8 rules for writing Cambridge IGCSE-style exam questions

Your students have finished the past papers. Again. So you write your own questions, but you are never quite sure they feel like real Cambridge questions.

To create Cambridge-style exam questions, start with an official Cambridge command word, match the question to the assessment objectives in your syllabus, and mark it the way Cambridge would: points for short answers, levels of response for extended ones.

That is the short answer. Here are the eight rules that make it work, whether you teach IGCSE Biology or A-Level Economics.

TL;DR. Writing Cambridge-style questions

1. Start with the command word

Pick the command word before you write anything else. State, describe, explain, evaluate: the command word decides what the question tests, so it comes first, not last.

Cambridge publishes general definitions for its commonly used command words, and your subject syllabus may add its own, so check both. "Describe" asks for features. "Explain" asks for reasons. Same topic, different question. "Describe the structure of a leaf" and "Explain how a leaf is adapted for photosynthesis" test completely different skills.

Examiner reports say students lose marks by answering the wrong command word. Teachers can cause the same problem by writing one.

2. Know your syllabus's assessment objectives

Open your syllabus and read its assessment objectives before you write. AOs are subject-specific, not universal. In IGCSE Biology, AO3 is experimental skills and investigations. In IGCSE Economics, AO3 is evaluation. IGCSE Business has four AOs, not three.

Cambridge papers often assess several AOs in one component, so mixing them is not wrong. But for short question parts, aiming each part at one AO is a useful habit: it keeps the marking clean. If a part asks students to name a process and then evaluate its impact, split it in two.

3. Match the marks to the marking style

Decide how the question will be marked before you set its marks. Short answers are point-marked: one mark per creditable point, so a 3-mark question needs three things a student can say. Extended answers work differently. Cambridge marks them with levels of response, and maths and science papers also use method and accuracy marks. IGCSE Economics part (d) questions, for example, are levels-marked.

The mark count is still a signal to students. Two marks means two short points. Eight marks means a developed, level-marked answer. If your 2-mark question needs a paragraph, either the marks are wrong or the question is.

4. Write the mark scheme at the same time

Write the mark scheme with the question, not after. It is the fastest way to catch a bad question.

If you cannot list four clear points for your point-marked 4-mark question, it is not a 4-mark question. For a level-marked question, draft the level descriptors instead; if you cannot describe what a top-level answer looks like, the question is not ready. Fix it now, not while marking 30 scripts. On AssessPrep, the mark scheme attaches to the question as you write it and later drives the AI marking. The effort pays off twice.

5. Mix easy and hard questions

Balance the difficulty across the paper. Include questions that are accessible to everyone, questions that stretch, and plenty in between.

Every class covers a range of confidence and readiness. A paper pitched too high shuts students out; pitched too low, it doesn't stretch anyone - and neither gives you a clear picture of what's been learned.

6. Keep the language plain and fair

Use short sentences, no idioms, and no local references. Your students sit in international classrooms, and English is not everyone's first language.

A question about "pocket money in pounds" or a British high street quietly penalises students who have never seen either. Swap in neutral contexts and simple wording. The exam should test the subject, not the student's cultural background.

7. Tag every question by topic

Label each question with its topic, command word, and AO as you write it. An untagged question gets used once and lost. A tagged one can be found again.

Tagging is what turns loose questions into Cambridge IGCSE practice questions by topic. The night before a revision lesson, you can pull every AO2 electrolysis question you own in seconds.

8. Build a question bank, not a folder

Save your questions somewhere you can search, deliver, and mark from, not a folder of Word files. That is the difference between storage and a question bank.

This matters more now that Cambridge exams are moving on-screen. Cambridge ran its first live digital exams in 2026 with early adopter schools, and worldwide availability begins from 2027. Questions in a bank can become on-screen practice and mocks. AssessPrep gives Cambridge teachers 9,000+ IGCSE questions plus their own bank in one place, tagged and ready to deliver.

Key takeaways

• Choose the Cambridge command word first. It defines what the question tests.

• Take assessment objectives from your own syllabus. They differ by subject, and some subjects have four.

• Point-mark short answers, use levels of response for extended ones, and write the mark scheme with the question.

• Spread the difficulty so every student has a way in, and keep the wording plain for international cohorts. 

• Tag and bank every question so it can be reused, delivered on-screen, and marked automatically.

Ready to write less and assess more?

Writing Cambridge-authentic questions is a system, not a talent. AssessPrep's AI authoring drafts questions to your chosen command word, AO, and mark allocation, then delivers them as secure on-screen mocks and marks them against your scheme. Try it on your own syllabus.

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