University of Cambridge, 2010. — 108 p. — (International Examinations )This standards booklet for IGCSE First Language English consists of candidates' scripts written for the May 2009 session. Each script is accompanied by the marks that were awarded and brief commentaries explaining the strengths and weaknesses of the answers. In this way. it is possible to understand what candidates have done to gain their marks and what they still have to do to improve their grades.
The annotations made by the Examiners that accompanied the scripts are not included here. These annotations consisted of recognition that candidates had used appropriate reading material from the passages set for study, and indications that this material had been adapted effectively. Other annotations indicated the errors in the writing (in Papers 1 and 3 only). The commentaries make general references to the amount and seriousness of the error. The commonest errors are those of punctuation, especially sentence separation, and awkward or ungrammatical expression. Otherwise the most frequent errors are those of tense. Spelling varies, but may often be quite good.
The scripts are arranged in ascending order of overall merit, and the progression in quality is often clearly shown. It may be helpful to read the least good script first, followed by one more from the middle of the range and then the best. This will clearly demonstrate the range of performance at Grades E, C and A (Paper 2). G, E and C (Paper 1) and the whole range (Paper 3).
