Cambridge Primary Checkpoint

Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint End of Series Report

October 2022
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Contents

1 Introduction page 3

2. Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint – English as a Second Language 1110

2.1 Comments on specific questions – English as a Second Language component 01 page 4
2.2 Comments on specific questions – English as a Second Language component 02 page 13
2.3 Comments on specific questions – English as a Second Language component 03 page15

3 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint – English 1111

3.1 Comments on specific questions – English component 01 page 22
3.2 Comments on specific questions – English component 02 page 27

4 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint – Mathematics 1112

4.1 Comments on specific questions – Mathematics component 01 page 31
4.2 Comments on specific questions – Mathematics component 02 page 38

5 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint – Science 1113

5.1 Comments on specific questions – Science component 01 page 45
5.2 Comments on specific questions – Science component 02 page 52

6 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint – Global Perspectives 1129

6.1 Comments on specific questions – Global Perspectives component 01 page 58
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1 Introduction

This document reports on candidate performance for this exam series. Performances for each syllabus are reported separately.

Overall and sub-group performances can change from series to series. You can use the report to compare sub-group performances for this syllabus in
this series. You should not use the information to compare performance changes over time.

For each syllabus the following information is provided:

• examiner comments on specific questions within each component of the test

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2. Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint English as a Second Language 1110

2.1 Comments on specific questions – English as a Second Language 1110 component 01

General comments

Part 1

(Questions 1–10)

A ten-gap multiple-choice cloze test, based on text ‘Little penguins’, required learners to select an appropriate item to fill 10 gaps and to circle the word of
their choice; correct usage of lexical and function words was tested. The majority of learners scored well on this part, with Questions 2, 3, and 9 being the
most successfully answered and Questions 1 and 4 the least.

Part 2

(Questions 11–20)

For Questions 11–20, learners were required to put one word only into the gaps to complete a single email message to a friend. The words needed to fit
grammatically, carry the intended meaning, have the correct spelling and comply with standard English usage (with a capital letter at the beginning of a
sentence), to complete the text.

In this session there were four initial capital letters required, and some learners wrote the correct responses for Questions 11, 12, 14 and 20 but without an
initial capital letter.

As usual, a lot of the incorrect answers seemed to be produced because the words chosen fitted the words either side of the blank in terms of grammar or
meaning but learners did not take into account the wider context of sentence/discourse level. Possibly more focus is needed on this aspect when teaching
reading skills to learners. This appears to be an ongoing area for improvement, noted in all previous reports.

The mark scheme allowed for alternative answers in Questions 14 and 19. This part proved to be a good discriminator, with learners only very occasionally
scoring full marks. The most successfully answered questions were Questions 16, 17 and 19; the least successfully answered were 11, 12 and 20. A few
learners attempted the task by using more than one word per gap.
Part 3

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(Questions 21–25)

In this part, learners were required to complete a short conversation between two friends by selecting appropriate responses from those given. The majority of
learners scored fairly well on this task, with Questions 22, 24 and 25 being the most successfully answered and Question 21 the least. Errors were often
made when learners found an item to match the sentence before or after but not both.

As in previous sessions, in this part and Part 5 some learners changed their minds several times and, rather than crossing out their original mark, wrote over
their first answer or erased unclearly. This occasionally resulted in an illegible response. It would be preferable for learners to completely cross out the
rejected response and write the preferred one next to it; or, in the case of Part 5, to completely cross out the rejected response and write the preferred
answer completely outside the box if necessary. However, there appeared to be far fewer unclear answers than in previous sessions and is a noticeable area
of improvement.

Part 4

(Questions 26–35)

In this section, learners were required to select the correct meaning of the message shown in a picture. Learners needed to circle one of the three choices
given. The task required careful reading and accurate matching of information to determine the correct response. Learners needed to be good at making
inferences and identifying different ways to convey a message. Many learners scored well, though there were a lot of incorrect answers for Questions 27, 34
(especially) and 35; the most successfully answered were Questions 26, 28, 29, 31 and 33.

Part 5

(Questions 36–40)

This task required learners to match the information given about which website about nature would be most suitable for each of five people. The most
correctly answered question was Question 36, and the least successfully answered was Question 38. A lot of errors were seen. As usual, errors tended to
be made when learners were able to match some of the people’s requirements, but they did not continue to look for a group that matched all the
requirements. This type of task can generate a lot of wrong answers when one or two wrong answers have a ‘knock-on’ effect on other answers.

Comments made for Part 3 above about the clarity of learner responses also apply to this part.

Part 6

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(Questions 41–45)

This task comprised multiple-choice questions on a longer text with the title ‘Horse vaulting’. The need for learners to use a wide range of reading skills,
including inference and deduction makes this a challenging part of the test. Questions 41, 43 and 44 were the most successfully answered and Question 45
by far the least.

Comments on specific questions

Part 1

Question 1

A high proportion of incorrect answers (correct: ‘typical’); most common incorrect answers: ‘original’ and ‘basic’.

Question 2

A very high proportion of correct answers (‘locations’); incorrect answers divided between the other three options.

Question 3

Usually correct (‘common’); common incorrect answers divided between ‘ordinary’ and ‘accurate’.

Question 4

A high proportion of incorrect answers (correct: ‘absolutely’); most common incorrect answer: ‘exactly’.

Question 5

Often correct (‘consists’); incorrect answers divided between ‘includes’ and ‘contains’.

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Question 6

Usually correct (‘amount’); incorrect answers divided between ‘number’ and ‘range’.

Question 7

Usually correct (‘searching’); common incorrect answer: ‘finding’.

Question 8

Usually correct (‘keeping’); by far the most common incorrect answer: ‘controlling’.

Question 9

Usually correct (‘appear’); most common incorrect answer: ‘exist’

Question 10

Often incorrect (‘allows’); by far the most common incorrect answer: ‘provides’.

Part 2

Question 11

Very often incorrect (correct: ‘Would’); common incorrect answers: ‘would’ (especially), and ‘Do/do’.

Question 12

Often incorrect (correct: ‘If’); common incorrect answer: ‘if’.

Question 13

Very often correct (‘up’); a wide range of incorrect answers, including ‘at’, ‘by’, ‘while’, ‘down’ and ‘in’.

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Question 14

Often correct (‘Do/Did’); common incorrect answers: ‘do’ and ‘did’ (both especially).

Question 15

Often correct (‘us’); incorrect answers included ‘me’, ‘for’, ‘our’ and ‘the’.

Question 16

Usually correct (‘to’); most common incorrect answers: ‘I’ and sometimes ‘must’, ‘should’ and ‘you’.

Question 17

A very high proportion correct (‘the’); most common incorrect answers: ‘a’ and sometimes ‘our’, ‘is’ and ‘player’.

Question 18

Often correct (‘other’); a range of incorrect answers, including misspellings (‘othor’, ‘athor’), ‘others’ ‘time’, ‘she’, ‘person’ and ‘people’.

Question 19

Usually correct (‘who/that’ – ‘that’ was far more common than ‘who’); common incorrect answers included ‘and’, ‘which’, ‘she’ and ‘it’.

Question 20

Often incorrect (correct: ‘Let’); by far the most common incorrect answer was ‘let’, and ‘Tell’ and ‘Reply’ were sometimes given.

Part 3

Question 21

Often incorrect (correct: G); by far the most common incorrect answer: C (possibly many learners related ‘book’ to ‘teacher’ and ‘library’ and did not read
further through the dialogue to find that the wider context required an answer containing ‘computer’).

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Question 22

A very high proportion correct (B); common incorrect answer: G.

Question 23

Usually correct (A); by far the most common incorrect answer: G.

Note: As Option G has ‘computer’, many learners probably related it to The Assistant’s reply between 22 and 23: ‘That’s right. So, you can use
a computer for free’. A good example of why learners need practice in relating ideas within the overall discourse.

Question 24

A very high proportion correct (E); incorrect answers divided between the other options.

Question 25

A very high proportion correct (H); incorrect answers divided between the other options.

Part 4

Question 26

Usually correct (C); by far the most common incorrect answer: A (probably as ‘theatre trip’ appears both in text and in Option A).

Question 27

Often incorrect (correct: B); incorrect answers divided between A and C.

Question 28

Usually correct (B); by far the most common incorrect answer: C (probably as ‘lost property box’ appears both in the text and in Option C).

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Question 29

Usually correct (B); by far the most common incorrect answer: C (probably as learners related ‘sorry’ in text to ‘apologising’ in Option C).

Question 30

Often correct (C); incorrect answers divided between A and B.

Question 31

Usually correct (A); most common incorrect answer: C.

Question 32

Often correct (C); by far the most common incorrect answer: A.

Question 33

A very high proportion correct (A): incorrect answers divided between B and C.

Question 34

A very high proportion incorrect (correct: A); by far the most common incorrect answer was C (probably as many learners did not realise that ‘including’ in the
text ruled out ‘all photos’ from the trip (as in Option C) from appearing in the exhibition).

Question 35

Often incorrect (correct: C); by far the most common incorrect answer: A. Possibly many learners were not familiar with the word ‘Access’ in the text and
understanding of this was necessary to select Option C.

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Part 5

Question 36

Usually correct (C); incorrect answers divided between A, B and D.

Question 37

Often correct (H); by far the most common incorrect answer: F, and B was also often given.

Question 38

A high proportion incorrect (correct: F); by far the most common incorrect answer: G, and B was sometimes given.

Question 39

Often correct (A); most common incorrect answers: D and E.

Question 40

Often correct (E); most common incorrect answer: G, and sometimes B was given.

Part 6

Question 41

Usually correct (C); most common incorrect answer: B.

Question 42

Often correct (B); most common incorrect answer: C, and sometimes A given.

