Credits: Jill Pavich, NBCT via CIE Examiner Reports jill.pavich@palmbeachschools.

org
AICE: General Paper (8004), grade 9 Boca Raton Community High School, PBCSD

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The ERUDITE EXAMINER:
TOP 25 LIST

The Erudite Examiner Has the Following to Say About

Prompt Selection
1. There is a clear message for Centres and candidates here not to indulge personal
enthusiasms or dislikes unless these have something of substance to say and can
support an answer with a substantiated argument. (Examiners Report, Paper 11,
May/June 2010)

Prompt Interpretation
2. Candidates needed to read and study the wording of [a] question carefully and not
be mesmerized by one or other part of it. There was no lack of knowledge but it was
not always deployed effectively. (Examiners Report, Paper 11, May/June 2012)

Brainstorming
3. Good essays have clear structure. To achieve this, some sort of planning is
necessary but not too much planning. Candidates who jotted down a few ideas
before starting their essays invariably made a good start and then allowed their
essays to develop and take shape as they continued to write. (Examiners Report,
Paper 11, May/June 2012)







Credits: Jill Pavich, NBCT via CIE Examiner Reports jill.pavich@palmbeachschools.org
AICE: General Paper (8004), grade 9 Boca Raton Community High School, PBCSD

9
Support and Examples

Analysis & Evaluation
4. Every question in the paper requires evaluation or analysisall questions are
designed to provoke thought and development of ideas, supported by meaningful
and illustrative examples. (Examiners Report, Paper 11, May/June 2012)
5. Those essays which were full of assertion rather than discernment and analysis did
not impress the examiners. (Examiners Report, Paper 11, May/June 2012)
6. an essay that] develops through description rather than evaluation cannot reach
Band 2. (Individual Report, Paper 11, May/June 2012)

Body Support
7. Candidates are to be commended on their knowledge, but must remember that
essays, while needing examples, also need to explore opinions. (Examiners Report,
Paper 11, May/June 2011)
8. Centres [should] encourage discussion rather than the mere recounting of facts and
figures. (Examiners Report, Paper 12, October/November 2012)
9. Answers which offered opinionbut offered no local or international illustration to
support their argument were adjudged too generalized or vaguesupport examples
with examples from different countries! (Examiners Report, Paper 11, May/June
2012)
10. Candidates would be best advised to exercise restraint when it comes to anecdotal
material. (Examiners Report, Paper 11, May/June 2011)

Task Focus
11. The key words of this question only appear in the final paragraph. For future
successmake sure that every paragraph they write refers in some direct way to the
Question it is wordingemploying this technique will help ensure that answers
cannot be mistaken for mere cataloguing or listing. (Individual Report, Paper 11,
May/June 2012)

Credits: Jill Pavich, NBCT via CIE Examiner Reports jill.pavich@palmbeachschools.org
AICE: General Paper (8004), grade 9 Boca Raton Community High School, PBCSD

10
12. If the actual question set is not answered directly, the mark gained will be very
low. (Examiners Report, Paper 12, May/June 2011)

Organization
13. Weaker answers tended to be very one-sided, either totally in favor or totally
opposed, without mention of any opposing views and often without evidence to
consolidate claims. (Examiners Report, Paper 13, May/June 2012)
14. Counter-arguments were, however, sometimes given scant attention so that
opportunities for a more evenly balanced discussion were missed. (Examiners
Report, Paper 11, May/June 2011)

Expression
15. Avoid as far as possible overstatement, exaggeration, and the use of elaborate
words for their own sake. Write as plainly and accurately as you can (Examiners
Report, Paper 12, October/November 2012)
16. A substantial number of candidates have acquired wide-ranging English
vocabulary but unfortunately have not learnt to use these words in an appropriate
context. (Examiners Report, Paper 11, May/June 2012)
17. essays should avoid becoming too chattythe use of clichd phrases and
colloquial language are [also] not appropriate formal English(Examiners Report,
Paper 11, October/November 2012)

Conventions
18. Use of English was, in many cases, well below the required standard, which often
obscured content. Candidates could improve their marks substantially by avoiding
really elementary errors and carelessness. A thorough and systematic check of the
English, to eradicate such basic slipsis urgently required. (Examiners Report,
Paper 11, May/June 2012)


Credits: Jill Pavich, NBCT via CIE Examiner Reports jill.pavich@palmbeachschools.org
AICE: General Paper (8004), grade 9 Boca Raton Community High School, PBCSD

11
Style and Voice
19. Above all it is important that candidates communicate with the reader. They
should make themselves known to the reader and let their personality shine
through in what they write. Then, even a candidate who struggles with the
mechanics of English will communicate. (Examiners Report, Paper 12,
October/November 2012)
20. Loss of objectivity and a tendency to be too personal detracted from the impact of
some essaysthose that did well put aside their personal knowledge (Examiners
Report, Paper 11, May/June 2011)
21. Many of this sessions questions specifically encouraged a personal response and
when the ideas expressed were compelling, credit was given. Casually used
anecdote and the shrill expression of opinion were limiting factors in some essays.
(Examiners Report, Paper 11, May/June 2012)

Technicals, Test-Day Know-How
22. There were very few rubric infringements of any kind, but in a few instances a
candidate wrote both of their responses from only one section of the paper. In such
cases, the candidate can only be awarded the better of the two individual marks.
(Examiners Report, Paper 11, May/June 2011)
23. Most candidates wrote two essays of recommended length, but some wrote
unnecessarily long answers. No essay should be longer than 600 words. Quality is
much more important than quantityno essay should be shorter than 500 words.
(Examiners Report, Paper 12, May/June 2011)
24. Handwriting was sometimes hard to read. (Examiners Report, Paper 11,
October/November 2012)

Audience
25. Examiners want to engage in a conversation, a dialogue with the writers of
the scripts. (Examiners Report, Paper 11, May/June 2012)