Maths English Vocabulary for the IGCSE Exam: How Language Can Cost You Marks
- Anna Brown
- Jan 10
- 3 min read
Many students preparing for the IGCSE Maths exam believe that success depends mainly on formulas, practice, and speed. In reality, one of the most common reasons students lose marks is not weak maths skills, but misunderstanding maths English vocabulary. The IGCSE Maths exam is written in very precise language, and missing or misinterpreting just one instruction word can turn a correct solution into a wrong answer.
This problem is especially common for ESL students, but it affects native speakers as well. Students often rush through questions, focus on numbers only, and ignore how the answer is supposed to be given. As a result, they lose easy marks even when the calculation itself is correct.
A typical example is rounding. A question may say “Give your answer correct to 1 significant figure”, but a student gives the answer to 1 decimal place instead. The maths looks reasonable, the number looks neat, but the instruction was not followed. Significant figures and decimal places are different concepts, and in IGCSE exams they are marked strictly. This is not a maths mistake — it is a vocabulary and reading mistake.
Another frequent issue appears in instruction words such as state, find, and calculate. When a question says “State the value of x”, only the final answer is required. When it says “Find” or “Calculate”, working must be shown. Many students assume these words mean the same thing, but in exam marking they do not. Understanding the language of the exam directly affects how many marks are awarded.
The word hence is one of the most dangerous IGCSE maths vocabulary traps. When a question says “Hence find…”, the examiner expects the student to use the result from the previous part. Students often ignore this word, start a new method, and sometimes even get the correct final answer — but still lose marks because they did not follow the instruction.
Answer format is another common source of lost marks. If a question asks for an answer as a fraction in its simplest form, giving a decimal is incorrect, even if the value is mathematically the same. If a question says “Give your answer in terms of π”, writing a decimal approximation is wrong. In IGCSE Maths, the form of the answer is part of the assessment.
Units also matter. Students may correctly calculate speed, area, or volume, but forget to include units in the final answer. In many exam questions, units are required even if they are not repeated in the last line of the question. Leaving them out can cost marks unnecessarily.
Diagrams are another overlooked aspect of maths language. Students often treat diagrams as pictures rather than information. They measure angles with a ruler, assume shapes are drawn to scale, or ignore algebraic labels. However, everything written on a diagram is part of the question text and must be read carefully.
All these mistakes have one thing in common: they are avoidable. By slowing down, underlining key instruction words, checking rounding and answer format, and improving maths English vocabulary, students can significantly improve their IGCSE Maths results without learning any new topics.
This is why developing strong exam-reading skills is just as important as practising calculations. Understanding the language of IGCSE Maths builds confidence, reduces exam anxiety, and helps students keep the marks they deserve.
To support students with this, I have created a clear, student-friendly PDF guide called “IGCSE Maths Language Traps” with “Maths English Vocabulary for the IGCSE Exam”, which explains the most common exam vocabulary mistakes with simple examples and practical tips. It is designed for IGCSE and GCSE students, especially ESL learners, and helps them recognise exam instructions before they lose marks.
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