Exam Technique
IGCSE Exam Technique: Converting Knowledge into Marks
Why students who know the content still lose marks, and the concrete exam-room habits that fix it: command words, mark allocations and timing.
Read the command word first
IGCSE questions are built around command words — state, describe, explain, compare, evaluate — and each demands a different kind of answer. A “describe” answer to an “explain” question scores poorly however accurate it is. Students should train themselves to identify the command word and the number of marks before writing anything.
Let mark allocations set the depth
The marks available tell the student how many distinct points, steps or linked statements the examiner expects. Two marks means two creditable elements; six marks means a developed, structured response. Writing far more than the marks warrant costs time; writing less leaves marks unclaimed.
Timing is a skill to rehearse
Each paper has a sustainable pace — roughly total minutes divided by total marks, with a margin for checking. Students should rehearse full papers under real timing at least a few times before the exam, and practise the discipline of moving on from a stuck question and returning later.
Practise with the mark scheme beside you
Official mark schemes reveal exactly what earns credit — the specific terms, steps and structures examiners accept. Marking one’s own work against them, honestly, is one of the highest-value revision activities an IGCSE student can do.