DIRECTORATE FOR QUALITY AND STANDARDS IN EDUCATION

Department of Curriculum Management

Educational Assessment Unit
Annual Examinations for Primary Schools - 2016

Year 4 ENGLISH MARKING SCHEME

(Reading Comprehension, Language, and Writing)

A. Reading Comprehension (20 marks)

A. 1.

1. tiny, fragile (2  ½ mark = 1 mark)

2. (3  1 mark = 3 marks)

Gerbils are the best pets for older children because they are awake during the day.
They will not get hurt if they can take better care of pets.
They can hurt you if they are held gently.
You can play with gerbils every day because they are frightened.

A. 2.

1. (2  1 mark = 2 marks)

i) b) Bubble and Squeak b) 

ii) c) in the garden c) 

2. (4  1 mark = 4 marks)

TRUE FALSE
a) 
b) 
c) 
d) 

3. (4  1 mark = 4 marks)

Sid went to bed. 4

Sid placed the cage on the window-sill. 1
He forgot to put the cage on the table. 3
The gerbils chewed the curtain folds. 5
He drew the curtains across the window. 2

English – Marking Scheme – Reading Comprehension, Language & Writing – Year 4 Primary – 2016 Page 1 of 4
4. Award marks for comprehension.
No marks are to be deducted for punctuation, spelling and tense mistakes in questions a to
c. Deduct ½ mark for every incomplete answer and incorrect syntax. (Not more than ½
mark per sentence is to be deducted.)

In questions a to c, reward answers with the following content.

a) They brushed against the bars at the back of the cage. / were very close to the cage.
(2 marks)

b) Her (best) curtains were ruined. / She found two holes in the (living-room) curtains.
(2 marks)
c) Accept logically correct answers.
Examples: He felt helpless. / He was disappointed. (2 marks)

B. Language (10 marks)

B. 1. Any spelling mistake forfeits the mark. (6 x ½ mark = 3 marks)

to, in, on, with, up, at

B. 2. If more than one option is underlined, the answer is to be marked as incorrect.

am playing, are having, eat, am eating, drink, has, shares (7 x 1 mark = 7 marks)

C. Writing (30 marks)

C. 1. Award marks for suitable* and grammatically correct sentences.

First sentence (1 x 2 marks = 2 marks)
Second sentence (1 x 3 marks = 3 marks)

Deduct ½ mark overall for any spelling mistakes.

Deduct 1 mark overall for any punctuation mistakes or omissions.

* The instruction has to be adhered to.

C. 2. Deduct ½ mark each if the greeting and / or name are left out or are incorrect (Hi Ellis
-½ mark and Rudy -½ mark). (1 mark)

Award marks for suitable** and grammatically correct sentences. (6 marks)

Deduct ½ mark for every sentence if words are spelt incorrectly and / or for any
punctuation mistakes. (Not more than ½ mark per sentence is to be deducted.)

** The writing has to be relevant to the purpose indicated in the instructions.

Page 2 of 4 English – Marking Scheme – Reading Comprehension, Language & Writing – Year 4 Primary – 2016
C. 3. Writing between 70 and 100 words (18 marks)

PLANNING
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks
No planning is evident / Only Planning with little detail, Detailed and organized
copied given prompts / listed which might not be organized planning which is relevant to
prompts with no detail and/or and / or totally relevant to the the chosen title
totally irrelevant details chosen title
Do not deduct marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar errors in the plan.
COHERENCE
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks
No coherence in writing Generally coherent writing Fully or almost fully coherent
The writing shows a significant Information and ideas are writing
inability to communicate presented with some Information and ideas are
immediately with the reader. organization. organized in a logical sequence
Ideas are not organized within a paragraph.
logically.
COHESION
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks
No cohesion in writing Generally cohesive writing Fully or almost fully cohesive
The writing is characterized by Simple connectives and, but, writing
disjointed sentences. then link clauses. Writing marked by variety in
Poor or mistaken use of a very Linking words and phrases are subordinating connectives,
limited range of linking words used appropriately, although including causal conjunctions
and phrases. there may be some over-use. e.g. so, because, if ...
A range of linking words and /
or phrases is used effectively.
SENTENCE FLUENCY
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks
No use of sentence forms Adequate range of sentence A wide range of sentence
The writing is characterized by structures used structures used effectively
a list of memorized words and The writing is characterized The writing is characterized by
phrases; or words and phrases mainly by simple and sentence rhythm – a
copied from the title and given compound sentences. combination of simple,
prompts. Most sentences are demarcated compound, and complex
No punctuation is used. by capital letters and full stops. sentences.
Sentences are demarcated by
capital letters, full stops,
exclamation marks, and
commas in lists, to give clarity.
SENTENCE ACCURACY
Structures
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks
Inaccurate structures Generally accurate structures Completely / Almost
Errors in grammar prevail and The writing mostly has completely accurate
distort the meaning. grammatically correct structures
sentences, but some mistakes in The majority of sentences are
grammar cause some difficulty accurate / Writing with only
for the reader. very few mistakes or
inappropriacies.

English – Marking Scheme – Reading Comprehension, Language & Writing – Year 4 Primary – 2016 Page 3 of 4
 SENTENCE ACCURACY (continued)
0 marks
Inaccurate punctuation
Errors in punctuation prevail
and distort the meaning.
(more than 10 mistakes)
0 marks
Inaccurate spelling
Spelling mistakes prevail and
distort the meaning.
(more than 10 mistakes)
CHOICE AND RANGE OF VOCABULARY
0 marks
Very simple vocabulary that
fails to render the intended
meaning
A few words are used
repetitively often
inappropriately for the task.
The writing is replete with
Maltesisms in expression.
0 marks
Task not achieved
The writing does not follow the The writing is adapted to meet
given instructions.
Punctuation
1 mark 2 marks
Generally accurate Completely / Almost
punctuation completely accurate
The writing mostly has punctuation
correctly punctuated sentences, Range of punctuation is almost
but some punctuation mistakes always / always used correctly,
and omissions reduce with little omission.
communication.
(between 5 and 10 mistakes) (up to 4 mistakes)
Spelling
1 mark 2 marks
Generally accurate spelling Completely / Almost
The writing of frequently used completely accurate spelling
words is mostly correct. The writing has no or very few
Some mistakes in spelling and mistakes in spelling and / or
word formation are evident. word formation.
(between 5 and 10 mistakes) (up to 4 mistakes)
1 mark 2 marks
An adequate range of An excellent range of
vocabulary conveying the vocabulary and idiomatic
intended meaning language effectively conveying
Mostly simple noun phrases are the intended meaning
used with little expansion. Precise word choice and
Less common vocabulary is collocation fully support
used, but there may be purpose and maintain interest.
occasional inaccuracies in word Effective use is made of content
choice and collocation. words and function words.
TASK ACHIEVEMENT
1 mark 2 marks
Task partly achieved Task completely / almost
completely achieved
some of the requirements of the Skilful use of the correct form
task, e.g. the appropriate form demanded by the genre.
of writing; and / or the purpose All language or presentational
of the text. choices match the targeted
audience and purpose.
Style fits the genre, e.g. use of
descriptive language and
imagery, when writing a story.

Mark the writing out of the total and then deduct 6 marks for totally irrelevant writing and 4 marks
for partially irrelevant writing.

Deduct 4 marks if the writing is shorter than 60 words. Deduct 6 marks if the writing is shorter than
40 words.

Page 4 of 4 English – Marking Scheme – Reading Comprehension, Language & Writing – Year 4 Primary – 2016