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Cambridge exams explained

Cambridge International Education, part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, sets the IGCSE, O Level, AS Level and A Level exams that students sit in schools around the world. This page explains how they fit together and how to read the papers.

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The qualifications

  • IGCSE: the International General Certificate of Secondary Education, usually taken at the end of secondary school.
  • O Level: a similar level to IGCSE, offered in some subjects and countries, with its own syllabuses.
  • AS Level: covers roughly the first half of an A Level syllabus and can be taken as a qualification on its own.
  • A Level: the full advanced qualification, widely used for university applications.

Each subject has a syllabus with a four digit code. The syllabus is the official list of what can be examined, so it is the best place to start when you plan revision.

When the exams happen

Cambridge runs its exams in series during the year: May/June, October/November and a smaller February/March series. Not every subject or country is offered in every series, so check with your school or exam centre which one you are entered for.

Registration goes through a school or an authorised exam centre, which also tells you your timetable and your paper variants.

How grades work

  • A Level is graded A* to E, and AS Level is graded A to E.
  • O Level is graded A* to E.
  • IGCSE subjects are reported either on a 9 to 1 scale or from A* to G, depending on the syllabus. Your syllabus says which.

Grade boundaries are set after each series and published for that series, so they move a little. A percentage from one practice paper is a guide, not a promise of a grade.

How to read a paper code

A paper code such as 0625/42 packs three facts into a few digits. 0625 is the syllabus (Cambridge IGCSE Physics). The first digit after the slash, 4, is the paper number (Paper 4). The last digit, 2, is the variant.

Downloaded files use a short form, for example 0625_s24_qp_42. The letter after the syllabus code is the series (m for February/March, s for May/June, w for October/November), the two digits are the year, and the next part says what the file is: qp for the question paper, ms for the mark scheme and er for the examiner report. The last two digits are the paper and the variant.

Papers, tiers and variants

A subject is usually assessed through several papers, also called components. A science might have a multiple choice paper, a theory paper and a practical or practical-skills paper, and the syllabus gives the weighting of each.

Many IGCSE subjects have two tiers, Core and Extended, with different papers. Your teacher or school chooses the tier for you before the exam.

A variant is a parallel version of the same paper. Which one you sit depends on your centre's timetable. For revision, variants of the same paper in the same series cover the same syllabus, so they are good extra practice.

Mark schemes, command words and examiner reports

  • Mark scheme: published for every paper after the series. It lists the answers that earn each mark and the guidance examiners follow. In maths-style subjects its letters matter: M marks are for method, A marks are for accuracy, and an accuracy mark often depends on the method mark before it.
  • Command words: the verb that opens a question, such as state, describe, explain, calculate or suggest. Each tells you how much to write, and each syllabus lists what its command words mean.
  • Examiner report: where it is available, a short report on how candidates answered a paper and the mistakes that cost marks.

Where past papers fit

Past papers are real questions in the real format, so they show you the style, the wording and the way marks are awarded. Used together with the mark scheme they are one of the most direct ways to see what an examiner wants. Our study tips for Cambridge exams have a routine for using them well.

When a full paper is too big a step, work topic by topic first, then move to full papers as the exam gets closer.

What ExamPal does with them

ExamPal lets you browse Cambridge past papers and write your answers by hand, like the exam. When you want it marked, the AI reads your handwriting and marks it against the official Cambridge mark scheme, and shows where each mark came from. Launch covers six subjects, with 2023 and 2024 papers first.

You can also drill one topic with topical sets or browse past papers by topic. Reading papers and mark schemes is free, and the plans and pricing page explains what a free account adds.