What Exam Examiners Really Want — According to Official Reports
Want to know what separates a top-scoring student from an average one?
It’s not just knowledge. It’s how they deliver it.
Every year, exam boards publish examiner reports — documents that reveal exactly what examiners think about student performance.
Most students never read them.
But if you do, you’ll see one clear pattern:
Examiners aren’t looking for perfect answers.
They’re looking for answers that match the markscheme — clearly, logically, and consistently.
Here’s what the examiner reports from IB, A-Level, and AP reveal about what markers really want — and how you can deliver it.
1. Structure Over Style
Examiners often comment that students:
- Have strong ideas…
- …but lose marks because they don’t structure answers clearly
They’re not scoring you for being poetic.
They’re scoring you for:
- Following the command terms
- Stating points explicitly
- Supporting them with evidence
📌 Fix this:
Use PEEL or CLAIR structures (Claim, Link, Application, Impact, Reference) in long-answer questions.
2. Command Terms Are Everything
IB, AP, and A-Level all use command terms that signal how many marks are at stake — and what’s expected.
According to examiner reports:
Students who ignored command terms like “Evaluate” or “Compare” often missed full marks — even with good content.
💡 Your response must match the cognitive level:
- Define = recall
- Explain = process + reasoning
- Evaluate = judgment with evidence
📌 Fix this:
Highlight command terms before you answer.
Mentally align your structure to the expectation.
3. Application Beats Theory
Markers consistently praise students who:
- Apply theory to case studies
- Use data or context
- Avoid generic, textbook-style responses
In AP FRQs and IB Paper 2s especially, you gain top marks by tailoring your response to the question context.
📌 Fix this:
Practice writing responses using business names, policies, or experimental setups, even if fictional.
4. Time Management Is a Skill (Examiners Notice)
Examiner reports often say:
"Many students ran out of time and left 6- or 8-mark questions incomplete."
It’s not just what you know.
It’s whether you leave yourself enough time to write it down.
📌 Fix this:
Use timed papers. Practice writing short, structured responses within constraints.
5. The Best Students Use the Markscheme Language
One of the biggest scoring advantages?
Students who’ve practiced with markschemes tend to phrase their answers in ways that match the marking logic.
They don’t just say what they know — they say it in a way the examiner is trained to reward.
📌 Fix this:
Use markscheme review after each practice paper:
- Where were the marks?
- Did you phrase it clearly enough?
- Would an examiner give you the point?
Bonus: Examiner Reports Praise Predictive Thinking
Examiners reward:
- Logical forecasting (“...this policy may lead to…”)
- Syllabus-linked analysis (“...this relates to X topic...”)
- Structured judgment
In other words: thinking ahead.
That’s exactly what Predict Exam papers are designed to train — realistic scenarios, structured markscheme practice, and syllabus-driven logic.
Conclusion: Think Like the Marker
The real exam isn’t about writing everything you know.
It’s about:
- Matching structure to markscheme
- Using command terms correctly
- Applying theory in context
You don’t need to be perfect.
You need to show what the examiner wants — in the way they can reward.
Explore Predict Exam’s predictive papers, markscheme-aligned and exam-structured by design.