Writing

1. 1Count the content elements the question names. Each one is a mark.
2. 2Write one sentence for each content element.
3. 3If the question says “in terms of” something, link each description to it in a separate sentence. That link is its own mark.
4. 4Draw the diagram and label every feature the question needs. The sketch earns its own marks.

Budget: the content elements plus the sketch marks. The sketch is never folded into the explanation marks. It earned 1 mark in 2020 Q11, 2023 Q12 and 2024 Q11, 3 marks in 2022 Q11 (one per labelled feature) and 2 marks in 2025 Q13 (one per diagram).

Live example: 2025 Question 13, 6 marks. “Describe static friction and kinetic friction in terms of the angle of repose. Draw two force diagrams to support your response.”

The mark guide gives a correctly labelled force diagram for static friction [1] and for kinetic friction [1]. It gives a mark for describing static friction [1] and another for doing it in terms of the angle of repose [1], then the same two for kinetic friction [1] [1].

Describing the friction and relating it to the angle of repose are two separate dot points. A description without the link to the angle earns half of those marks.

1. 1Identify a valid machine or mechanism solution. [1]
2. 2Explain how engineers used their expertise in materials science. [1]
3. 3Explain how engineers used their expertise in mechanics. [1]
4. 4Explain how engineers used their expertise in control technology. [1]
5. 5Give one benefit to the named community or stakeholder. [1]
6. 6Give a second benefit that is different in kind from the first. [1]

Put the three domains in the order the question gives them. 2025 Question 15 listed materials science, mechanics and control technology, and 2024 Question 16 listed control technology, materials science and mechanics.

This is the most predictable written question on the paper and the most useful one to rehearse. Write one sentence per slot. Six sentences fit inside the 150-word limit.

Two answers lose marks again and again. The first has three good sentences about the technology and no benefit stated, which is a routine 4 out of 6. The second names a “solution” so vague that the three expertise sentences have nothing to attach to. Name a specific device first and the other five sentences have something to hang off.

1. 1Make the decision the question asks for, such as the most suitable polymer or an application. The decision earns 1 mark.
2. 2Justify it with features taken from the supplied table or diagram, one feature per mark.
3. 3Say where each feature came from. Name the row of the table or the part of the curve.
4. 4If the question asks for two decisions, repeat the pattern: decision [1] and two features [2], twice.

The verbs are identify, analyse or compare, followed by justify. My reading of 2024 and 2025 is that the written section is moving this way, away from repeating what you learned and towards judgements based on the material supplied.

Where the question says to use the table or diagram, the justification marks are for properties taken from it (2024 Q12, 2025 Q14 and Q16), and the 2024 subject report praised responses that made clear reference to the stimulus. Use your own knowledge for the application and the stimulus for the evidence.

Live example: 2025 Question 14, 6 marks. The guide gives 1 mark for identifying polymer B, then 1 mark each for two features from the stress–strain diagram. Part (b) gives the same three marks for polymer C. That is two decisions and four features for six marks.

Live example: 2025 Question 16, 7 marks. One application for each polymer, each justified by two properties read from the supplied diagram and table, then 1 mark for annotating the diagram. That is six marks plus one.

The second version shows the marker you analysed the table, which is what the dot point asks for: “justifies the application by analysing the diagram and table”.

1. 1Identify a property of the first material. [1]
2. 2Make the comparison with the second material on that same property. [1]
3. 3Identify a property of the second material. [1]
4. 4Make the comparison back to the first material. [1]
5. 5Where an application is given, state which material you select for it. [1]

The rule is the same criterion, both materials and an explicit comparing word. A property named for one material without the comparison earns only the identify mark.

Live example: 2025 Question 12, 5 marks. The guide gives: identifies a suitable property of mild carbon steel [1], makes a comparison regarding the property [1], identifies a suitable property of high carbon steel [1], makes a comparison regarding the property [1], identifies that high carbon steel is the most appropriate material for industrial knives [1].

The alternating identify-then-compare rhythm is what earns the marks. The selection at the end is a mark of its own, so do not stop at the comparison.

Comparing words that earn the mark include softer than, more ductile than, harder than, conversely and whereas.

1. 1Label every input with what it is and what 1 means for it, for example “door open = 1”.
2. 2Build each gate path. Each correctly applied path earns its own mark.
3. 3Label the output and what 1 means for it.
4. 4Complete the truth table one column at a time. Each correct column earns its own mark.

Marks go to separate circuit features, not to the circuit being right overall. Examiners flagged inputs and outputs without their on and off conditions in three subject reports (2022, 2023 and 2025), and that is exactly where the marks sit.

Logic sat in Section 2 every year from 2020 to 2024, then moved to Section 3 in 2025. Check which section you are in. The answer shape stays the same but the time budget changes.

1. 1Write exactly the number of items asked for, usually four.
2. 2Give no elaboration. State and list want the items and nothing more.

The guide runs a sliding scale: four correct items earn 4, three earn 3, two earn 2 and one earns 1.

This form appeared from 2020 to 2023 (2020 Q12, 2021 Q12, 2022 Q12, 2023 Q11) and has not appeared since. The 4-mark opener became explain with a sketch in 2024 and label in 2025. Keep the recall, because the other templates need it, but do not expect to be asked for it plainly.

1. 1Count the labels, features or columns asked for. Each one is a separate mark.
2. 2Write on the figure itself when the question says label or annotate.
3. 3Give a sensible answer even when it is not the obvious one. Never leave a blank.

Nothing here is marked on overall impression. The guide’s Notes column lists the acceptable variants and almost always closes with “or other suitable response consistent with a reasonable understanding”. A sensible answer outside the sample list still earns the mark.