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Question 43

Usually correct (C); incorrect answers divided between A and B.

Question 44

Usually correct (D); incorrect answers divided between A, B and C.

Question 45

A high proportion incorrect (correct: B); most common incorrect answer: C.

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2. Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint English as a Second Language 1110

2.2 Comments on specific questions – English as a Second Language 1110 component 02

General comments

Questions 1–5 proved to be more difficult ones for the learners and there were many who did not score very well on this section of the paper. Learners were
often not aware of the precision which is required in this section of the question paper.

Comments on specific questions

Question 1

Learners often failed to spot the emphasis on the word ‘really’ which needed to be covered in the answer. Some gave ‘a’ as their answer and failed to qualify
how good the video game was.

Question 2

There were a number of possible ways of filling the gap here and learners sometimes appeared confused about what they should give as their answer.
Various forms of the verbs ‘to go’ and ‘to come’ were possible and ‘arrive’ and ‘reach’ were also accepted.

Question 3

Possible answers to this question were very limited. ‘Unless’ was given on the mark scheme but we also saw ‘except if’ in a small number of cases.

Question 4

There was some overlap here with possible answers to Question 2, as ‘come/come over/like to come/please come’.

Question 5

Learners were not always aware that a superlative form needed to be used in their answer and therefore did not achieve the mark.

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Question 6

This question proved to be a good discriminator between stronger and weaker learners, mainly because of difficulties with the third Task point.

The general scenario of the camping trip was accessible and there was some enthusiastic language used.

Task point 1: most learners were able to cover this appropriately.

Task point 2: many learners chose to give examples of what they would like to do on the trip but there were also many who focussed on the fact that they
had not been before or had not been for a long time or had not seen their friend for a long time all of which were valid reasons for looking
forward to the trip.

Task point 3: Many learners told rather than asked Kim what to bring or asked Kim to bring particular items.

As always with this question there were some learners who dealt with each point in order and gave very clear responses and this is the best way to deal with
the task points

Others tried to combine points together but not always successfully.

Question 7

This topic appeared to be well received by the learners who were able to give solid reasons for their opinion. We saw many who supported the use of
homework but in moderation, but the vast majority were, as expected, in favour of no homework.

More able learners were able to write with confidence and clarity, organising their answers well.

Weaker learners were able to write a relevant answer but often without any real sense of planning or organisation. These answers were often repetitive and
lacked real control of grammar.

The overall standard of the essays seemed to be higher than in recent sessions and this is probably due to a topic on which learners had strong opinions.

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2. Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint English as a Second Language 1110

2.3 Comments on specific questions – English as a Second Language 1110 component 03

General comments

The great majority of learners attempted all the questions. It was noticeable, as usual, that the number of incorrect answers increased later in the test, after a
high proportion of correct answers in Parts 1 and 2.

The comments below regarding problems in deciphering some learners’ intended answers also apply to Paper 1 Reading and Usage. Learners should
remember that each multiple-choice question must have only one answer indicated; in a few cases two answers were circled (though this seemed to be much
less common than in past sessions and is an area of noticeable improvement), so the item was marked as incorrect. If learners wish to change an answer,
they should very clearly put lines through the letter or words to cross out.

An occasional problem was that a lot of learners used erasers to try to change answers and they did not always appear to be entirely effective in erasing
answers written in pen; unless the correction was very boldly written, the resulting lack of clarity sometimes made it difficult to decide what the intended
answer was; again, though, this problem appears to be becoming much less common than in some past sessions. The rubric on the question paper does not
disallow the use of erasers but centres should be aware of their limitations.

A similar problem found in a few responses was that in Part 5 learners wrote over an answer to correct it, but in a few cases the resulting answer was not
clear enough for it to be marked as correct. On a positive note, problems of illegibility and lack of clarity in final answers appear to be decreasing over time.

In Part 5 this time there were no acceptable misspellings as all the correct answers were words common at secondary level.

Parts 1 and 2

(Questions 1–10)

Learners identify one of three pictures from short discrete dialogues. Most learners did very well here; the most successfully answered question seemed was
Question 2 and the least successfully answered items were Questions 3 and 6.

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Part 3

(Questions 11–15)

This task involved short monologues/dialogues, which some learners found more difficult. Question 14 was the most successfully answered and Question
13 the least successful.

Part 4

(Questions 16–20)

This involved multiple-choice questions based on a longer dialogue, which was an interview with Jack Richards volunteering for ‘The Garden Project’.
Questions 17 and 20 were answered most successfully and Question 18 least successfully, with only a minority of learners selecting the correct answer.

Part 5

(Questions 21–25)

In this task learners had to fill in five gaps to complete the information sheet called ‘Emily’s Greek Course’. Question 22 was answered most successfully and
Question 25 least successfully; this seemed the most challenging question on the paper.

Part 6

(Questions 26–30)

This task comprised five questions based on an extended interview with Charlotte Wilkie, who attended a course about making movies. Despite the increased
complexity of language and greater skills in inference demanded, most learners scored fairly well. Questions 26 and 30 were the most successfully
answered and Questions 27 and 29 the least successful.

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Comments on specific questions

Part 1

Question 1

A very high proportion correct (C); incorrect answers divided between A and B.

Question 2

Almost always correct (A); incorrect answers divided between B and C.

Question 3

Usually correct (C); by far the most common incorrect answer: A.

Question 4

Usually correct (B); by far the most common incorrect answer: A.

Question 5

A very high proportion correct (B); incorrect answers divided between A and C.

Part 2

Question 6

Usually correct (C); by far the most common incorrect answer: A.

Question 7

A high proportion correct (B); common incorrect answer: A.

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Question 8

A very high proportion correct (C); common incorrect answer: A.

Question 9

A very high proportion correct (C); common incorrect answer: B.

Question 10

A high proportion correct (B); common incorrect answer: A.

Part 3

Question 11

Usually correct (C); incorrect answers divided between A and B.

Question 12

Usually correct (A); incorrect answers divided between B and C.

Question 13

Often correct (B); incorrect answers divided between A and C.

Question 14

A high proportion correct (B); common incorrect answer: A.

Question 15

Often correct (A); by far the most common incorrect answer: B.

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Part 4

Question 16

Often correct (B); by far the most common incorrect answer: A.

Question 17

Often correct (C); incorrect answers divided between A and B.

Question 18

A high proportion incorrect (correct: A); the most common incorrect answer: C.

Question 19

Often correct (B); incorrect answers divided between A and C.

Question 20

Often correct (A); incorrect answers divided between B and C.

Part 5

Question 21

Often incorrect (correct: ‘six/6 weeks’); common incorrect answers included: ‘4/four weeks’ (distractor), ‘6/six week’, ‘time’, ‘4’ and ‘6’.

Question 22

Often correct (‘afternoon’); common incorrect answer was ‘evening’ (distractor) and there were also various misspellings (‘afternon’, ‘afternoun’), ‘morning’,
‘summer’, ‘Athens’, ‘Greek’ and a number of NRs.

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Question 23

Often incorrect (correct: ‘(ancient) (Greek) theatre/theatre’); there were many misspellings of ‘theatre’ (especially ‘theather’) and the most common incorrect
word was ‘museum’ (with various misspellings) – a distractor.

Question 24

Often incorrect (correct: ‘(the) writing/written’); the most common incorrect answer was ‘writting’ and other incorrect answers included ‘alphabet’, ‘Greek’,
‘language’, ‘reading’ ‘exam’ and ‘exercises’.

Question 25

Usually incorrect (correct: ‘games’); common incorrect answers: ‘game’ (clearly plural on recording and singular did not fit grammatically), ‘homework’,
‘discussion’, ‘activities’ and ‘grammar’. There were a lot of NRs as well.

Part 6

Question 26

Often correct (C); by far the most common incorrect answer: B.

Question 27

A high proportion incorrect (correct: A); incorrect answers divided between B and C.

Question 28

Often correct (B); common incorrect answer: C.

Question 29

Often incorrect (correct: B); incorrect answers divided between A and C.

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Question 30

Usually correct (C); incorrect answers divided between A and B.

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3 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint English 1111

3.1 Comments on specific questions – English 1111 component 01

General comments

In general, learners found some of the questions quite challenging.

Comments on specific questions

Question 1

(a) This was well answered with most learners citing ‘unhealthy’ or quoting ‘calorie-laden salty and sweet snacks’.

(b) A high proportion recognised that banning would make the desire for junk food greater with many using the quotation ‘mystique or appeal’, although
quite a number of learners quoted ‘backfire’.

Question 2

(a) Frequently, ‘temptations’ or ‘tempt’ were recycled in responses and were therefore not credited. Otherwise, it was frequently given that the children
‘wanted to eat the food’. There were one of two generic definitions of temptation, for example ‘the urge to do something which you’re not supposed
to do’.

(b) This question proved challenging, with a number of learners explaining that ‘they were trying to make up for all the times they hadn’t had junk food’
– so too close to the question. Some generic explanations gave ‘to make up for lost time’, with no relationship to the passage.

(c) Usually responses here were correct.

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Question 3

(a) The most common route to two marks with this question was to offer ‘give reasons’ and ‘feel like they have some control’; however, there was a
considerable amount of confusion here. It is possible that learners had difficulty differentiating between the meanings of ‘advises’ and ‘allows’ – a
subtle difference as exemplified by the fact that ‘chips, but with carrots’ counts as both advice and what is allowed.

(b) Many references were given to the fact that it was speech or a quotation. Some candidates realised it was how to speak to children.

Question 4

All acceptable answers in the mark scheme were seen as well as many examples of the expected unacceptable ones.

Question 5

A common incorrect response was ‘prevent’ and learners frequently responded with a phrase of several words. Quite a number gave full sentence quotes
(often not including the correct word) as well as the word ‘teach’.

