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IGCSE CIE English Language - Extended reading passages

I have been browsing the internet trying to find grade boundaries for previous CIE English language 0522/02 paper and I can't find any anywhere.

Does anyone have a rough idea of what the grade boundaries usually are for this paper?

Are they usually low or high etc?

Any help is hugely appreciated!

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Reply 1
I think it is around 85-90% for an A*, but I'm not sure about the lower grades.
Reply 2
Original post by nox1
I think it is around 85-90% for an A*, but I'm not sure about the lower grades.


So out of 50 you're looking for between 43 and 45 for an A*? Wow, that's pretty damn high.
Reply 3
Original post by RG110man
So out of 50 you're looking for between 43 and 45 for an A*? Wow, that's pretty damn high.


Yeah it is, but it's also not a really hard exam - it's perfectly within people's abilities :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by nox1
Yeah it is, but it's also not a really hard exam - it's perfectly within people's abilities :smile:


I suppose. I'm looking for a solid B in the exam as my coursework is 'A' grade so hopefully I'll get an A overall. I presume I'd need around about 38 for a soild B?
Reply 5
Original post by nox1
Yeah it is, but it's also not a really hard exam - it's perfectly within people's abilities :smile:


Hang on, I've just found this: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/194594/response/480880/attach/3/IGCSE%20First%20Language%20English%200522%20November%202013%20Grade%20Thresholds%20PDF.pdf

Would this not imply that for an A on the 0522/02 paper you only need 27/50, or am I mistaken?
Reply 6
Original post by RG110man
Hang on, I've just found this: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/194594/response/480880/attach/3/IGCSE%20First%20Language%20English%200522%20November%202013%20Grade%20Thresholds%20PDF.pdf

Would this not imply that for an A on the 0522/02 paper you only need 27/50, or am I mistaken?


I'm not sure, but I'm doing the 0500, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference. I'm not sure if the first table is about coursework though, since I have no idea what the numbers of the components are?
I am doing 0500 too and I know the average grade boundaries. For an A* without coursework you need between 70-75%, however with coursework at least 82%, I think. For other grades just subtract around 8% each time and you will get the percentage needed for each grade.
Hope it helps :smile:
Reply 8
Original post by Madla Spadla
I am doing 0500 too and I know the average grade boundaries. For an A* without coursework you need between 70-75%, however with coursework at least 82%, I think. For other grades just subtract around 8% each time and you will get the percentage needed for each grade.
Hope it helps :smile:


So if I have a total of 70/80 for coursework and speaking and listening what do I need in the exam roughly for an A overall?

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Original post by RG110man
So if I have a total of 70/80 for coursework and speaking and listening what do I need in the exam roughly for an A overall?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Speaking in 0500 is another grade (from 1 to 5, where 1 is the best). Therefore, you do not have to count it, however, you should aim at least for 2, others are not view well by most unis.
If I take 85% needed for an A*, then it is 78% for an A.... so you need in your exam at least (your coursework is 50% of the grade and you got roughly 87%)...69%, which makes 35/50 :smile:
If you "decide" for an A* then you need at least 83%, which makes 42/50.
Good luck.
Which other IGCSEs are you taking this year? :smile:
Original post by Madla Spadla
Speaking in 0500 is another grade (from 1 to 5, where 1 is the best). Therefore, you do not have to count it, however, you should aim at least for 2, others are not view well by most unis.
If I take 85% needed for an A*, then it is 78% for an A.... so you need in your exam at least (your coursework is 50% of the grade and you got roughly 87%)...69%, which makes 35/50 :smile:
If you "decide" for an A* then you need at least 83%, which makes 42/50.
Good luck.
Which other IGCSEs are you taking this year? :smile:


I'm doing the 0522 syllabus where speaking and listening is 20%, coursework portfolio is 40% and exam is 40%.

I have 20/25 in S&L .
I have 46/50 in coursework portfolio.
I got 33/50 in my mock exam.

Do you know what grade I would get?

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Original post by RG110man
I'm doing the 0522 syllabus where speaking and listening is 20%, coursework portfolio is 40% and exam is 40%.

I have 20/25 in S&L .
I have 46/50 in coursework portfolio.
I got 33/50 in my mock exam.

Do you know what grade I would get?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Yeah sure... so for an A* it would be around 83%, for an A it would be around 75%...Therefore, your overal would be... an A with 79%, for an A* you need to get at least 39/50 in your exam...
Good luck :smile:
Original post by RG110man
I'm doing the 0522 syllabus where speaking and listening is 20%, coursework portfolio is 40% and exam is 40%.

I have 20/25 in S&L .
I have 46/50 in coursework portfolio.
I got 33/50 in my mock exam.

Do you know what grade I would get?

Posted from TSR Mobile


Probably a strong A.
CIE's iGcse English language (0522), the one I'm doing has grade boundaries out of 125 for the entire three pieces that you do.
x/50 for Coursework - writing
x/50 for Reading paper
x/25 for Speaking & listening, which is out of 30, but a percentage is calculated, and then transformed into a mark out of 25 to weight it as 20% of the GCSE.

