What

changes are happening to Cambridge IGCSE First

Language English?

Cambridge International Examinations is making changes to the First Language
English syllabus for first examination from 2015.
The key syllabus changes are:
Syllabus aims and assessment objectives have been revised
The assessment structure of Reading (Paper 1 and Paper 2) has been revised:
Paper 1 now includes a second reading passage
In Paper 2 candidates comment on a specified number of choices of
words and phrases.
Paper 1 includes a new summary task
The number of marks available has been revised
Writing Paper 3 Section 1 response will be in the form of a letter or an article.
Writing Paper 3 Section 2 will no longer have an argumentative/discursive
composition option
Word counts rather than page lengths are given as a guide for answers

What do these changes mean for the Cambridge IGCSE

First Language English resource suite from Cambridge?
Essentially very little. This resource suite wont need to be
used differently. The skills assessed remain the same and are
already fully covered.
Furthermore, the suite has never been specifically exam
directed, but rather focuses on delivering a full 2-year upper
secondary English curriculum and developing progressive and
transferable skills. This will not change, which means you can
confidently continue to use this suite to deliver the course.
The only feature you will need to be aware of when preparing your students for their
final examinations is the Exam Tip Boxes in the coursebook. This feature will no longer
always fit the new rubrics for 2015 where they refer to the task requirements in terms of
genres, word limits or stages of the response. The guidelines below will help you to
understand if and where the syllabus changes affect these. As you will see, the impact is
minimal.


2014 2015 SYLLABUS CHANGE

HOW TO USE THE CAMBRIDGE

IGCSE FIRST LANGUAGE ENGLISH
RESOURCES
Changes to extended reading paper From 2015 this will be based on one
2 summary task (Q.3)
passage and not two. The current Exam

Tip box will not reflect this but the
skills and techniques for preparation
covered in the resources are still the
same, as the two passages are already
treated separately for summary in the
current exam format.

No change to how you use the
resources is required, simply note this
and make sure your learners are
aware.
Change to extended reading paper 2 The change to question 1 is that

dialogues are no longer a possible

response genre specified in the task.



The change to question 2 is that only
four choices of quotation are required
from each designated paragraph in the
response.

The Exam Tip box will not reflect this
so you will need to make sure both you
and your learners are aware. Currently
they are expected to find more than
this, so this is not a change to practice.
Change to writing paper 3
This paper will no longer have the
argumentative essay option. Note,
however, that argumentative writing
as a skill is still required for
coursework (paper 4) and for the
directed writing task in paper 3;
Candidates sitting paper 3 will
therefore need to write either a
narrative or a descriptive composition.

The current edition has complete
chapters which target argumentative
and discursive writing. These will
remain relevant to the general
development of argumentative and


discursive skills needed for paper 4
assignment 1 and/or 3, and will
support learners in their preparation
for the paper 3 directed writing task.

What about the new edition?

The revised version of this suite, which clearly maps these changes along with many new
additional features aimed at enhancing the teaching and learning of this course, will be
released in 2014. More details will follow shortly.

Do you still have questions?

If you have still got questions, then talk to your local Cambridge representative. You
can find their details on our website
education.cambridge.org/findyourlocalrep