Question 6

This questions was challenging, and so was rarely correctly answered. Very frequently answers focused on it being okay for children to eat junk food, or that
children should be allowed some junk food sometimes.

Question 7

(a) This question was very frequently answered correctly.

Question 8

(a) This was a very challenging question. Responses focused mainly on ‘expensive’ or recycled the word ‘trends’.

(b) Only a few responses referred to the tone being positive. Most frequently it was that ‘it doesn’t have to be complicated’ and ‘there are several ways it
could be incorporated into your daily routine’. Some pupils turned ‘it doesn’t have to be complicated’ into ‘it can be quite simple’ or something similar.

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Question 9

(a) This question was regularly answered correctly.

(b) Many responses were to the effect that the inverted commas showed that low-fat foods were not necessarily healthy. ‘To give emphasis’, ‘to make the
text more interesting’ and ‘to draw the reader’s attention’ were common responses.

Question 10

This was often correctly answered with ‘alliteration’, with a substantial number of responses identifying sibilance as the feature.

Question 11

The purpose was often identified as ‘to inform’. This question deals with subtle differences in meaning, a skill which proved challenging for many.

Question 12

‘To introduce’ or ‘to list’ were fairly common answers, and around half of learners were successful in answering this question.

Question 13

Careful reading of the task is essential to avoid the common mistake of including advice on exercising, found in the text but actually not relevant here. It was
common that reference was made to ‘low fat foods’, an item that did not feature in the relevant list of foods to avoid. Marks were lost in responses in which
learners made general comments about sleep routines rather than focusing on specifics. Most learners managed to gain two marks, and many gave seven or
eight points.

Question 14

Some learners used up part of their word allowance by writing an introduction, usually based on the wording of the task. It was also common that the limit of
50 words was exceeded. Many exceeded the word limit because of a lack of focus on diet and sleep but attempted to include exercise. A substantial number
gained all three marks.

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Question 15

Many learners engaged enthusiastically with the task and expressed strong opinions. Most used an appropriate tone for a response to a clear statement.
Learners who fully understood the nature of the task wrote interesting responses, many of which met the criteria of the top band.

Purpose and audience were typically clear, and most essays were paragraphed if not deliberately structured. Discourse markers were often used, although
not always appropriately. ‘Fashion and image’ created a problem of agreement which seriously affected the mark for sentence structure and punctuation.
Many learners showed a very good understanding of the background relating to such an issue and were very able at citing this. Some learners wrote a letter
rather than an article. A lot of responses made the article a very personal address to the original website article, some appearing quite aggrieved at such an
accusation, with some responses sounding quite heated. Less strong responses tended to be somewhat repetitive. Stronger responses, however, often
produced coherent arguments that could also be quite entertaining to read.

A substantial number of responses turned the essay into a discussion of the internet and mobile phone usage; others took the opportunity to discuss the
problem of bullying; yet others commented at length on economic inequalities and other factors. These were usually the most interesting responses and
tended to be well phrased with sophisticated vocabulary.

There was little evidence that learners checked their work, in particular for punctuation and spelling. In some cases, a repeated word was spelled incorrectly
throughout a piece of writing – an error that could be easily corrected if checked.

Advice for Centres

1 More work needs to be done on covering inference.

2 Learners need a greater understanding of what the term ‘language features’ means.
3 Learners should be aware that the words of a question should not be copied in a response, but the learners own words should be used.
4 Learners should ensure that, with tick boxes, only one box is ticked even if uncertain of the correct answer. No boxes ticked means definitely no mark for
that question, whereas an ‘educated guess’ has the possibility of a mark.
5 A greater understanding of complex vocabulary would be beneficial.
6 Learners would benefit from understanding that if a question asks for one word, anything additional will negate their potentially correct response.
7 A fuller understanding of the different uses of punctuation marks is needed, in particular the use of inverted commas for direct speech.
8 Learners should understand the purpose of a text.
9 An understanding of the meaning of ‘to list’ would help to inform the summary question.
10 Where a summary has a word limit (for example 50 for this paper), exceeding the limit means reducing the marks attainable.

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11 In a writing question in which an article is asked for, a response should follow this rather than be, for example, a letter. Also, the relevant features of the
text type should be used with an appropriate tone. The response needs to be logically sequenced and an appropriate introduction and clear conclusion
included.

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3 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint English 1111

3.2 Comments on specific questions – English 1111 component 02

General comments

There were very few outliers at low mark levels, indicating an improvement in performance toward the lower median range. Equally, however, performances
at the top end of marks were quite sparse. A factor that may have depressed the marks across the ability range was the number of questions that required
answers that called for the identification of, and explanation of, techniques the writer had employed, or that required examination of motive and action. Across
the ability range, learners found these questions challenging.

Comments on specific questions

Question 1

Almost all responses were correct for this question, with learners understanding that the time of day was early morning or equally that the sun was not yet up
or that it was dawn.

Question 2

Mostly correct responses were given here, with ‘thought about it’ or ‘chosen’ being the most popular answers.

Question 3

This was clearly a challenging question for many. Few responses identified the use of dashes as the punctuation device used for expressing the man’s
uneasiness. There were very few supporting responses able to gain a second mark, and of those that were given a considerable number related to the man’s
state of mind or emotions (which were already described in the question), rather than the effect on the text of using the punctuation.

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Question 4

(a) A number of learners chose the ‘work’ option; however, many identified ‘effort’.

(b) This question was generally correctly answered, with ‘emphasis’ and ‘suspense’ being the most common answers.

(c) This was another challenging question. Learners often did not grasp the idea of extracting the required interpretation from the sentence. A few
responses noted that the man was not a human or an alien.

Question 5

This was generally a well understood and appropriately answered question.

Question 6

For learners who understood that the question was about the man blending in, looking normal, like other people, the question posed no difficulty. Learners
lost marks by disregarding the ‘in your own words’ instruction and using ‘would bear up’ or ‘inspection’ in their response.

Question 7

This was generally understood and answered correctly. Incorrect responses were equally distributed among the incorrect options.

Question 8

Possibly the word ‘manner’ in the question caused difficulty for some. For the initial two marks, the suggested answers on the mark scheme were
straightforward; however, many learners had difficulty identifying two such examples, and relied instead on reproducing, in a mixture of lifts and own words,
chunks from the passage no doubt in the hope that some of it might gain marks. This had the effect of being unable to secure the further two marks that were
available for the appropriate explanations. A very small number of responses unpicked the question in such a way that they were able to offer a clear and
simple answer. For example: ‘He was suspicious of him’ (for 1 mark); ‘How do I know it isn’t stolen?’ (for the further mark). Many correct permutations of this
type of answer were seen, but not by many.

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Question 9

(a) This question was generally correctly answered.

(b) Not many learners realised that the phrase was about how the words sounded to the man who was speaking them. However, ‘gibberish’ or
‘meaningless sounds’ were able to gain a mark.

Question 10

Most learners were able to offer a correct response to this question.

Question 11

Most learners understood that the shopkeeper gave him less than the ring was worth. Some, though, thought that the ring was ‘fake’.

Question 12

This question was generally correctly answered.

Question 13

Although some responses identified thoughts and feelings for one mark, few offered a second correct answer for the second mark.

Question 14

There were very few unanswered or weaker contributions. Equally, though, there were few very strong responses. The majority of responses were in a middle
ground of technically reasonable if somewhat unimaginative writing. All responses addressed the task. A large number of third-person responses were seen,
although where these reflected on the thoughts and feelings of the visitor they gained marks. Most learners produced a reasonable response to what the
question was asking for.

The structure of a number of stories struggled with coherence because of weak control of tenses. Writing in the present continuously is a difficult feat to pull
off consistently, and slippage into past tenses was a regular occurrence. Personal pronouns could also be inaccurately used, with ‘I’ becoming ‘he’ or,
sometimes, ‘they’. In terms of vocabulary, there is a widespread and often unnecessary use of words such as ‘moreover’, ‘however’ and ‘nevertheless’.
Similarly, there is a prolific use of ‘embarrass’, ‘embarrassment’ and ‘embarrassing’, which are often spelled incorrectly.

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The correct use of paragraphs has improved in recent years, as has general punctuation. The punctuation of speech, however, is still very variable. Question
marks are frequently missed in direct speech, and exclamation marks are almost entirely absent despite protagonists frequently ‘exclaiming’. Semi-colons and
colons are rarely if ever used. In this type of writing it is rare that such punctuation is necessary, so it is good to see it not being used simply for effect and to
impress, however. Spelling was of a standard sufficient to be able to say that most words were intelligible. Expected difficulties were seen with words such as
‘surprised’, ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’ and the ‘where’ and ‘were’ distinction. In some instances, handwriting could be difficult to read.

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4 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint Mathematics 1112

4.1 Comments on specific questions – Mathematics 1112 component 01

General comments

To succeed in this paper, learners needed to have completed full syllabus coverage. They also needed to remember necessary formulae, show all necessary
working clearly and use a suitable level of accuracy. There were several excellent scripts with some learners demonstrating high quality responses and
showing good mathematical skills. There was some evidence that learners were short of time, as the last few questions had a higher level of non-response
than the rest of the paper, however this could also have been because the later questions were more challenging. Learners showed particular success in the
questions involving two-way tables, multiplication grids, choosing appropriate data for surveys and plotting coordinates. The most challenging questions were
the ones involving geometry and measure work which were found towards the end of the paper.

Comments on specific questions

Question 1

Almost all learners answered this correctly. Most incorrect responses involved learners correctly selecting ‘the age of the teacher’ but choosing an incorrect
second option.

