🔍 Describe
Describe the sea wall. Say what you can see: it is a tall, curved concrete wall along the base of the cliff. No reasons needed.
Exam Technique » How the Exams Work and Command Words
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Cambridge spec: Assessment overview, assessment objectives, command words
- What is in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 4, and how many marks each is worth
- What the three assessment objectives (AO1, AO2, AO3) reward
- What every command word asks you to do
- How to use the marks to plan the length and detail of an answer
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Unlock This CourseThe three papers
Everyone taking Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0976) sits three components and can be awarded grades 9 to 1. There are no tiers, so every student sits the same papers. The two written papers split geography into physical and human.
| Paper | Content | Time | Marks | Share of grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Physical Geography (topics 1 to 5) | 1 hour 45 minutes | 75 | 36% |
| Paper 2 | Human Geography (topics 6 to 10) | 1 hour 45 minutes | 75 | 36% |
| Paper 4 | Geographical Investigations | 1 hour 30 minutes | 60 | 28% |
Paper 4 is the alternative to Component 3, which is coursework (one centre-based fieldwork assignment of 1,800 to 2,200 words). This course prepares you for Paper 4.
Papers 1 and 2 have the same layout. You answer three questions in total.
- Section A (25 marks): one compulsory structured question, made of short-answer items and an extended response.
- Section B (50 marks): you answer two out of three structured questions. Each is worth 25 marks and also has short-answer items and an extended response.
Some items are based on source material such as photographs, maps, graphs and tables. Paper 4 has two compulsory questions, each worth 30 marks, with short-answer and extended response items. Some items use source material.
Choose your Section B questions with care
In Section B you pick two of three. Read all three first, then choose the two where you can say the most, not just the ones with the nicest picture.
The assessment objectives
Every mark is given for one of three skills, called assessment objectives (AOs).
📚 AO1 Knowledge and understanding
Know geographical terms, ideas, places, processes, causes and consequences, and understand why scale and time matter.
📊 AO2 Skills and analysis
Use geographical skills, interpret and present data, spot patterns, trends and relationships, and use the route to geographical enquiry.
⚖️ AO3 Evaluation and decision-making
Judge importance and success, spot the limits of data, weigh up different values and options, and make and justify a decision.
| Assessment objective | Whole qualification | Paper 1 | Paper 2 | Paper 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AO1 | 32% | 37% | 37% | 20% |
| AO2 | 48% | 43% | 43% | 60% |
| AO3 | 20% | 20% | 20% | 20% |
Look at the biggest number: AO2 is almost half of the whole qualification. Geography is not just learning facts. You must be able to use skills and data, which is why this course teaches map, graph and fieldwork skills.
Detailed specific examples, units and scale
- Detailed specific examples: the syllabus names none, so your teacher or course picks them. Use real names, places, dates and figures. Examples from 2000 to the present day are recommended. Some questions ask you to refer to your example, and you can use it to support other answers too.
- Units in resources: metres and kilometres for height and distance, degrees Celsius for temperature and millimetres for rainfall. Always write the unit with your number.
- Latitude and longitude: any paper may refer to them, so be ready to use them to say where a place is.
- Unfamiliar places: resources come from all over the world and you may not know the area. They are designed so that you use the general principles you have studied.
- Impacts can be positive or negative, social, economic or environmental, and at local, regional, national or global scale.
- Management: strategies are action plans and agreements. Techniques are the methods used. Always think about sustainability.
- Development: the exams use low-income countries (LICs), middle-income countries (MICs) and high-income countries (HICs). Cambridge accepts that a country can fall into different categories depending on the measure used.
Know your map of the world
You are expected to name and locate the continents. There are seven: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia (Oceania), Europe, North America and South America. The five oceans are the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic. Practise finding all of them on a blank world map.
