Last Saturday, a cycling competition for teams of 11 cyclists took place. For each cyclist, the time taken to complete the course was recorded to the nearest minute. The times taken by the cyclists from two teams, the Linnets and the Puffins, are shown in the following table. Linnets | 48 | 51 | 54 | 57 | 59 | 60 | 64 | 64 | 65 | 68 | 70 Puffins | 45 | 49 | 51 | 55 | 55 | 58 | 59 | 62 | 64 | 64 | 74

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2025). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [B1] Correct stem, ignore extra values (not in reverse, not split) If a split stem-and-leaf plot is used (i.e. stem values are repeated) the remaining B marks are available.
2. [B1] Correct Linnets labelled on left, leaves in order from right to left and lined up vertically, no commas or other punctuation.
3. [B1] Correct Puffins labelled on same diagram, leaves in order and lined up vertically, no commas or other punctuation.
4. [B1] Correct non-symmetrical key, for their diagram, need both team names and 'mins' at least once here or in leaf headings (or title).
5. [M1] 64 < UQ < 68 – 51 < LQ < 57 Implied if both quartile values are stated and an appropriate IQR calculated accurately. Condone 54 and 65 clearly identified in the table or their stem and leaf diagram.
6. [A1] 11
7. [B1] Single linear scale from 45 to 75, at least 3 equally spaces values marked, using a scale of 2cm = 10 or 20 minutes only. Label to include time and minutes/min/m.
8. [B1FT] Correct plot labelled ‘Linnets' with 5 key values using their linear scale. Daylight rule applied. Whiskers not at top/bottom of box or through box (penalise only once). Condone missing vertical lines on max/min values. LQ and UQ correct or FT their values from 6(b).
9. [B1] Correct plot labelled 'Puffins' with 5 key values using the same linear scale as Linnets. Whiskers not at top/bottom of box or through box (penalise only once). Condone missing vertical lines on max/min values.
10. [B1] Acceptable comment about spread/central tendency e.g. the times taken by the Puffins are more spread out/less consistent than those of the Linnets, the times taken by the Linnets are less varied/more consistent than for the Puffins, Linnets are slower [on average], Linnets have slower times Puffins are faster [on average], Puffins have faster times Ignore extra comment(s) if not contradicting a correct statement.