Usually an A* is around 104-105 for the WHOLE course, so if you already have 20/25 on your speaking and 46 out of 50 on your coursework I would aim for around 40 marks in your exam if you're aiming to scrape an A*.
Also, 0522 has quite low grade boundaries for Reading, but if you've already got your s&l mark back, as well as your writing coursework, you should work out how many marks you are off your desired grade, and calculate roughly how many you would need to get in the exam. Those who already have high writing and speaking marks are in a favourable position, as you already walk in with a gauranteed C, and can easily push it up to an A or A* with a mark between 30-40.
For example, I have 48/50 in my writing, and for the speaking, which I did before Easter, I'm guessing around 22-21, so I'm estimating that to get 105 overall, I would need 36-37 marks in the exam to just scrape an A*.
Original post by Turtlebunny
Also, 0522 has quite low grade boundaries for Reading, but if you've already got your s&l mark back, as well as your writing coursework, you should work out how many marks you are off your desired grade, and calculate roughly how many you would need to get in the exam. Those who already have high writing and speaking marks are in a favourable position, as you already walk in with a gauranteed C, and can easily push it up to an A or A* with a mark between 30-40.
For example, I have 48/50 in my writing, and for the speaking, which I did before Easter, I'm guessing around 22-21, so I'm estimating that to get 105 overall, I would need 36-37 marks in the exam to just scrape an A*.


Okay, so for me with as little guess work as possible I know I have at least an 'A' in S&L and the coursework portfolio. So I know that I have a at least:

25/30
44/50

= 69/80 == 69 marks overall before sitting the exam.

Which would therefore mean that for an 'A' I would need: 24 in the exam to give me 93, and for an 'A*' I would need 35 in the exam to give me 104.

(This was calculated on the basis that an A would be 93 and an A* would be 104).
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by RG110man
Okay, so for me with as little guess work as possible I know I have at least an 'A' in S&L and the coursework portfolio. So I know that I have a at least:

25/30
44/50

= 69/80 == 69 marks overall before sitting the exam.

Which would therefore mean that for an 'A' I would need: 24 in the exam to give me 93, and for an 'A*' I would need 35 in the exam to give me 104.

(This was calculated on the basis that an A would be 93 and an A* would be 104).


Actually you would have 20 marks in the speaking and listening since they calculate your 25/30 as a percentage, then multiply it by 25. They do this to give the speaking and listening a weighting of 20% as the whole course is out of 125 marks, and the speaking and listening would be would of 25.
As such, that would lower your mark to 64/80 before you go in, which is still pretty respectable, making an A* perfectly achievable provided you do a few past papers to prepare :smile:
Original post by Turtlebunny
Actually you would have 20 marks in the speaking and listening since they calculate your 25/30 as a percentage, then multiply it by 25. They do this to give the speaking and listening a weighting of 20% as the whole course is out of 125 marks, and the speaking and listening would be would of 25.
As such, that would lower your mark to 64/80 before you go in, which is still pretty respectable, making an A* perfectly achievable provided you do a few past papers to prepare :smile:


I got 34 in my mock so I should have at least an A, even if I don't manage an A*.

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Original post by RG110man
I got 34 in my mock so I should have at least an A, even if I don't manage an A*.

Posted from TSR Mobile


Sounds good really.

I got 48/50 in my writing coursework.
I've finished my speaking, unlike others at my school who still have the exam, however I don't have my mark back yet. Although I'm hoping out of 30 it is somewhere in the region of 25-27 - we'll see.
In my Dec mock I got 37/50 and my most recent mock 32/50. My Dec grade was an A*, my more recent one was an A.

So factoring all of this in, hopefully I should get an A*. I never intended to get an A* in literature or language, so it would be a pleasant surprise if I did! An A is obviously what I want as a minimum.
Original post by Turtlebunny
Sounds good really.

I got 48/50 in my writing coursework.
I've finished my speaking, unlike others at my school who still have the exam, however I don't have my mark back yet. Although I'm hoping out of 30 it is somewhere in the region of 25-27 - we'll see.
In my Dec mock I got 37/50 and my most recent mock 32/50. My Dec grade was an A*, my more recent one was an A.

So factoring all of this in, hopefully I should get an A*. I never intended to get an A* in literature or language, so it would be a pleasant surprise if I did! An A is obviously what I want as a minimum.


Same here. I got a B in the AQA Language and Literature last year. I couldn't get on with the AQA exam for language and my coursework in lit was done in year 9 and only C grade.

This year I'm doing the IGCSE language and AQA Literature (better coursework this time). I'm not particularly expecting A*s in either of them, but it would obviously be nice. (You can see the rest of my predicted/achieved grades on my profile if you're interested).

Good luck with your exams :smile:
Original post by RG110man
I got 34 in my mock so I should have at least an A, even if I don't manage an A*.

Posted from TSR Mobile

My teacher gave me a C in the mock when I got the same mark as you :frown:
Our course works haven't been fully marked yet though.

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