 12.5 means $12.50. Currency conversion uses an exchange rate such as $1 = 0.92 euros: multiply by the rate to change dollars into euros, and divide by it to change euros back into dollars.
Harder questions chain conversions, compare a price in one currency with a price in another, or give the rate the other way round, such as 1 euro = $1.10, so you must decide whether to multiply or divide. A check of size settles it: if one euro is worth more than one dollar, an amount in euros becomes a larger number of dollars.
Money is Core content, so it can be set on all four papers. An exchange rate is a rate in the same sense as a speed or a unit price, so conversions are proportional reasoning, and money is the usual setting for percentage, interest and ratio questions.
In the syllabus
The headings this topic has in the Cambridge International 2025–2027 syllabus, as the board prints them.
- C1.16 Money
- E1.16 Money
What you should be able to do
- Add, subtract, multiply and divide amounts of money, giving answers to the nearest cent
- Convert between currencies using a given exchange rate, in either direction
- Use an exchange rate written either way round, such as $1 = 0.92 euros or 1 euro = $1.10
- Compare prices given in different currencies by converting them to one currency
- Interpret a calculator display as an amount of money
Key ideas
- If $1 = k units of another currency, then dollars × k gives that currency, and that currency ÷ k gives dollars
- Money answers are given to 2 decimal places, such as $3.50 rather than $3.5
- An exchange rate is a ratio, so currency conversion is a form of direct proportion
How Money and exchange rates has been examined
From 2022 to 2026, Money and exchange rates was on Paper 3 · Calculator (Core) in 8 of 14 exam series, worth about 2% of that paper’s marks.
| Paper | Questions | Share of marks | Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 · Non-calculator (Core) | 4 | 1% | 4 of 14 |
| Paper 2 · Non-calculator (Extended) | 2 | 1% | 2 of 14 |
| Paper 3 · Calculator (Core) | 13 | 2% | 8 of 14 |
| Paper 4 · Calculator (Extended) | 10 | 2% | 7 of 14 |
Momentum’s own count, over the questions in its bank for these years: a series is one exam session, every zone included, and a question filed under two chapters counts in both. Median marks per question: 2.
Filed in Momentum under: Foreign Exchange.
A worked example
Ravi changes $600 into euros when $1 = 0.92 euros. He spends 430 euros, then changes the rest back into dollars when 1 euro = $1.10. How many dollars does he get back?
- Dollars to euros: multiply by the rate, so $600 × 0.92 = 552 euros.
- After spending, Ravi has 552 − 430 = 122 euros left.
- Euros to dollars at the new rate: 122 × 1.10 = $134.20.
- Check the size: at this rate one euro is worth more than one dollar, so the number of dollars should be larger than 122, and it is.
Answer: $134.20
Written by Momentum for this page, with its own numbers; it is not taken from a past paper.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Multiplying when you should divide: check the size, because if $1 buys 0.92 euros, any amount in euros is a smaller number than the same value in dollars.
- Writing $3.5 instead of $3.50: money is given to two decimal places, and a mark can depend on the form.
- Rounding an exchange rate, or an amount in the middle of a conversion: use the rate as given and round only the final amount.
- Comparing prices in different currencies without first converting both to the same currency.
Exam technique
- Write the rate as an equation, such as $1 = 0.92 euros, then multiply both sides by the amount you need.
- Round money to the nearest cent at the end, and state the currency with the answer.
- When comparing prices, convert both to the same currency and say clearly which is cheaper and by how much.
Practising in Momentum
- Every question in a chapter as one list, from every paper and year in the bank, newest first or shuffled.
- Each question turns over to its own part of the mark scheme, where the board published one.
- Narrow by paper, year, session, zone and marks, and star the questions worth keeping.
- Pick chapters, a number of questions and a time, and the exam builder draws a mock to sit and mark.
Past-paper questions and mark schemes are the copyright of Cambridge International. Momentum shows them to signed-in learners for revision and does not publish them on these pages.