Command words
The command word is the word that tells you what to do. It is often at or near the start of the question. A good answer with the wrong command word still loses marks. These are the command words used in this syllabus and what they mean.
| Command word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Assess | Make an informed judgement |
| Calculate | Work out from given facts, figures or information |
| Compare | Identify or comment on similarities and/or differences |
| Define | Give the precise meaning |
| Describe | State the points of a topic; give characteristics and main features |
| Devise | Create a questionnaire to present other information according to specific requirements |
| Discuss | Write about issues or topics in depth in a structured way |
| Estimate | Use judgement to give a unit value to a distance or area |
| Evaluate | Judge or calculate the quality, importance, amount or value of something |
| Explain | Set out purposes or reasons; make the relationships between things clear; say why and/or how, and support with relevant evidence |
| Give | Produce an answer from a given source or from recall |
| Identify | Name, select or recognise |
| Justify | Support a case with evidence or argument |
| Locate | Indicate the position of a place, feature or entity from or in a resource |
| Plan | Create a method to obtain or present certain information (such as a questionnaire) according to specific requirements |
| Plot | Mark point(s) on a graph, diagram or map |
| Predict | Suggest what may happen based on available information |
| Sketch | Make a simple freehand drawing showing the key features, taking care over proportions |
| State | Express in clear terms |
| Suggest | Apply knowledge and understanding to situations where there are a range of valid responses, in order to make proposals or put forward considerations |
You will also see phrases such as How far do you agree...? and To what extent...?
The key command words in action
Imagine a made-up seaside town where a sea wall has been built to slow cliff erosion.
❓ Explain
Explain how the sea wall protects the town. Give reasons: the curve throws waves back out to sea, so less wave energy reaches the cliff, which means less erosion and the land is not lost.
💡 Suggest
Suggest why local people may disagree about the wall. There is no single right answer. Apply what you know: shop owners may like the protection, but people may dislike the cost or the loss of the beach.
⚖️ Assess / Evaluate
Assess how successful the wall is. Weigh strengths (protects homes) against weaknesses (cost, upkeep), then give a judgement that you support with evidence.
To what extent...? asks for a balanced argument ending in a clear conclusion, for example "The wall is mostly successful because...". Do not just list points. Say how far you agree and why.
Use the marks as a guide
The marks for each part are printed on the paper. They tell you how much detail and how much time a part needs.
- 1 mark: one fact or one number, usually a word or a short phrase.
- 2 to 4 marks: one developed point per mark, such as a point plus a reason, or a point plus data from the resource.
- Extended response: plan first. Write down three or four points, a detailed specific example and a conclusion, then write in a clear order.
With 105 minutes for 75 marks on Papers 1 and 2, you have a little over a minute per mark. Do not spend ten minutes on a 2-mark part.
Exam equipment
Take a pencil, an eraser, a ruler, a protractor, a calculator and plain paper (check what your exam centre allows). You need them for graphs, bearings, scale and sketches.
Common mistakes
- Describing when the question says explain. A description with no reasons earns few marks.
- Leaving out units, such as writing 12 instead of 12 mm.
- Writing a list on an assess or evaluate question, with no judgement at the end.
- Writing about the wrong place because you did not read the resource.
- Using general statements when the question wants a detailed specific example.
Exam-style question
Table 1 shows made-up daily rainfall at Station K in a river basin during one week of storms.
| Day | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall (mm) | 4 | 0 | 12 | 20 | 4 |
(a) Identify the day with the most rainfall. [1 mark]
(b) Calculate the total rainfall for the week. [2 marks]
(c) Describe the pattern of rainfall shown in Table 1. [2 marks]
(d) Assess the importance of heavy rainfall as a cause of river flooding. [6 marks]
Model answer
(a) Thursday (1).
(b) 4 + 0 + 12 + 20 + 4 (1) = 40 mm (1).
(c) Rainfall rises from 0 mm on Tuesday to a peak of 20 mm on Thursday (1) and then falls to 4 mm on Friday (1).
(d) Heavy rainfall is very important because a large amount of water reaches the river faster than it can drain away, so the channel overflows (1). Prolonged rainfall can saturate the soil, so more water runs over the surface and into the river (1). However, rainfall is not the only cause. Human factors such as urbanisation make flooding worse because drains and tarmac carry water quickly to the river (1). Steep slopes and impermeable rock also increase runoff (1). In a place with the same rainfall but forest and permeable soils, flooding is much less likely (1). Overall, heavy rainfall is the main trigger, but its impact depends on the land and how people use it (1).
Exam tip
On a 6-mark "Assess" question, make several developed points and finish with a clear judgement. A list with no judgement does not answer the question.