How IGCSE maths mark schemes work (4MA1 and 0580)

The big idea

An IGCSE mark scheme splits each question into mark points, and each point is a yes-or-no decision about one line of your working. Edexcel 4MA1 and Cambridge 0580 write those points with nearly the same letters, so once you can read M1, A1 and B1 you can mark any IGCSE paper yourself. The two boards differ in a few places, shown below, and both reward a correct answer with no working unless the question asks for working.

• 4MA1 and 0580 side by side
• M1 and A1
• B1, and B2 (B1 for …)
• A correct answer with no working
• dep: marks that depend
• ft (FT): follow-through
• cao, oe and isw
• nfww (0580)
• 3 s.f. and premature rounding
• Misreads (MR)
• SC: special case
• Mark your own work: a routine

M1 A method mark for a correct method applied to the right numbers, even if an arithmetic slip follows.

A1 An accuracy mark for the correct value. It needs the M mark before it: a right answer from a wrong method scores nothing.

Example: solve 5x + 9 = 2x − 3. M1 for collecting the x terms on one side and the numbers on the other (3x = −12), A1 for x = −4.

B1 A mark for a correct result on its own, with no method mark needed first: a value read from a graph, a bearing, a "write down" answer.

B2 Two marks for a fully correct answer. When the scheme writes B2 for … (B1 for …), it is one award with a partial-credit level: a nearly right answer gets B1, a fully right one gets both. M2 (M1 for …) works the same way.

Example: "Write 360 as a product of its prime factors." Suppose the scheme gives B2 for 2³ × 3² × 5 (B1 for the factors 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 5 listed but not written as a product).

Both boards give full marks for a correct answer on its own, with two exceptions: the question asks you to show your working or to use algebra (Edexcel), or it requires a particular method (Cambridge). A wrong answer with no working scores nothing, which is why a written line of working is worth the time: it is the only place a method mark can come from.

dep A mark that can only be given if an earlier mark, named in the scheme, was earned. It stops later steps being credited when they are built on a wrong start.

Example: find the turning point of y = x² − 8x + 3. M1 for dy/dx = 2x − 8, M1 dep for setting it equal to 0, A1 for (4, −13).

ft A later mark earned by using your own earlier wrong value correctly. You lose a mark once, not again in every part that uses it. Follow-through applies only where the scheme allows it.

Example: (a) A coat costs $80. Work out 35% of $80. (b) The coat is reduced by 35%. Work out the sale price.

cao Correct answer only: no follow-through, and only the right value earns it.

oe Or equivalent: any equivalent correct form, such as 3/5, 0.6 or 60%, unless the question asks for one form.

isw Ignore subsequent working: once the correct answer is seen, an unnecessary extra step after it is not penalised.

nfww The right answer earns the mark only if it did not come from wrong working. A correct answer reached by a wrong method is a coincidence, not mathematics.

Example: "Simplify 16/64."

On Cambridge 0580, an answer that is not exact goes to 3 significant figures, and an angle in degrees to 1 decimal place, unless the question says otherwise. On 4MA1, give the accuracy the question asks for. On both boards, rounding in the middle of a calculation can change the final figure and cost the last A mark.

Example: a circle has circumference 20 cm. Find its area.

If you copy a number wrongly from the question and then work correctly with it, the method marks are usually still given, but the accuracy marks for the value are lost.

SC A mark the scheme allows for one partly right route, for example a correct answer found by trial and improvement when the question asked for an algebraic method. It is worth less than the full method.

See every code in use: each of our IGCSE formula pages has 4MA1 and 0580 exam-style questions with the marks set line by line, and our summaries of the 4MA1 and 0580 examiner reports show where marks are most often lost. Practise on the real thing with the past papers and mark schemes.

1. Change pen colour. Mark in green or red so your corrections stand out from your original attempt.
2. Go point by point. For every mark point, tick it and write the code (M1, A1, B1…) next to the line that earned it — or cross it and write what was missing.
3. Find the first lost mark. Write the correct next line underneath, in your marking colour.
4. What Went Well (WWW): one sentence on what you did right, e.g. "set up the equation correctly".
5. Even Better If (EBI): one sentence on the single change that would have gained the most marks.
6. Log silly mistakes. Keep a running list: date, question, the slip, and the check that would have caught it. Patterns (sign errors, units, rounding) show up within a week.