By Cyril KimbiThe marking scheme is the most under-used document in exam preparation. Students download past papers by the dozen and ignore the mark scheme sitting beside them — which is strange, because the paper tells you what was asked and the mark scheme tells you what was rewarded. Only one of those is the thing being measured.
What a marking scheme actually tells you
Three things, in ascending order of usefulness.
The answer. The least useful part, and the only part most students read.
The allocation. How the marks divide within a question. A six-mark question is not one answer worth six — it is typically several distinct scoring points. Seeing that a question awards two marks for the method, two for the calculation and two for the interpretation tells you exactly how to structure an answer.
The acceptance criteria. The most useful part. Mark schemes indicate which alternative wordings are accepted, which specific terms are required, and where a mark is conditional on an earlier one. Learning that examiners require a particular term is worth more than learning the topic again.
The single highest-value habit
Do a question, then mark it yourself against the scheme, strictly.
Not generously. Strictly — as though someone else wrote it. If the scheme requires a term and you wrote something adjacent, you did not earn the mark. Giving yourself credit for what you “basically meant” trains you to keep writing answers that do not score.
This is uncomfortable, and that discomfort is the mechanism. The gap between what you thought you had earned and what the scheme actually awards is the improvement list. Nothing else in revision produces that list as precisely.
Keep the gaps in one place. After ten papers you will have a short, specific document of your own recurring losses — and it will be much shorter than you expect, because most candidates lose the same marks repeatedly.
How marks are usually allocated
| Question type | Where the marks sit | Common avoidable loss |
|---|---|---|
| Calculation | Method, substitution, answer, units | Working not shown, so method marks cannot be given |
| Define / state | Specific required terms | Describing around the term instead of using it |
| Explain | A point plus its consequence | Stating the point and stopping |
| Compare | Both sides, explicitly linked | Describing each separately, never comparing |
| Diagram | Structure, labels, and often a caption | Unlabelled diagram |
| Essay | Argument, evidence, structure, conclusion | Narrating instead of arguing |
The pattern across almost all of them: marks are given for visible reasoning. An examiner cannot award a method mark for a method held in your head. Writing the working is not showing off; it is where a substantial share of the available credit lives.
The command words decide the answer’s shape
Examination questions use a small, stable vocabulary, and each word specifies a different task:
- State / Name — a word or a phrase. No explanation wanted, and adding one wastes time.
- Define — the precise meaning, usually with a required term.
- Describe — what happens, in order. No reasons required.
- Explain — why it happens. This is where most marks are lost, because candidates describe when asked to explain.
- Compare — both things, in the same sentences.
- Discuss / Evaluate — more than one side, then a judgement.
- Calculate / Determine — working must be shown.
- Suggest — applying what you know to an unfamiliar situation; several answers may be accepted.
A simple diagnostic: take any answer you have written and check whether it does what the command word asked. Answers that describe when the question said explain are the most common single source of avoidable loss across every subject.
Reading the mark allocation as an instruction
The number of marks tells you how much to write, and it is a more reliable guide than the space provided.
A four-mark question wants roughly four scoring points. Writing one point at length earns one mark; writing four brief, distinct points earns four. Candidates who write beautiful paragraphs for two marks and one line for eight are losing marks to allocation, not to knowledge.
Before writing, glance at the marks and decide how many separate points you owe. It takes three seconds and it changes the answer.
Using schemes across the whole revision cycle
- Early: read the scheme with the question, before attempting it, to learn what a full answer looks like in that subject.
- Middle: attempt questions untimed, then mark strictly and log the losses.
- Late: full papers under timed conditions, marked strictly. Now you are training speed as well as accuracy.
- Final weeks: stop attempting new topics and work only the logged recurring losses.
The past questions library is the material, and the syllabus guide tells you which topics are examinable at all — the two together are what makes this method work rather than either alone.
If you cannot find a marking scheme
Not every paper has one available, particularly for the older concours. Three workable substitutes: work with someone else and mark each other’s answers, which catches assumptions you cannot see in your own work; reconstruct the allocation from the marks and the command word, which is a useful exercise in itself; and ask a teacher to mark a small number of answers strictly rather than a large number generously.
Frequently asked questions
Should I read the mark scheme before attempting the question?
Early in revision, yes — to learn the expected shape. Later, no, because you need to produce the answer unaided.
Do examiners accept different wording?
Often, and schemes indicate the accepted alternatives. Some terms are required exactly, which is precisely what reading the scheme teaches you.
Why do I lose marks when my answer is correct?
Usually because the reasoning was not visible, the command word asked for something different, or fewer distinct points were made than the allocation required.
How many past papers should I mark?
Fewer, marked strictly, beats many attempted loosely. Ten fully marked papers with a logged list of losses is a serious revision programme.
Is it worth writing working I am unsure about?
Yes. Method marks are frequently awarded for correct working even where the final answer is wrong.