Question 2

7
The most common correct answer to this question was . Some learners converted this wrongly to a percentage or attempted to cancel the fraction
20
7
wrongly. The most common incorrect answer was .
13

Question 3

There were many correct answers to this question with the most common incorrect answer being to write the expression 250 h.

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Question 4

There was evidence here that quite a few learners did not recall that there are 1000 ml in 1 litre. 4 was a very common incorrect answer, arising from learners
doing the calculation 200 ÷ 50. Other common incorrect answers included 2 and 20.

Question 5

It was common to award 1 mark in this question with most learners reaching 220. There was evidence of arithmetic errors in this stage with 210 or 230 often
seen following 130 and 90 correctly found. The better responses arose from finding the total of 220 first. Some learners attempted to find 5 per cent of both 65
and 45 and then add the answers up which more frequently led to arithmetic slips. A significant number of learners divided 220 by 5 or multiplied 220 by 5
rather than multiplying by 0.05. Quite a few learners just added 5 to 220 making 225 a common incorrect answer. Some learners correctly reached 11 but
instead of adding this on to the 220 they took it off as a discount and so 209 was also commonly seen.

Question 6

25 5 4 3 4 5
Most learners gained 1 mark for either or . It was common to then see both fractions or the wrong fraction inverted so × or × was often
4 3 25 5 25 3
25 3 15
seen instead of × . Many learners did correctly reach but then did not read the instruction to give the answer as a mixed number and stopped there.
4 5 4
15
Some learners reached the answer 3 but did not read the instruction to give their answer in its simplest form and stopped there. Quite a few learners who
20
75 20
used a method of common denominators were not sure what to do following the working ÷ and so this was the least successful of the two methods.
12 12

Question 7

This question was challenging for more than half of the learners. It was common to see the answer 45 from working out the volume of the cuboid and also
common to see 15 as the final answer from just working out the area of one rectangular face and then stopping. Some learners missed out one face, usually
one of the rectangular ones.

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Question 8

(a) This was generally well answered. Common incorrect answers were to plot (–1, –3) or (–3, 0) and very occasionally (0, 3).

(b) Of those who answered part (a) correctly it was common to see this part answered correctly too. Some learners attempted to create a rectangle
from a wrongly plotted point, but this never worked for the points they plotted. The most common errors here were to be one out on one of the
coordinates, usually the 6 was 5, or to reverse the coordinates.

Question 9

Nearly all learners answered this correctly with the most common errors usually in evaluating 7 × 8 or to a lesser extend 6 × 4.

Question 10

The longest length was usually given as 200 with a variety of other orders for the other lengths. Some learners ignored the fact that the units were different
and wrote the numbers 0.127, 0.13, 30 and 200 in order or thought there were 100 m in a km instead of 1000.

Question 11

(a) Many learners gained both marks in this question or at least 1 mark, often for 40, 60 and 110 correct. Arithmetic slips rather than a lack of
understanding were usually the cause of lost marks although there were a number of learners who seemed to have guessed numbers and some
who left parts blank.
46 106
(b) This question caused difficulty for many learners. Common incorrect answers included and . Many gave an integer answer, often 6, rather
106 200
than a probability. Some learners seemed to have spent a lot of time and working attempting to convert their answers to percentages. Learners
should be reminded that fractional answers are perfectly acceptable for probability.

Question 12

Most learners were able to explain the fact that the café profits were increasing or that the book profits were decreasing. Some simply restated the statement
given or talked about the bookshop profits decreasing rather than the book profits (from the bookshop) decreasing and so could not score the mark. A number
only looked at what was happening in 2021 and said that book profits were greater than café profits.

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Question 13

19 7
Approximately half of the learners answered this correctly, if this was answered incorrectly the most common choice was or .
30 10

Question 14

This was a more challenging question with a significant number of learners offering no response or giving the answer 1 as they could not find another
common factor of 39 and 52. It was also common to see common multiples or the LCM of 39 and 52.

Question 15

Approximately half of the learners found this question difficult. 10m + 13n or 10m – 13n were both very common answers. In the expansion it was common to
see all of these wrong answers 28x – 12x, 16x, 28x2 – 12 and 28x2 – 3 as well as some evidence of learners wrongly evaluating 4 × 7.

Question 16

Almost no learners attempted to work out 4.2 × 10, not realising there was a shortcut method to answering this question. It was common for 4.2 × 3.6 or
4.2 × 6.4 or both to be evaluated wrongly either incorrectly positioning the decimal point in the answer, an arithmetic slip or a place value error such as finding
42 × 3 + 42 × 6 instead of 42 × 30 + 42 × 6.

Question 17

Many learners were able to match the first and third calculations correctly, i.e. deal with positive powers of 10.3 ÷ 10–2 was the answer most commonly
wrongly matched. Some learners were able to deal with multiplying by powers of 10 correctly, and therefore matched the first and last calculations correctly,
but could not deal with the calculations involving division.

Question 18

This was a challenging question for most learners with 27, 4 or add 4 as the three most common incorrect answers. It was rarer to see the correct answer of
4n + 3. Learners who attempted to use the learnt formula a + (n – 1)d often got the answer wrong due to incorrectly recalling it, e.g. using a(n – 1)d, a + n – 1
d and many other close, but incorrect, formulae. Some learners did not recall what the a and d represented even if they had remembered the formula
correctly.

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Question 19

Approximately half of the learners answered this correctly. 8.1 and 9 were common incorrect answers. There was evidence of attempts to square each of the
values in the list rather than consider square numbers either side of 74.

Question 20

This question was frequently answered correctly with the most common incorrect answers being $4800 or $4.80. Learners should be reminded that
approximately evaluating 2 × 30 as 60 would have indicated that both of those answers were incorrect.

Question 21

There were many different incorrect answers to this question although the correct answer of 5 was also seen about half of the time. The most common
incorrect answer given was 25 arising from 8 × 4 – 7, instead of 8 + 4 – 7. 1 was also commonly seen due to learners ignoring the denominator.

Question 22

Learners who ticked ‘girls’ often explained the reason correctly, although a few wrote that the range was smaller. More than a third of the learners ticked
‘boys’ thinking that a large mode or range was better or having 2 out of 3 values being higher was indicative of generally higher marks.

Question 23

Learners often struggled to answer this question well. The top left and bottom right statements were often ringed, although the bottom left was also
occasionally chosen and a small but significant number of learners offered no response. It was common to see different values inserted in place of the letters
and the learners who did this generally scored the mark.

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Question 24

(a) It was common here for a statement not to be comparative, for example learners often only wrote that ‘the height increased’. Others explained that
the height increased by 1 cm in the first 2 seconds and by 9 (or 10) cm in the next 4 seconds without any comparison about the change in height. Of
those who did realise they needed to talk about the flow rate getting faster, some struggled with the language to articulate this. A significant number
of learners did not attempt this part of the question.

(b) About a quarter of learners did not attempt this part of the question. Others did not gain marks because of inaccurate drawing, for example by
extending their line beyond the grid or by not being accurate with the start or finish of the line. It was common to see learners attempt to increase
1.25 cm for each second rather than evaluate the height as 10 for 8 seconds. As the graph scale made it difficult to plot vertical jumps of 1.25
accurately, learners often just scored 1 out of 2 for a line from (0, 0) to (k, 10).

Question 25

Many learners gained the method mark for 49 ÷ 14 but were either unable to evaluate this correctly or unable to correctly add this on to 08:35. It was common
to see learners reach the answer 3 remainder 7 instead of 3.5 and then not know how to deal with the remainder. Sometimes the final answer was given as
3.5 or 3:30 without this being added on to 08:35. A significant number of learners did not offer any response to this question.

Question 26

Learners found this question challenging. 3600 was a common answer from not using the order of operations correctly and evaluating 23 – 3 = 20, followed
by 20 × 3 = 60 and then 602. 529 – 81 from 232 – 92 was also common. Of those who correctly reached 14 there were some who were unable to square this
and 28 was often seen along with arithmetic errors in the squaring of 14.

Question 27

Despite this being a multiple choice question there was a high level of non-response and this was a challenging question for many. Most learners did not
recall that multiplying by a number between 0 and 1 results in a smaller answer. It was common for only one response to be ringed instead of the two that
were asked for.

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Question 28

It was common for learners to offer no response to this question. Many gained 1 mark usually for the horizontal line 3 cm from AB or showing evidence of
understanding the scale by writing 3 and 4 near the 15 m and 20 m. Only a very small minority were able to accurately draw the arc around T. Some
attempted to answer this question without using a pair of compasses resulting in inaccuracies. The most common incorrect answers were to draw a rectangle
3 cm by 4 cm in the top left corner of the drawing or to draw a single point that fulfilled the criteria rather than a region.

Question 29

Approximately a fifth of learners offered no response to this question. Those who attempted it often omitted the crucial internal lines or drew the shape in the
wrong orientation, often drawing the plan of the shape rather than the elevation.

Question 30

This was a challenging question for many learners. Some drew a correct diagram but gave the coordinates of the wrong vertex. Many learners offered no
response at all. Drawings on the grid often demonstrated that the learners did not recall how to rotate a shape around one of its vertices. Some learners
rotated the shape anticlockwise instead of clockwise.

Question 31

It was rare to award 2 marks for this question. In many cases all of the incorrect boxes were ticked and a significant number of learners offered no response.

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4 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint Mathematics 1112

4.2 Comments on specific questions – Mathematics 1112 component 02

General comments

To succeed in this paper, learners needed to have completed full syllabus coverage. They also needed to remember necessary formulae, show all necessary
working clearly and use a suitable level of accuracy. There were several excellent scripts with some learners demonstrating high quality responses and
showing good mathematical skills. There was little evidence that learners were short of time, as most attempted the last few questions. Learners showed
particular success in the earlier questions on the paper, particularly when rounding to 1 decimal place, completing a table of values and reading a scale. The
most challenging questions were on tessellations, interpreting a chart with regards to the median, finding the height of a cylinder, setting up and solving an
equation and the properties of quadrilaterals.

