Main Title
Year 8 | Lower Secondary | 0861
End-of-Course Assignment
It unto tem rerorep erspicietur Feedback
repedit alitae dit illa quis
Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint
Page | 1 practice test and advice
2025
Guidance for Teachers: Supporting Lower Secondary Students in the May 2025 Trial (FLE)
Lower Secondary learners differ significantly from their Primary counterparts. At this stage, students
have more developed cognitive abilities, which allows them to engage in higher-order thinking tasks.
This developmental shift is reflected in the design of the May 2025 trial, where the focus leans more
toward critical thinking and inference-making rather than foundational language skills.
Examiners work under the assumption that the core components of the language system—including
basic grammar and sentence structure—have already been acquired during the primary years. As a
result, this year group is expected to demonstrate a deeper engagement with texts, going beyond
surface-level understanding.
The table below shows the likely distribution of marks in the May 2025 trial, based on an analysis of
trends from past Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint exams (Reading Section).
Assessment Focus: Students are most likely to encounter a higher number of questions in the
following sub-strands:
• Interpretation of texts
• Vocabulary and language effects
Strategic Advice:
• Students need regular practice in providing evidence from the text to support their claims.
This remains an area of concern, as many students struggle to identify and use appropriate
textual evidence effectively.
• Students should understand that evidence must come directly from the text, whether copied
exactly or slightly modified to shorten the response. Unless the question specifically instructs
them to use their own words, it is often safer and more effective to quote directly from the
text.
• As educators, it is unnecessary to insist that students use quotation marks when copying
evidence from the text. This should not become a point of debate, as quotation marks are not
a requirement set by examiners. What truly matters is that students include relevant evidence
from the text to demonstrate their understanding of a particular point.
Practical Tip:
• It is always beneficial to practise answering full exam papers during this period. Timed
practice helps students build confidence and become familiar with the question types and
pacing required.
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• Use exam papers from the 2020 Progression series onwards. Earlier papers follow a different
framework and may not align with the current assessment standards, so they are less
effective for targeted preparation.
• Model how to respond to evidence-based questions. Take time to show students exactly how
to approach and answer these questions effectively. These types of questions are typically
phrased like:
“Give two reasons and support each with an example from the text.”
They are usually worth 4 marks—1 mark for each valid reason, and 1 mark for the supporting
evidence.
It’s important to note:
• If the reason is incorrect, the support will not be awarded a mark—even if it refers to the
correct part of the text.
• Encourage students to focus on getting the reason right first, then provide a relevant piece of
evidence.
• If the evidence is incorrect, only 1 mark is lost—not 2—so they should aim to do their best
without panicking.
This same marking structure applies to both the first and second reason/support pairs.
For the summary question, remind students NOT to exceed the word limit set by the examiner.
• If the limit is 40 words, students must write 40 words or fewer, as long as all key points are
covered.
• Exceeding the word limit, even by just 3 words, can result in a 1-mark deduction.
• A helpful tip: when the question specifies 40 words, treat it as the ideal number to aim for.
Writing significantly fewer words often means key points are missed, which may also lead to a
loss of marks.
• Emphasise that the summary must be written in a coherent paragraph form, with a logical
flow of ideas that reflects understanding of the original text.
In the following pages, you will find a complete exam along with its mark scheme, designed to give
you a broader understanding of the 2025 assessment trend.
Best of luck to all our dedicated teachers and students!
Taha Mohamed
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Paper 1 | Non-Fiction
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Paper 1 | Non-Fiction
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Section A: Reading
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Section B: Writing
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Paper 2 | Fiction
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Paper 2 | Fiction
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Section A: Reading
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Section B: Writing
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Mark Scheme
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Paper 1 | Non-Fiction | Mark Scheme
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Paper 2 | Fiction | Mark Scheme
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𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞 Lower Sceondary 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧
𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐭 — 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭:
𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁:
𝗔𝘁𝗹𝗮𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 | 𝗖𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗼
𝗦𝗸𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 | 𝗖𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗼
𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗮 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 | 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗮
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀!
Designed to mirror the latest trends in Cambridge Assessment 2025, this booklet provides:
• 𝟭𝟬 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺
𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
• 𝗘𝘅𝗮𝗺-𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
• 𝗘𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘁, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳
𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱
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