Reading Chemistry Exam Questions Carefully

The most frustrating way to lose marks on IGCSE Chemistry is to answer a question that was not asked. You know the chemistry, you write a correct statement, but it does not match what the examiner wanted. This happens because students read the question once, quickly, and start writing before they fully understand what is required. Careful reading is a skill, and like any skill, it improves with practice.

The anatomy of an exam question

Every 0620 question has structure. Understanding that structure helps you extract what the examiner wants.

The stem

The introductory text that provides context. It might describe an experiment, present data, or set up a scenario. The stem contains important information (reactant names, conditions, observations) but it is not the question itself.

The command word

The verb that tells you what to do: state, describe, explain, suggest, calculate, compare, predict, deduce, define. Each command word requires a different type of answer. “State” needs a brief factual answer. “Explain” needs a factual answer plus a reason. See the full command word guide.

Qualifiers

Words that limit or direct the answer: “other than,” “using the data,” “in terms of,” “from the graph,” “with reference to.” These are the words students most often miss, and they change what scores.

Mark allocation

The number in brackets, e.g., [3]. This tells you how many mark points the examiner expects. A [3] question needs three distinct points. Two excellent points still scores only 2/3.

Common misreads and how to avoid them

Missing “other than”

Question: “State two factors, other than temperature, that affect the rate of reaction.”

If you write temperature as one of your two factors, you score only 1 mark at best. The “other than” exclusion is easy to miss when reading quickly. Underline it.

Confusing “describe” and “explain”

Question: “Describe and explain the trend in reactivity of Group VII elements.”

“Describe” requires you to state the trend (reactivity decreases down the group). “Explain” requires the reason (atoms get larger, the outer shell is further from the nucleus, so it is harder to gain an electron). If you only describe, you lose the explanation marks. If you only explain, you may lose the description mark. Both are needed.

Missing “balanced symbol equation” vs “word equation”

Question: “Write a balanced symbol equation for the reaction.”

Writing a word equation scores zero. Writing an unbalanced symbol equation may score partial marks but not full marks. The question specifies the format. Give the format requested.

Ignoring “from the graph” or “using the data”

Question: “Using the data in the table, determine the order of reactivity.”

The examiner wants you to cite specific data values from the table to support your answer. An answer that states the reactivity order without referencing the data loses marks, even if the order is correct. The qualifier “using the data” means your answer must include numbers from the table.

Misreading “name” vs “give the formula”

Question: “Name the gas produced.” Answer: “H2” — this is a formula, not a name. The name is “hydrogen.”

Question: “Give the formula of the compound.” Answer: “sodium chloride” — this is a name, not a formula. The formula is “NaCl.”

These seem trivial, but examiners apply the mark scheme as written. If the scheme says “accept formula” it is fine; if it does not, the wrong format may not score.

Active reading technique

Step 1: Read the full question before writing

For structured questions with parts (a), (b), (c), read all parts before answering (a). Later parts often provide context that helps with earlier parts. If part (c) asks about the products, it might confirm what reaction is being discussed, which helps you answer part (a) about the reactants.

Step 2: Underline key words

While reading, underline:

• The command word (state, explain, describe, calculate)
• Any qualifiers (other than, in terms of, using the data)
• The specific subject of the question (which compound, which reaction, which property)
• The number of points required (if stated: “state two reasons”)

This physical act of underlining forces you to engage with the question rather than skim it.

Step 3: Check the mark allocation

Before writing, glance at the mark count. Ask yourself: “Do I have enough points for this many marks?” If the question is worth 3 marks and you have only one point to make, you are either misunderstanding the question or missing content.

Step 4: Answer what was asked

After writing your answer, re-read the question and check: does my answer actually address what was asked? If the question asked “why does the rate increase?” and you wrote “the rate increases because of temperature,” you have restated the question, not answered it. The answer must explain the mechanism: particles have more kinetic energy, collide more frequently, and a greater proportion of collisions exceed the activation energy.

Practice exercises

Command word drill

Take a past paper and, before answering any questions, go through and highlight every command word. Next to each, write what type of answer it requires (fact, description, explanation, calculation). This trains you to notice command words automatically.

Qualifier hunt

Go through three past papers and circle every qualifier (other than, in terms of, using, from). Count how many you found. Most students are surprised by how many qualifiers they would have missed under exam conditions.

Misread audit

After marking a past paper against the mark scheme, review every lost mark. For each one, ask: did I lose this because I did not know the content, or because I answered a different question from the one asked? Track misread errors separately. If misreads account for more than 15% of your lost marks, careful reading practice will improve your score more than additional content revision.

In the exam

Read every question twice. The first read gives you the gist. The second read catches the qualifiers, the command word nuance, and the mark allocation. This double reading takes 10-15 seconds and saves the minutes you would spend rewriting an answer that missed the point.

If you finish the exam early, use the remaining time to re-read questions where you lost confidence. You cannot change a wrong factual answer to a right one, but you can catch a misread that led to the wrong type of answer.