Comments on specific questions

Question 1

(a) The majority of learners answered this question correctly with common incorrect answers usually being one lower or one higher than the correct
values.

(b) This was often correct if part (a) was correct although it was common to see just the points plotted and no line drawn. Another common error was to
plot the first point at (0, 0) instead of (0, 1). Sometimes there was no attempt to plot even the given points (0, 1) and (3, 10) suggesting that some
learners were unfamiliar with moving between the table of values and the coordinates. There was evidence to suggest that some learners did not
have a ruler.

Question 2

This was a well answered question by many learners. 182.7 was sometimes seen as the answer which is the result of finding 60.9 × 3 and then stopping and
not dividing by 6.3. Values close to 10 were common on scripts with lower total marks, for example, 9, 9.6, 10, 10.2, 10.3. Some learners did not seem to
have calculators and despite knowing what to do made arithmetic errors.

Question 3

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In this question, the ratio was the answer that was most often correct although 11:9 was a common incorrect answer. The fraction was also often correct
9
although was regularly seen. The percentage was more commonly incorrect than the other two with 0.55 per cent being the most common incorrect
11
answer. The percentage was sometimes given as 82 per cent arising from 9 ÷ 11.

Question 4

(a) Many learners answered this correctly. Answers were most commonly wrong because of trailing zeros on 10.7. Some learners did not seem to
understand ‘1 decimal place’, giving 1.0675 or 106.75 as their answer. 11 was also very commonly seen.

(b) This was less well answered than part (a) with 3.47 being the most common incorrect answer. As with part (a) it was common to see learners
simply moving the decimal point one or two places instead of rounding, e.g. 3464.85 was sometimes seen. Other learners left their answer with
trailing zeros or rounded this answer to only 1 decimal place.

Question 5

A significant number of learners were able to give a correct answer here. Many gave a calculation that resulted in the answer –5, such as 3 – 8, but did not
take into account that the question required both numbers in the boxes to be negative.

Question 6

Approximately half of the learners were able to answer this question correctly. The most common wrong answers were 13 or a decimal value between 13.1
and 13.2. Some learners gave the answer 13 remainder 3. Very rarely some incorrect calculations were evident, for example the answer 195 (from
subtracting) or even a value in the thousands (from multiplying) with no appreciation that this must be wrong because the number of buses was then more
than the number of people.

Question 7

This question was well answered by most learners with the most common incorrect answers being 65, 113 or 153.

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Question 8

Learners were often able to gain 1 mark on this question, usually for 4950, 4905 or 4965 or for completing the boxes with two prime numbers, with quite a few
also gaining both marks. Learners should be reminded that 1 is not a prime number. Quite a few learners wrote two numbers in each box creating a 6-digit
number.

Question 9

Many learners were able to answer this question correctly with those unable to do so often scoring a mark for finding that angle ABD was 25°. There were a
lot of answers of 65° arising from just subtracting 115 from 180 and ignoring the other angle that needed to be subtracted.

Question 10

(a) The majority of learners scored at least 1 mark on this question with many scoring 2. It was very common to see a point at (12, 72) plotted instead of
where it should have been at (12, 73). Some learners drew bar charts or lines leading up to the correct height instead of plotting points. Some
learners joined the points on the graph suggesting that they did not correctly recall the properties of scatter graphs.

(b) This was a challenging question for many learners. Many wrote a description of the graph rather than the type of correlation. Approximately a fifth of
the learners offered no response to this question.

(c) This was generally well answered although 57 or 75 were sometimes circled.

Question 11

(a) Approximately half of the learners answered this correctly or within the acceptable range. The most common incorrect answer was 13:00.

(b) This part of the question was answered better than part (a). Many learners did not draw the horizontal part of the line but went diagonally to
(16.15, 0) from the end of the given line. Most were accurate with their lines but there was some evidence of learners misinterpreting the scale.

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Question 12

This question was challenging for many despite it being on the calculator paper. There were a lot of answers that did not have the number 5 in front of the
7
decimal point or were not decimal answers. Sometimes the number was rounded, often to 5.43, which was then not an answer equivalent to 5 and so not
16
7
awarded a mark. Quite often the answer was 2.8175, or a rounded version of this, arising from 5 × .
16

Question 13

Approximately half of the learners were able to gain 1 or more marks on this question, usually for getting the 0 at least. Many did this with a sketch. Some
 x + x y + y1   x − x y − y1 
attempted a formula approach, i.e.  1 2 , 1  but this was often remembered wrongly, e.g. as  2 1 , 2 or ( x1 + x2 , y1 + y 2 ) . The answer
 2 2   2 2 
(6, 10) was also sometimes seen arising from adding the x-coordinates or y-coordinates ignoring the signs.

Question 14

(a) This was one of the most challenging questions on the paper with the majority of the learners not giving an answer in its simplest form. The correct
3
answer of 8 : 3 was rarely seen, it was more common to see 2 : 0.75 or 2 : or 1 : 0.375.
4

(b) This part was answered better than part (a) with many learners able to correctly reach 1.875 even if they had been unable to write a ratio in its
3
simplest form. Some were able to gain a follow through method mark from part (a) but there were many who simply multiplied the by 5 instead of
4
5
by .
2

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Question 15

Approximately half of the learners were able to gain 1 or 2 marks in this question with the answer of 12 per cent being seen about half as often as the correct
answer of 88 per cent. Some learners correctly did the subtraction to reach 220 000 but then gave 22 per cent as a final answer. It was common to see no
working at all for this question. It was also common to see the division of 250 000 by 30 000 followed by the answer 8.3 per cent or 83 per cent.

Question 16

In this question, learners were more likely to get the 16 correct than the 10 but 2 marks was more common than 1 mark. Those that scored 0 often looked at
the pattern in the question and because the 4 mapped onto 4 they gave 6 and 64 as their answers. 36 and 8 were also common incorrect answers arising
from forgetting about or ignoring the subtraction of 2.

Question 17

This was a well answered question with many learners able to gain the mark. Of those that did not, some drew a cuboid of incorrect size but some did not
draw a cuboid at all and just drew a polygon or offered no response.

Question 18

Many learners struggled with this question with only about a third scoring the mark and a high number of learners offering no response. On many occasions
the shapes learners drew were not congruent to shape A with the pair of horizontal sides often both being 2 squares long instead of one of them being 3
squares long.

Question 19

Quite a few learners showed that the two missing probabilities needed to add up to 0.4 but were unable to deal with the part of the question that said
Angelique is three times as likely as Jamila to win the race. It was common to see the answers 0.2 and 0.2 or 0.3 and 0.1 reversed. It was also common to
see the answer for Angelique as 0.4 or both answers summing to 0.6 instead of 0.4. A significant number of learners did not attempt this question.

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Question 20

More than half of the learners realised this was about Pythagoras’ theorem. Many remembered the theorem correctly and obtained 2 marks. Some seemed
not have a calculator as the answer was often left as 231.94 following long multiplications shown to find 8.72 and 12.52. Some learners incorrectly
subtracted the two squared values instead of adding them. Some found the area of the triangle or just multiplied 8.7 by 12.5. The most common incorrect
answer was 21.2 arising from adding 8.7 to 12.5.

Question 21

Learners found this question challenging and often more than one box was ticked. The bottom or top boxes were ticked more often than the correct box.

Question 22

(a) This was a challenging question for many learners. Many used the diameter instead of the radius in their calculation and the most common incorrect
answer was 37.7 which is the circumference of the top face instead of its area.

(b) Many learners were able to obtain a follow through mark for this part even if part (a) was answered incorrectly but more did not. This was one of the
questions on the paper that was most often left blank even if there was an answer to part (a). It was common to see a complete restart in part (b)
when learners did not realise that their answer to part (a) could be used to help them.

Question 23

It was common to award 2 marks in this question for correctly reaching x – 6 or 2(x – 6) or 1 mark usually when B was 6 – x for 2(6 – x) given for C. It was
much rarer to award 3 marks with only the very able managing to not make sign errors in the expansion or subtraction. A significant number of learners
seemed to have guessed their expression. Others found a number to write in the suitcases rather than an algebraic expression. A significant number of
learners did not attempt this question.

Question 24

When learners were not able to answer this question correctly, they often just tried to multiply or divide all or some of the values. Conversions often used
100 g rather than 1000 g for 1 kg. Some learners gained 2 marks for 20.48 or 20.5 without realising they needed to round this up to 21 sacks to ensure they
had enough. Some partial marks were awarded for reaching 512 kg for 20 days or for a correct conversion to 25 000 or 0.4

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Question 25

This was the most challenging question on the paper with very few correct answers seen. Quite a few learners did not give a quadrilateral as an answer with
triangle being a very common incorrect answer along with answers that were not even shapes such as ‘property A’, etc. A significant number of learners did
not attempt this question.

Question 26

The most common incorrect answer was to simply state the answer should be 0.09 without answering the question, which was to explain why it was wrong
without working it out. Many learners talked about moving decimals points but did not give a clear enough explanation to gain the mark.

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5 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint Science 1113

5.1 Comments on specific questions – Science 1113 component 01

General comments

There was some evidence that learners did not have sufficient time to finish the examination, but this often appeared to be Centre dependent. There were
very few examples of learners not following the rubric in individual questions.

Learners should be careful when asked for the name of an element or compound, for example in a word equation. Centres should advise learners to give the
name of an element or compound, not the chemical symbol or formula. This is because a minor spelling error is less likely to be penalised than the use of an
incorrect formula. For example, if the answer is chlorine, then clorine would be given full credit, but CL would not.

