Cambridge IGCSE English First Language Study and Revision Guide (IGCSE Study Guides) Paperback – Illustrated, 31 Mar. 2017

Having several students that are either in private schools or in another country particularly the IGCSE is used - either Cambridge or Edexcel. I think this is a very supportive product and enables students to understand precisely what is required for the exam

I bought this book for my son and having sat down and looked carefully through the various sections, I cannot see him really engaging with it nor finding it helpful. The contents page is written along the lines of Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 (see photo) - but then does not really say what is on those papers (other than a solid text of writing that was difficult to follow). This style was repeated throughout this study and revision book; lots of solid chunks of text to wade through, some questions (but no suggested answers) - it just does not seem particularly accessible, in my opinion. I went looking for tips on descriptive writing - they had an example of a grade C response - and some examiner comments - which could be summed up as "being too narrative" (not massively helpful). Their tips sections on descriptive writing were far too broad to be of any real help e.g. the reader is directed to use verbs, adverbs, adjectives, similes etc which were followed with dictionary definitions of these terms and the occasional example e.g. "ran" is a verb! Other tips for a descriptive piece included "base what you are describing on your personal knowledge" and "don't try to include every little detail." Again, I thought these tips too general to really help a student to meaningfully raise their grade. Disappointing and not a book I would recommend!