Paper 1 overview
The Paper 1 exam is 2 hours long and you will have three questions to answer, although questions 1 and 2 are further divided into sub-questions. The exam is worth 80 marks. These marks are divided into two skills - reading and writing - as follows:
Total marks for reading = 65
Total marks for writing = 15
As well as your question paper and answer booklet, you will also be given an insert containing the three texts you will use to answer the questions on the exam paper. All three texts will be on a similar topic.
CIE recommends that you spend 15 minutes reading the texts, and approximately 30-35 minutes responding to each question. However, as each question makes different demands on you in the exam and are worth different marks, we suggest that you consider the following timings for this exam paper:
Paper 1 breakdown
What skills are being assessed
There are only two assessment objectives for this IGCSE, each worth 50% of your overall grade. However, these are then divided into the following sub-objectives:
AO1: read and respond in different ways to different types of text
R1: demonstrate understanding of explicit meanings
Show that you understand the obvious meanings communicated in a text
R2: demonstrate understanding of implicit meanings and attitudes
Show that you can recognise hints and suggestions in a text to understand the more hidden meanings and attitudes of the writer
R3: analyse, evaluate and develop facts, ideas and opinions, using appropriate support from the text
Evaluate and analyse the facts, ideas and opinions you read by using, explaining and developing them
Refer to supporting evidence from the text where appropriate, such as using quotations or references to the text
R4: demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve effects and influence readers
Show that you understand how a writer has influenced their reader through their use of language
Consider the deliberate choices a writer has made and why they have made those choices
R5: select and use information for specific purposes
Select and use relevant and appropriate information from a text to answer the different questions
AO2: write accurately and effectively, using Standard English appropriately
W1: articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined
Write convincingly to convey real and imagined experience, thoughts and feelings
W2: organise and structure ideas and opinions for deliberate effect
Sequence and connect the ideas and opinions effectively within your written response to interest and influence your reader
W3: use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures appropriate to context
Use a range of appropriate vocabulary and sentence structures deliberately within each written response to achieve certain effects
W4: use register appropriate to context
Vary your writing to suit the purpose, audience and form of the task
W5: make accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar
Write accurately, avoiding spelling, punctuation and grammar errors