Learners found aspects of Science Enquiry very challenging and often confused the difference between, reliability, accuracy, control variables and fair testing.

Learners must ensure that they show all their working out when completing calculations so that it can be credited if their final answer is incorrect.

Comments on specific questions

Question 1

This question was about identifying different parts of a cell. Most learners followed the rubric of the question and drew five lines to connect each letter to one
name only.

Most learners were able to identify at least one part of a cell and many identified three parts. Learners found identifying the nucleus the least challenging and
identifying the cell membrane the most challenging. Learners also found identifying the chloroplast relatively easy.

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Question 2

This question was about the interpretation of a cooling curve.

(a) Learners found this question quite challenging and often were not able to recognise the descriptions given. K being a solid was the most likely part
of the cooling curve to be identified.

(b) Most learners drew isolated particles for the gas; however, many learners drew too many particles or had them too close together. In questions like
these, the learners should draw particles that are roughly the same size as those given in the question so that they are not able to draw too many
particles in the box for the gas. There was no penalty for drawing different sized particles but doing so often encouraged learners to draw far too
may particles. For diagrams like the one in the question paper it is appropriate to draw only 4 to 8 particles.

Question 3

This question was about the Sun, the Moon and the Earth.

(a) Learners were often able to complete the first sentence and used a variety of words that suggested the Sun emits light.
Learners were often able to explain why we can see the Moon and often gave answers that were phrases rather than single words.

(b) Learners struggled to explain why there is both day and night on the Earth. The learners showed much confusion about the motion of the Earth and
whether the explanation relied on the orbit of the Earth around the Sun or the rotation about the Earth’s axis. Other answers referred to the Moon
blocking out the Sun during night-time. Even learners who seemed to know the answer often did not specifically explain what causes day and what
causes night, missing the second marking point.

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Question 4

This question was about some of the processes that take place during plant reproduction. Throughout the question there was confusion about the difference
between pollination and dispersal.

(a) Learners often did not appreciate pollen formation was followed by pollination and seed formation was followed by dispersal. As a result, some
learners had pollen formation followed by dispersal. Those learners that were awarded marks for this item often scored two rather than one mark. A
common misconception was to have seeds being fertilised rather than dispersed.

(b) There were many answers that confused pollination and seed dispersal so that they gave an answer for dispersal which was more like pollination
The best answers involved describing animals eating the orange fruit because it was colourful or sweet and then the seeds passing through the
digestive tract and leaving the animal r with faeces. Other learners appreciated that animals may not eat all of the orange and may spit out the
seeds. A common misconception was to use the word excretion rather than egestion. Another misconception was that the seeds would be
dispersed by the wind or trapped within animal fur. A significant proportion of learners did not attempt this question.

Question 5

This question was about elements and chemical symbols.

(a) Although many learners recalled that sulfur had the chemical symbol of S, common incorrect answers included Sl, Su and Na.

(b) (i) A significant proportion of the candidates were not able to recognise that chlorides contain the element chlorine. Many other elements were given
including, hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur. Learners must appreciate that there is a difference between chloride and chlorine and only chlorine is
acceptable as the name of the element. A significant proportion of learners did not attempt this question.

(ii) Although many learners could give the names of the three elements in NaOH, other learners only gave one or two correct names. A common error
was to give sulfur or nitrogen instead of sodium. A small proportion of the candidates gave natrium for sodium and this was given credit in the mark
scheme.

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Question 6

This question was about sound waves.

(a) Many learners appreciated that the waves have the same amplitude. Other learners referred to the height of the wave being the same and this was
given credit in the mark scheme. A small proportion of the candidates gave incorrect answers that mentioned frequency or wavelength.

(b) Learners were often confused about frequency and pitch and as a result gave contradictory answers such as, ‘the sound from the hammer has a
higher frequency’, or ‘the sound from the tuning fork has a higher pitch’. Answers that referred to the waves having different wavelengths were
accepted in the mark scheme, but this marking point was linked with pitch and frequency and therefore often included a contradiction such as, ‘the
wave from the hammer has a higher frequency and a longer wavelength’. Learners struggled to describe the different shape of the waves and used
words like ‘consistent’ rather than describing the wave from the tuning fork being smooth.

Question 7

This question needed the learners to describe diffusion in terms of the motion of particles. The best answers recognised that the diagram showed diffusion
and that in diffusion particles move from a high concentration to a low concentration because of the random motion of the particles. Despite the scaffolding in
the question, many learners did not mention particles, and this limited the number of marks that could be awarded for their answers. A common
misconception was that the particles themselves expanded or reacted with the water particles.

Question 8

This question assessed aspects of Science Enquiry using an investigation about photosynthesis. The learners often struggled with the Science Enquiry items.

(a) Some learners appreciated that green plants need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Other learners described photosynthesis without naming the
process for example, ‘for making food and oxygen’, and these answers were given credit in the mark scheme. Answers that referred to growth were
not sufficient for a mark. Some learners referred to carbon dioxide as food rather than it being used to make food.

(b) Many learners were not able to translate the information in the diagrams into a sensible description of how the concentration of carbon dioxide
changed and many other learners did not attempt the question. There seemed to be much confusion about the effect of increasing the light intensity
on the carbon dioxide concentration and some learners wrote that the amount of carbon dioxide increased rather than decreased. Learners often
did not explain any trend they stated and failed to link the rate of photosynthesis with the light intensity.

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(c) (i) Only a small proportion of learners appreciated that the same amount of algae was used to make the investigation a fair test. The best answers
referred to the amount of algae as a control variable. The most frequently seen answers involved references to reliability and accuracy which were
not correct.

(ii) Many learners could give two other variables that should be kept the same but often the learners chose at least one variable that was not
appropriate. The most popular variables chosen were the time of investigation and the amount or volume of indicator used. Some learners gave the
algae itself appreciating that this must be the same species. Some learners gave the concentration of the carbon dioxide or the colour of the
hydrogen carbonate indicator but were only given credit if they referred to the initial concentration or initial colour.

(d) Learners found this question very challenging and many made no attempt to answer it. The learners rarely mentioned respiration and/or that the
concentration of the carbon dioxide would increase. Answers often focused on the lack of photosynthesis rather than respiration.

Question 9

This question focused on the temperature changes that happen during some reactions.

(a) Learners often struggled with this question. Only a small proportion of the learners got the correct answer of 1.5 cm3. Some learners got 21.5 cm3
and forgot to subtract the 20 cm3. The most common incorrect answers were either 3 cm3 or 23 cm3 where learners had not appreciated that each
graduation was 0.5 cm3 rather than 1 cm3.

(b) (i) Most learners were able to calculate the changes in temperature however some learners gave incorrect answers because they used the incorrect
sign. If the temperature increased there was no need to include a plus sign but when the temperature decreased, it was important to put in the
minus sign.

(ii) Some learners chose sulfuric acid and magnesium ribbon, but all the other mixtures proved popular with the learners. No error carried forward mark
was applied since the result could be obtained by either the changes in temperatures or the actual values already present in the table.

(iii) Many learners were not able to appreciate that when the temperature increased the reaction was exothermic, and when it decreased it was
endothermic.

(c) Although some learners appreciated that repeating the experiments would improve reliability, many learners referred to fair testing and accuracy
within their answers. A significant proportion of the learners did not attempt this question.

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Question 10

This question was about an electrical circuit.

(a) (i) Most learners recognised that this was a parallel circuit although a significant proportion of the candidates did not answer the question.

(ii) Learners found this question about the current splitting in a parallel circuit extremely demanding and many learners did not attempt the question.
Only the very best answers appreciated that the current divides and then joins together. Most learners were not able to use the ammeter readings to
support their answers and often they either did not use the values or just quoted the values from the question. Only the very best answers gave
expressions such as 6 A = 2 A + 2 A + 2 A or 6 A / 3 = 2 A. Many learners gave very imprecise answers such as, ‘the electricity splits’, or ‘the
ammeters split’.

(b) Many learners appreciated that a voltmeter measures the voltage. Answers that used ‘voltameter’ or ‘voltage meter’ were not given credit in the
mark scheme. A small but significant proportion of learners gave the answer ‘ammeter’. Many learners did not attempt this question.

Question 11

This question was about haemoglobin.

(a) Deficiency disease was the most popular answer, but developmental disease was given by a significant proportion of learners.

(b) Learners found this question very challenging and often did not appreciate the role of haemoglobin in transporting oxygen in the blood. A common
misconception was that haemoglobin carries nutrients such as protein or glucose around the body. The link between oxygen and respiration to
release energy was seldom made by the learners and often they did not address this part of the answer. Typical answers often linked the lack of
energy to anaemia and a lack of iron. A significant proportion of learners did not attempt this question.

(c) Although many learners chose iron, calcium and potassium were also popular responses.

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Question 12

This question was about the history of the Earth and involved interpreting a timeline.

(a) A common misconception was to add all the numbers shown on the left of the timeline rather than picking out ‘4 500 million years ago’ from the
timeline.

(b) Some candidates gave 450 million years because they did not subtract the 450 million years from 4 500 million years.

Question 13

This question was about the determination of the density of a liquid.

(a) The equation for calculating density was well known although some used volume times mass instead. Answers that did not use mass or volume but
only used the units, g and cm3, were not awarded a mark.

(b) (i) Learners were often able to calculate the mass of the liquid as 60 grams.

(ii) Learners were often able to use their answers to (a) and (b)(i) to calculate the density as 1.2 g / cm3. A small proportion inverted the equation and
got 0.83 and others used the mass as 98.0 g rather than 60.0 g. Many learners did not attempt this question.

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5 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint Science 1113

5.2 Comments on specific questions – Science 1113 component 02

General comments

There was some evidence that learners did not have sufficient time to finish the examination, but this often appeared to be Centre dependent. There were
very few examples of learners not following the rubric in individual questions.

