Cambridge IGCSE English Language Tutors Online

Cambridge IGCSE First Language English is syllabus 0500. This page works from the syllabus for exams in 2024, 2025 and 2026, version 1. Exams are available in the June and November series, and also in the March series in India only.

All candidates take two papers, and all candidates are eligible for grades A* to G. There is no Core and Extended tier, so every student sits the same papers.

The first paper is fixed. Paper 1 is Reading, lasting 2 hours and carrying 80 marks, worth 50% of the qualification. It consists of structured and extended writing questions, and the questions are based on three reading texts.

The second paper is a choice. Candidates take either Paper 2, Directed Writing and Composition, or Component 3, a Coursework Portfolio. Both are worth 50% and both carry 80 marks, but they are assessed differently. Paper 2 is an examined paper lasting 2 hours with an extended writing question and a composition task. Component 3 is three extended writing assignments, internally assessed and externally moderated.

That choice is a real decision rather than a formality. Component 3 removes the time pressure, since candidates are not expected to work under timed conditions, but it moves the assessment inside the school and it demands three separate pieces of finished writing across the course. Paper 2 is a single timed sitting. A student who writes well but slowly may do better with the portfolio, while a student who performs under pressure may prefer the exam.

There is also an optional Component 4, the Speaking and Listening Test. It lasts approximately 10 to 12 minutes, carries 40 marks, and consists of an Individual Talk and a Conversation. It is internally assessed and externally moderated. Its marks do not contribute to the overall grade for the written components. Instead, where candidates perform to an appropriate standard, certificates record achievement of grades 1 (high) to 5 (low). So the speaking test is a separate endorsement, not a route to more marks.

Paper 1 is worth understanding in detail because it is half the qualification. Candidates answer three compulsory questions on three texts which may be on a similar topic, and they write all answers in the space provided on the question paper. Text A and Text B are 700 to 750 words in length and Text C is 500 to 650 words in length. Candidates should spend approximately 15 minutes reading the texts, and the texts are printed on a question paper insert.

Paper 2 has two sections of 40 marks each. In Section A, Directed Writing, candidates answer one compulsory question on one or two texts totalling 650 to 750 words, and use, develop and evaluate that information to create a discursive, argumentative or persuasive speech, a letter or an article, writing about 250 to 350 words. That question is marked on both writing and reading: 25 marks for writing objectives and 15 marks for reading objectives. In Section B, Composition, candidates answer one question from a choice of four titles, two descriptive and two narrative, and write about 350 to 450 words, marked on writing objectives only for 40 marks. Dictionaries may not be used in Paper 2.

For Component 3, the three assignments must clearly demonstrate different writing intentions and styles. Assignment 1 is a piece of directed writing in response to a text or texts chosen by the teacher or, with approval, by the candidate, and it is assessed for both writing and reading skills, with centres advised to select texts of approximately two sides of A4 in total. Assignment 2 is a piece of descriptive writing assessed for writing skills only, and candidates may submit poetry provided it is accompanied by a commentary, which is included in the word count. The syllabus gives short stories as an example of the kind of work a class might prepare for Assignment 3. Past examination paper questions should not be used for coursework.

The reading skills the course builds are specific. Candidates demonstrate understanding of written texts and of the words and phrases within them, summarise and use material for a specific context, develop, analyse and evaluate facts, ideas and opinions, demonstrate understanding of how writers achieve their effects and influence readers, select appropriate information for specific purposes, and recognise and respond to linguistic devices, figurative language and imagery.

The reading material is defined too. Candidates should engage with a range of genres and text types from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including literature, fiction and non-fiction, and other forms of writing such as discursive essays, reviews and articles, with focus on writers' use of language and style and the ways in which writers achieve effects and influence readers. Candidates should also study how that influence may include fact, ideas, perspectives, opinions and bias.

The writing skills are equally explicit: expressing what is thought, felt and imagined, organising and conveying facts, ideas and opinions effectively, using a varied vocabulary appropriate to the context, using effective sentence structures, understanding audience, purpose and form, and accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar. Candidates are introduced to writing with a variety of forms and purposes, including descriptive, narrative, discursive, argumentative and persuasive, and to the text types letter, report, article, journal, speech, interview and summary.

The assessment objectives are three. AO1 is Reading, broken into R1 understanding of explicit meanings, R2 understanding of implicit meanings and attitudes, R3 analysing, evaluating and developing facts, ideas and opinions with appropriate support from the text, R4 understanding of how writers achieve effects and influence readers, and R5 selecting and using information for specific purposes. AO2 is Writing, broken into W1 articulating experience and expressing what is thought, felt and imagined, W2 organising and structuring ideas and opinions for deliberate effect, W3 using a range of vocabulary and sentence structures appropriate to context, W4 using register appropriate to context, and W5 making accurate use of spelling, punctuation and grammar. AO3 is Speaking and Listening, which is separately endorsed.

The weightings carry a surprise worth knowing. AO1 Reading is 50 per cent and AO2 Writing is 50 per cent of the qualification, which looks evenly balanced. But within the papers the balance is not even at all: Paper 1 is 80 per cent reading and 20 per cent writing, while Paper 2 and Component 3 are 20 per cent reading and 80 per cent writing. Component 4 is 100 per cent speaking and listening.

So a student cannot be strong in only one half. Paper 1 is overwhelmingly a reading paper even though it asks candidates to write answers, and the second component is overwhelmingly a writing paper even though it asks candidates to read a text first. Students often prepare for one and are surprised by the other.

The qualification is graded A*, A, B, C, D, E, F or G, with A* the highest and G the lowest. A candidate whose performance does not meet the standard required for grade G is ungraded, which is reported on the statement of results but not on the certificate.