Cambridge IGCSE First Language English

Ten objectives, five for reading and five for writing. They are worth learning by number, because the syllabus attaches them to individual questions and they tell you exactly what each question is buying.

Reading

• R1 demonstrate understanding of explicit meanings
• R2 demonstrate understanding of implicit meanings and attitudes
• R3 analyse, evaluate and develop facts, ideas and opinions, using appropriate support from the text
• R4 demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve effects and influence readers
• R5 select and use information for specific purposes

Writing

• W1 articulate experience and express what is thought, felt and imagined
• W2 organise and structure facts, ideas and opinions for deliberate effect
• W3 use a range of vocabulary and sentence structures appropriate to context
• W4 use language appropriate to purpose and to engage the audience
• W5 make accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar

What the numbering is actually for

R1 and R2 are the difference between what a text says and what it means, and almost every reading question tests both. R4 - how writers achieve effects - is the one students most often leave out, and on Paper 1 it carries part of two separate questions.

On the writing side, W5 is spelling, punctuation and grammar, and it is one of five objectives on every writing task. It is the easiest of the ten to lose and the only one you can protect by leaving five minutes at the end.

The alternative to Paper 2, worth the same 80 marks and the same 50%. Candidates submit three assignments of about 500 to 800 words each, which may be completed in any order.

• Assignment 1 (30 marks): writing to discuss, argue and/or persuade, in response to a text or texts.
• Assignment 2 (25 marks): writing to describe.
• Assignment 3 (25 marks): writing to narrate.
• It is internally assessed and externally moderated, which means your teacher marks it and Cambridge checks the marking.
• Assignment 1 is the only one of the three that carries reading marks, because it responds to a text. The other two are assessed on writing alone.

The first examinations on the new syllabus are in 2027. The shape of the qualification does not change: the same two papers, the same two hours each, the same 80 marks each, the same 50/50 weighting, the same coursework alternative and the same optional speaking test.

What changes is inside the papers.

Paper 1

• The total mark is unchanged and the duration is unchanged.
• The paper has been restructured so that candidates can navigate it more efficiently and use their time better.
• The questions are still based on three reading texts.

Paper 2

• The total mark is unchanged and the duration is unchanged.
• Section A: the reading texts are shorter - the total word count has been reduced to 550 to 650 words.
• The directed writing task has been divided into two parts, 1(a) and 1(b), to help candidates with their comprehension of the text or texts.
• Question 1(a) assesses R3 and R4, and R4 was not previously assessed in this paper.
• Question 1(b) carries 10 marks for reading and 25 for writing.
• Section B is unchanged in what it asks for.
• The marking criteria have been updated across both sections.

Components 3 and 4

• Component 3: the forms in which candidates write have been updated and clarified. There are no changes to the mark allocations. The marking criteria have been updated.
• Component 4: no changes to the tasks or mark allocations. The marking criteria have been updated.

Cambridge publishes First Language English under two codes. The syllabus content is the same; the grading scale is not.

0500 is graded **A* to G, which the syllabus states directly. 0990 is the version graded 9 to 1**. Which one a school enters candidates for depends on the scale it wants on the certificate rather than on any difference in what is taught.

Check your entry code on your statement of entry. If it is 0990, use the 0990 syllabus page on the Cambridge site for the grading information, since this page was built from the 0500 syllabus documents.