Similar comments about Science Enquiry applied to this paper as applied to paper 1.

Comments on specific questions

Question 1

This question was about energy sources.

(a) Many learners were not able to give two examples of renewable energy sources. The most popular answers were wind, solar and tidal. References
to water and air were not sufficient to be awarded a mark. A common misconception was natural gas.

(b) Learners often gave quite imprecise answers and the idea of a finite energy source was poorly expressed. Pollution was mentioned by many
learners, but the type of pollution was often missing from the answer.

Question 2

This question was about different types of substances and their definitions. Many learners were able to match two substances with a correct definition. The
most common correct answer involved the definition for an element and the next most common was a mixture.

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Question 3

This question was about the preparation of zinc sulfate from zinc and dilute sulfuric acid. A small but significant proportion of the learners did not attempt at
least one of the items in this question.

(a) A significant proportion of learners were able to deduce the correct order. Learners were more likely to get the order GA correct rather than EBD.

(b) Although some learners gave hydrogen many other gases were given including carbon dioxide, oxygen and helium.

(c) The idea of particles moving faster in hotter acid was well known by the learners. The best answers referred to either greater collision frequency or
more successful collisions, some included both ideas.

(d) Although some learners appreciated that a measuring cylinder should be used, a significant proportion of the learners gave either a pipette or a
beaker. ‘Pipette’ was given credit when referred to as either a volumetric or a graduated pipette. There were a few learners that referred to a burette
which was also given credit in the mark scheme.

(e) Learners found this question about safety hazards quite challenging. Many learners referred to goggles or gloves, but most learners did not clearly
identify the hazard. Learners needed to describe the hazard, for example hot equipment can burn, or dilute sulfuric acid will burn the skin. Often
learners gave an imprecise answer either mentioning the name of a chemical or just ‘hot equipment’. No credit was given to normal safety rules and
the hazard identified had to be directly related to the experiment described in the question.

Question 4

This question was about light.

(a) (i) The most popular choice was that the filter would transmit no light. The correct answer of the filter transmitting blue and red light was the next most
popular.

(ii) Many learners thought that the paper was a filter and so referred to light being transmitted or not transmitted. The terms absorb and reflect were
rarely used in the answers given by the learners. The best answers appreciated that the blue light was reflected, and the green light was absorbed.

(b) Many learners referred to refraction rather than dispersion. Some learners just referred to a rainbow or a spectrum. A significant proportion of the
learners did not attempt this question.

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Question 5

This question on amphibians and reptiles was well answered and many learners were able to get full marks. A small but significant proportion of the learners
drew two lines from each group of vertebrates despite the rubric instructing them to draw only two lines.

Question 6

This question focused on sound and included questions that assessed Science Enquiry.

(a) Many learners recognised that the amplitude measures the loudness of a sound. Volume of the sound was also accepted instead of loudness. A
small proportion of the learners gave frequency or pitch. Other learners gave answers like, ‘if the sound was soft or hard’, but these were too
imprecise to be awarded a mark.

(b) (i) Most learners accurately described the pattern of the results.

(ii) Many learners were able to predict the amplitude within the limits given in the mark scheme. There were only a small proportion of learners that
gave an amplitude in excess of 8.0 cm.

(iii) Learners found this question challenging and often focused their answers on accuracy and fair testing rather than reliability. The idea that more
results would help to get a clearer pattern of results was not given by most learners.

Question 7

This question was about variation and aspects of genetics. Learners found this question quite challenging and a significant proportion of the learners left at
least one item blank.

(a) The term variation was not well known by the learners and many other words were used such as species, natural selection, adaptation, variety,
type, etc.

(b) Selective breeding was the most common answer although there were significant proportion of learners that referred to artificial breeding or cross
breeding.

(c) Many learners appreciated that the nucleus contains genetic material. Answers that referred to chromosomes were also given credit in the mark
scheme, but genes and DNA were ignored since they are not really organelles.

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Question 8

This question was about the energy content of different foods.

(a) Learners often did not appreciate that chemical energy is stored in food. Many learners referred to kinetic, potential or thermal energy instead. The
idea that chemical energy is transferred into thermal or heat energy was appreciated by more learners, but often other types of energy, such as
potential and chemical, were included in the answers.

(b) Some learners did not follow the rubric and did not include three ticks. Some learners included one tick and others up to four ticks. Many of the
learners were able to identify the things that made a fair test. The most common misconception was using the same type of food.

(c) Almost all the learners identified the bar for popcorn although some learners called it the last bar or bar five. These last two answers were credited
in the mark scheme.

(d) Many of the learners correctly identified the biscuit but gave explanations not based on the data in the bar chart instead using the food nutrients that
a biscuit contains. Those learners that used the correct information often only stated, ‘because the temperature was 12°C’, when they needed to
state that it had the most increase in temperature.

Question 9

This question focused on the presence of plastic waste in seas and oceans. Many learners showed real concern for the environment with their answers and
were often critical of humans that caused this plastic waste.

(a) Most learners were able to describe a way in which plastic waste enters the sea. The most common answer referred to the irresponsible dumping of
waste into the sea, or litter being blown from beaches into the sea.

(b) (i) The learners had to make a statement that was slightly different from the stem of the question. The most common idea was that turtles thought the
plastic bag was a jellyfish.

(ii) The learners had to be careful that they described why the turtle population decreased. The best answers appreciated that the turtle mobility was
compromised so that they could not reproduce, reach the surface to breathe or hunt for food. Some learners referred to increased predation since
the turtle could not move. Most learners stated that the turtles trapped in the plastic bags would die.

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(iii) Many learners missed out the effect on the population of sea birds or described the effect on the population of the turtles. In terms of the reason the
learners had to explain that there would be a reduced food source it was not sufficient to state that the turtles would die. A small proportion of the
learners stated that the population of sea birds would increase because it was easier for the sea birds to hunt for turtles because they could not
move. This was given credit in the mark scheme. Learners also mentioned the idea of plastic passing from the turtles to the sea birds, but this was
not given credit in the mark scheme.

Question 10

This question was about rusting.

(a) The learners often attempted this word equation but made many errors often not using the names of the substances given in the stem of the
question. Some learners neglected to write the word ‘hydrated’ in front of ‘iron oxide’ so did not get the mark awarded for the product, other learners
used iron hydroxide instead. In terms of the reactants, a common misconception was to use hydrogen rather than one of the other reactants. Some
candidates attempted to write symbols or formulae and often used the incorrect formulae or formulae that used symbols not in the Periodic Table.
The question asked for a word equations and learners should be advised to avoid using symbols and formulae. One error in the formula means it is
incorrect but a minor spelling error in the name may still be credited.

(b) The name ‘rusting’ was not well known and often one of the names of the reactants or products was used instead. Only a small proportion of the
learners used oxidation or corrosion both of which were acceptable. A significant proportion of learners did not attempt this question.

Question 11

This question was about levers and moments.

(a) Some learners left this question out but those who attempted the question generally put arrows in the correct position with the correct direction. The
most common misconception was to write ‘effort’ on the arrow that was not labelled ‘load’.

(b) (i) A significant proportion of the learners were able to calculate the force as 30 N. The most common error was 40 N or 240 N.

(ii) Many learners did not appreciate it was the principle of moments and many referred to the principle of Newton instead. A significant proportion of
the learners left this item blank.

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Question 12

Learners were often able to interpret the diagram of an atom. Many counted the particles in the nucleus getting 4. Some learners gave 6 and others 2 rather
than 4.

Question 13

Learners found this question on energy transfer very challenging, and many did not understand what the word conserved meant. Learners often thought that
the other energy was the energy that was conserved and referred to most machines conserving more energy than they used. The most common answer was
no, and only a small proportion of learners mentioned that energy cannot be created or destroyed. Most learners did not use the data provided to explain that
the total energy put in equals the total energy output, and even if they used the data, they merely quoted it rather than giving an equation such as
100 = 64 + 36.

Question 14

Most learners did not accurately explain how fossils are formed. The most common mark awarded related to a dead or decaying organism. Only the best
answers appreciated the role of mineral replacement in fossil formation and/or the role of sediments and sedimentary rock.

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6 Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint Global Perspectives 1129

6.1 Comments on specific questions – Global Perspectives 1129 component 01

Key messages

The following points are a summary of the key elements of the examined Checkpoint:

• The question should focus on a global issue/problem.

• To be successful, learners must understand how to present a global and national perspective and explain how or why the perspectives are different.
• Evaluation of sources should explain whether a particular source is credible and then explain why it is credible.
• The written work should be structured and presented as a research report using a question as the title to focus the work.
• There should be one national or local solution offered in the report to help resolve the issue and this solution should be well-explained.
• When reflecting, it is important for learners to explain how their personal perspective has changed or developed as a result of their research and the
global and national perspectives they have explored; this does not need to be very detailed or lengthy.
• The maximum word count is 1000 and teachers must stop marking at this limit.
• References should be complete and in a consistent format with title of article, author, date, website address and date accessed.

General comments

When producing the Checkpoint, learners should work individually to produce a Research Report on any one of the Lower Secondary topics of between 800
and 1000 words. Learners should identify a global issue related to one of the topics and form a research question based on this issue. This research
question should then be answered after exploring a global perspective and a national perspective. The national perspective can be from any country the
student chooses; it does not need to be their own, but it should be explicitly named. It is important that there is a clear contrast between the global and
national perspective, so learners should choose an issue where this is the case. Learners conduct their own research on their issue, using a range of
sources. Some of these sources must be explicitly evaluated in the report. Learners will explore and explain the causes and consequences of their issue
and should propose and explain one local or national solution. Again, this does not need to be lengthy but should be realistic. Learners conclude their report
by reflecting on how their research and the global and national perspectives explored has changed or developed their own perspective.

