IGCSE ESL Reading and Writing Paper
Two hours, six exercises, sixty marks. Thirty of those marks are reading and thirty are writing, and most lost marks come from mistaking which kind of answer an exercise wants.
The Reading and Writing paper has six exercises: four reading worth 30 marks in total, and two writing worth 15 marks each. Exercises 1 to 4 test whether you can find, follow, select and infer. Exercises 5 and 6 test whether you can write 120 to 160 words in the right register for a stated purpose and audience.
The six exercises at a glance
| Exercise | What you do | Text length | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Read one text and answer six questions with short answers. The first five need one answer each; the last needs three. | About 400-450 words | 8 |
| 2 | Multiple matching. Read one text in up to five sections, or up to five short related texts, and match nine questions to the right one. | About 600-650 words | 9 |
| 3 | Read a text and complete a set of brief notes. | About 400-500 words | 7 |
| 4 | Read a text and answer six multiple-choice questions with three options each. | About 550-600 words | 6 |
| 5 | Write an informal email of 120-160 words. | Not applicable | 15 |
| 6 | Write a formal or semi-formal article, report, essay or review of 120-160 words. | Not applicable | 15 |
How to spend the two hours
Reading exercises 1 to 4: about 55 minutes
Thirty marks in under an hour. That is roughly two minutes a mark, which is comfortable if you do not re-read whole texts. Read the questions before the text for Exercises 1 and 3, so you know what you are hunting for.
Exercise 5, the informal email: about 25 minutes
Five minutes planning against the prompts, fifteen writing, five checking. The plan is what protects your content mark.
Exercise 6, the formal task: about 30 minutes
Slightly longer, because the register is harder to hold and the format has to be right. Decide in the first minute whether you are writing an article, a report, an essay or a review - the rubric tells you.
Final check: about 10 minutes
Check the two writing answers only. Read for verb tenses, for plural agreement and for whether every prompt has actually been answered. Do not spend this time changing reading answers on a feeling.
Exercise by exercise
Exercise 1: short answers, 8 marks
The text is likely to contain facts, opinions, ideas and attitudes. Five questions want a single answer; the sixth wants three separate ones and is worth three marks.
- Answer in a word or a short phrase. Full sentences waste time and cannot earn extra credit.
- When a question asks for three things, give exactly three. A fourth answer that is wrong can cancel a right one.
- Copy names, numbers and spellings exactly from the text.
Exercise 2: multiple matching, 9 marks
Nine questions, one mark each, matched against sections of one text or against several short related texts. This exercise rewards skimming, not close reading.
- Read all nine questions first and underline the idea in each - not the whole question.
- Expect the wording in the text to differ from the wording in the question. The test is whether you recognise the same idea in different words.
- A section can be the answer to more than one question unless the paper says otherwise, so do not eliminate a section simply because you have used it.
Exercise 3: note-making, 7 marks
You complete a set of brief notes under headings the paper provides. Each response is worth one mark.
- Notes, not sentences. A short phrase lifted accurately from the text is the ideal answer.
- The headings tell you the category. If a heading says Equipment needed, a note about cost earns nothing however true it is.
- Do not put two ideas on one line hoping one of them is right. Choose.
Exercise 4: multiple choice, 6 marks
Six questions with three options, A, B or C. Questions may be about main ideas, about details, or about the attitudes and opinions expressed. You write the letter.
- Find the part of the text the question refers to before you look at the options. Reading the options first makes all three sound plausible.
- Wrong options are usually true statements that do not answer the question, or half-true statements with one word changed.
- Never leave a letter blank. There is no penalty for a wrong answer.
Exercises 5 and 6: the writing, 15 marks each
Both are 120 to 160 words. Both are marked out of 6 for content and 9 for language. The stimulus tells you the purpose, the format and the audience, and those three things decide almost everything about your answer.
Content marks come from addressing every prompt and developing it. A candidate who mentions all the prompts in one sentence each has answered the task without developing it, and stops around half marks. Language marks come from range, accuracy and organisation together - a very safe answer with no errors does not reach the top band on range.
In the writing exercises
Do this
- Plan against the prompts: one line of notes for each, so none is forgotten.
- Develop two of the prompts properly rather than listing all of them thinly.
- Match the register the rubric asks for - informal for Exercise 5, formal or semi-formal for Exercise 6.
- Use paragraphs. Three or four short paragraphs read far better than one block.
- Count the words once, at the end, and stop within range.
Avoid this
- Do not open a formal task with Hi or close it with See you soon.
- Do not learn an essay by heart and bend the task to fit it - content marks are for this task.
- Do not use text-message spellings even in the informal email.
- Do not write 300 words to be safe. Accuracy falls and the extra earns nothing.
- Do not leave the format unmarked: a report needs headings, a review needs an opinion, an article needs a title.
Original RCF practice
The RCF Model Paper 1 is a full original paper in this format, with a marking guide. It is unofficial practice material written by RCF English, not a Cambridge paper.
Questions about the Reading and Writing paper
How many marks is the IGCSE ESL Reading and Writing paper?
Sixty marks, and it is worth 70% of the qualification. The four reading exercises carry 8, 9, 7 and 6 marks, making 30; the two writing exercises carry 15 marks each, making 30.
Do I write in full sentences in the reading exercises?
No. Exercises 1 and 3 want short answers - a word or a phrase. Exercise 3 in particular asks for brief notes, so a phrase copied accurately from the text is what earns the mark. Full sentences take time you need for the writing exercises and cannot earn more credit.
What happens if I write more than 160 words?
There is no automatic penalty for length, but longer answers tend to lose language marks through hurried accuracy and to drift away from the prompts. The range of 120 to 160 words is the length in which the task can be completed well, which is why it is set.
Is Exercise 6 always an essay?
No. The Cambridge syllabus describes Exercise 6 as a formal or semi-formal response that may be an article, a report, an essay or a review. The rubric on the paper tells you which one, along with the purpose and the audience, so read it before you plan.
Next
Writing formats
Email, article, report, review and essay, format by format.
Model answers
Full-mark and middle-mark answers with the reasoning.
Past papers and model papers
Official Cambridge materials and the RCF model paper.