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There are a few key considerations for teachers to bear in mind: the first is that there must be a very clear global issue and the question should allow the
report to contain the causes and consequences of this issue, develop the different perspectives on this issue and suggest a possible course of action to help
resolve this issue. Everything revolves around the issue so choosing one that is truly global and national is very important. Secondly, learners need to
evaluate a few of the individual sources of information they use in their Research Report explaining how reliable they are and why this is the case. Sources of
information should then be referenced in a reference list at the end of the report. Finally, the report should lead coherently to an answer to the question posed
and a learner needs to reflect on the impact the research undertaken and the perspectives explored have changed or developed their own perspective on the
issue.

It is often helpful for teachers to encourage their learners to use relevant headings in their reports. Where these were used, they aided learners in focusing
the content of their reports to the Assessment Criteria.

A final general point to note is that the word limit is absolutely 1000 words. Therefore, teachers, when assessing the reports, must stop marking at 1000
words as moderators will not take into account any work beyond this. This series a few reports did exceed this limit, but, perhaps more significantly, some
reports were too short and learners were unable to fulfil all the assessment criteria because of this.

What now follows are some specific examples of good practice and areas which might be improved still further. These are organised under the assessment
objectives and eleven assessment criteria.

AO1 Research analysis and evaluation

Constructing research questions

Most learners formulated a question; many of these were questions about global issues, and many of the reports focussed entirely on the issue in the
question. When this occurred, learners were able to gain the full 4 marks. However, a significant minority formulated questions that were not clearly about an
issue of global significance or they were based in only one country which then limited the answers their report could provide. Very few reports in this session
had only a title, with no question.

Questions such as ‘Does the destruction of wild habitats cause animal extinction?’ and ‘Is using animals for experiments inhumane?’ are well-constructed
research questions which are relevant to the global issues of sustainability and global animal rights. They are examples of global problems or issues that a
Research Report can effectively explore and answer.

Some chose questions that were interesting but not always about clearly global issues, such as ‘Does speaking different languages increase a person’s IQ?’
Again, questions such as these can make accessing the AO1 marks difficult, though they are very interesting to read and to write.

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Analysis

This series, most learners were able to suggest causes and consequences for their chosen issue, and many were able to explain either the causes or
consequences. To gain full marks on this criterion, learners needed to explain both causes and consequences. The explanation does not need to be detailed:
just a few sentences where the learner explains how that piece of evidence caused the issue in the question. Explanations may start like this: ‘This is
because…’ ‘This shows….’ ‘This means that…’

An excellent example of an explained cause: ‘Currently, deforestation is the biggest problem faced by the animal species; this is because it has caused the
destruction of their natural habitat, making them vulnerable to extinction. Out of the eight million existing species, one million are in danger due to the
overexploitation of terrestrial and marine resources.’

Evaluation

Many learners were able to effectively evaluate the sources of information they used.

This learner made one full evaluation point: ‘The research article, “Effects of global climate change on Polar Bears” talked about the impact of climate change.
Its evidence was cited throughout and so it’s quite a reliable source of information and I can trust it because I know where all the facts have come from.’
Though this answer is brief, it gives enough explanation of reliability or credibility to be a full evaluation point.

It was still the case that a lot of learners made evaluative points that were only ‘partial evaluations’. This means that they wrote that a source was
‘experienced’ or ‘academic’ or that it was ‘full of biased information’ but they did not then explain the impact of that expertise or knowledge or bias. How did it
help them write their report? Or how did it hinder them? If an evaluative point is only partial, it cannot be awarded more than Level 1. For example: ‘The
ICMBio works with the Ministry of the Environment, so it is a reliable source.’ This is a partial evaluation because there is no explanation about why working
with the Ministry of the Environment would make the ICMBio reliable.

Learners need only choose two sources to evaluate; it is not necessary to evaluate all sources used in the report.

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Information skills

Most reports contained evidence that information relevant to their chosen issue had been used and that this came from at least two different sources. This
was clear to see when reports were referenced and evidence was cited within the text. Some did not reference their sources so it was difficult to see whether
they had used any but this was rare. There is no need for vast amounts of information/sources to be used, as fewer well-chosen sources are usually more
effective than many less relevant ones. In-text citation might look like this:

‘According to Gration, 2022, there are approximately 33million bilingual people worldwide, accounting for 43% of the population.’

Global perspective

The most successful reports were explicitly able to give a global perspective on the issue in their question. A global perspective may come from a specific
country, organisation, institution, or even an individual, but it will have influence that spreads beyond any one country. The very best reports not only explain
and give evidence to support a global perspective, but also some justification for why it is global.

For example, one learner wrote that ‘Countries all over the world have used animal testing before but many countries have or are trying to create laws to ban
the use of animals for testing. The Humane Society of the United States agrees with the ban and says,”‘Internationally, 41 countries have passed laws to limit
or ban cosmetic animal testing, including every country in the European Union”’ And then the learner supported this view with evidence about those countries
and what they have done.

‘There are both global views from the Humane Society of the United States, because they “agree with the (international) ban” and we can infer that the 41
countries who have passed these laws also have a similar perspective on the issue (because they passed those laws)’.

Some learners still simply gave information from a variety of countries, with no indication what anyone there thinks about the issue. It was also still the case
that learners failed to specify what their ‘global’ information was and what their ‘national’ information was. This made it difficult to see where and why some
marks had been awarded.

National perspective

Headings were often used successfully. Where learners were encouraged to use headings and subheadings, it was clear that national perspectives were
being explained. This was very helpful. But without those headings, it was not always clear which country a learner had chosen for their national perspective
or how this perspective was different to their global perspective. Better reports explained why they had chosen a certain country for their national perspective
and gave some views of different groups of people from that country with supporting evidence. An example:

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‘The country of Switzerland has decided not to pass laws for banning animal testing. According to a news article written by DW News, 21% of voters were in
favour of a ban on animal testing and 79% were against the measure, but this doesn’t mean they support the use of animal testing. Opponents of the ban
have said that it would have wide-ranging impacts on the development and production of medications, vaccines, therapies and chemicals.’ The national
perspective here is that Switzerland, as a country, feels that banning animal testing is not the right thing to do. And then there is another national perspective
that voters in Switzerland are not in support of a ban, but that they are also worried about the impact a ban would have on medical research. In these three
sentences, this learner has included three perspectives that are supported with evidence. This is very impressive.

Different perspectives

Many reports made explicit comparisons between the national and global perspectives. Learners who explicitly compared the global and national perspective
of an issue, using words like, ‘on the other hand…’, ‘in some ways…’, ‘in contrast to…’ were successful in this criterion. For example,

‘The Global perspective on this case is that freedom of speech should be a right that is accessible to everyone. However, the national perspective of Malaysia
on freedom of speech is that it should be restricted. This is to prevent the citizens from going against regulations placed by the government as well as prevent
people from coming up with false conspiracies.’

Problem-solving

Some learners made long lists of partially explained solutions to their global issue. These were less successful because they were not fully explained. If
learners consider issues as problems, they are more likely to think of a solution to help resolve their problem. Only one course of action is necessary, but it
should be local or national.

A solutions such as, ‘I could talk to my school principal to hold a mini-Paralympics for the disabled people in our school and surrounding schools. I would like
to ask my principal because we have disabled people in our school and in surrounding schools so that they may feel included and it is good to encourage
other schools to do the same’ are great but they just need a bit more explanation. How will this be done? What actions could be taken to make it a success?
Learners should explain why their course of action is realistic, by considering how it might work and how it might help.

For example,

‘One thing that we could do is start campaigns on social media on the internet, discuss during our classes the causes and consequences of deforestation for
wild animals and humans, raising awareness and spreading the word about the topic to warn people close to us. In our school, we could start small projects in
which students could gather in small groups of representatives to discuss the seriousness of the cause and for which institutions we could raise donations.
We could also raise some funds to help replant the habitats that are destroyed, an account on Instagram would help spread the word and help with getting
people's attention. Once people know more about this, they will also take action to bring about changes.’

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AO2 Reflection

Reflection

Many reports finished with a general conclusion and a statement about what the learner thought about the issue or what they learned. To access full marks,
reports must include explanation of the learner’s changed understanding of the issue, reflecting on how their view had changed or developed as a result of
their research or the different perspectives on the issue. There should be some reference to the impact of their research and others’ perspectives on their own
views. For example:

‘I knew that air pollution was a problem, but I never ever knew that it was this bad in the Netherlands. I did not know about the health, climate and economical
effects of air pollution. My view on cars and the environment has changed. First, I thought cars where very useful and pretty, now I know that they are also
very harmful to the environment and people. I know we must work hard to get to the standards, but everyone has to do their part. I never knew that the EU
was trying to reduce the air pollution with almost no solution besides having an air quality standard.’

AO3 Communication and collaboration

Communicating information

Some research reports were well-structured and coherent. Sub-headings helped with this. The best reports were easy to read and it was clear that some
planning had been done before the report was written. Others were harder to read and it was not clear at times what the learner was trying to communicate or
what the global issue was.

Sub-headings are a very useful tool for teachers to give their learners. This enables learners to structure their report and to take ownership over their own
fulfilment of the Assessment Criteria.

Referencing sources

Most learners tried to use a consistent referencing system that included the author, title and access date, as is relevant. Less successful reports simply
presented a list of URLs used.

Most referenced more fully:

2022, Reuters, “Starving polar bears turn to garbage as habitats disappear due to climate change” https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-
environment/starving-polar-bears-turn-to-garbage-as-habitats-disappear-due-to-climate-change-1128474.html , accessed on 25.06.22

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