IGCSE Mandarin and Chinese: which syllabus you're on, and how to ace each paper (video)
Which IGCSE Chinese are you on: 0547, 0523, 0509 or Edexcel 4CN1? Every paper, speaking first, the 2028 changes, grade boundaries and a 12-week plan.
Chapters
- 0:00Start
- 0:20The short answer
- 0:42Which syllabus are you on?
- 1:05Top grades and grade boundaries
- 2:230547 from 2028
- 2:45Speaking first
- 4:16Listening, reading and writing
- 5:14The word lists and HSK
- 5:40A 12-week plan
- 6:15What to do next
Transcript
Start
Four different exams share the name I G C S E Chinese, and they aren't close in level. On one of them, eight in ten candidates got an A-star last June. From SayMei Guides, by Mei Lin: I G C S E Mandarin and Chinese. Which syllabus you're on, and how to ace each paper.
The short answer
The short answer: your school picks one of four. Cambridge 0 5 4 7 if you started Chinese in class, 0 5 2 3 if you live with Chinese around you, 0 5 0 9 for native speakers, or Pearson Edexcel's 4 C N 1. All but 0 5 0 9 test speaking. And top grades are common, so every mark counts.
Which syllabus are you on?
So which one are you on? Your school decides, and the code on your exam timetable tells you. On 0 5 4 7, the four skills count a quarter each. 4 C N 1 puts reading and writing on one paper, worth half. 0 5 2 3 puts 60% on reading and writing. And 0 5 0 9 is reading and writing only.
Top grades and grade boundaries
So how common are top grades? In June 2026, 80% of 0 5 4 7 candidates got an A-star, and 91% got an A or above. On 4 C N 1, outside the UK, 45.8% got a grade nine. On 0 5 2 3 it was 30%, and on 0 5 0 9, 21.4%. Cambridge lets schools enter native speakers, and a rate this high suggests many do. And the line barely moves. From June 2023 to June 2026, an A-star on 0 5 4 7 took 81 to 83% of the marks, and a grade nine on 4 C N 1 over 90%. Last June, the A-star line was 162 of 200 weighted marks. So even if you learned Chinese only at school, an A-star is within reach: you need about four marks in every five. But not every mark is worth the same. On 0 5 4 7, listening is out of 30 and writing out of 45, yet each counts a quarter. So a listening mark adds 1.67 to your total out of 200, and a writing mark only 1.11. Don't treat the shortest paper as the least important one.
0547 from 2028
If you started a two-year course in September 2026, you'll probably sit 0 5 4 7 in June 2028, on its new syllabus. You'll be allowed notes while you prepare for speaking. Writing drops from 45 marks to 40. And the word list adds 44 words, like 网红, influencer, and drops 36.
Speaking first
Speaking is a quarter of your grade on 0 5 4 7 and 4 C N 1, and a fifth on 0 5 2 3. In the 0 5 4 7 test, you get 10 minutes to prepare, with a card that shows only the role play's scenario. Then comes a role play of five questions, worth up to 2 marks each, and two topic conversations of about 4 minutes each. The question types barely change from year to year, and in each conversation, the last three ask about the past or the future. So aim for this shape. What did you do last weekend, and what will you do next weekend? 上个周末我和朋友去公园打篮球了。 下个周末我打算在家复习，因为快要考试了。 不过我觉得周末也应该休息一下。 A past, a future, a reason and an opinion. On 4 C N 1, the test is one 8 to 10 minute recording, marked by Pearson, in Mandarin or Cantonese. You choose its picture before the exam: at least two people, objects in the background, and no text. The timing is strict: nothing after 3 minutes on the picture, or 3 and a half in each conversation, is assessed. And Pearson's grids count tones, so a wrong tone that changes a word's meaning costs marks. On 0 5 2 3, you open with a 2 to 3 minute presentation on Chinese culture or life in a Chinese-speaking community, and two conversations follow. We'd answer with a view, a reason and the other side.
Listening, reading and writing
Listening looks simple and punishes guessing. In 2024, many 0 5 4 7 candidates caught only the sound the words for market and airport share, and picked market, 市场, when the speaker said airport, 机场. Each recording plays twice, so wait for the whole thought. In our view, the second play is for checking. In reading, answer briefly, from the text. Cambridge's examiners say it on all three syllabuses: lifting a whole sentence from the passage doesn't earn the mark. On 4 C N 1, a question worth two marks wants two details. In writing, cover every bullet, then add detail. On 0 5 4 7, a long piece of 75 characters or fewer can't score more than half the marks for range and accuracy. And length varies a lot: 0 5 0 9 asks for about five times as much writing as 0 5 4 7.
The word lists and HSK
0 5 4 7 and 4 C N 1 publish word lists, and we matched both to the new HSK, word by word. By HSK 4, you've met 77% of the 0 5 4 7 list, and 84.5% of the 4 C N 1 list. So if you've finished HSK 3, you already know more than half of the 0 5 4 7 list. Learn the rest by topic, and say each word in a sentence.
A 12-week plan
Here's a 12-week plan, at about 40 minutes a day on top of class. Start from your speaking test: for June 2027, Cambridge's window runs from the 1st of March to the 30th of April. Weeks 1 to 3: a role play or picture task out loud every day, timed. Weeks 4 to 6: two topic answers a day, with a past, a future and a reason. Weeks 7 to 9: a full mock speaking test, recorded. Weeks 10 to 12: fresh answers on new topics, never a memorised script.
What to do next
So, what next? Confirm your syllabus code with your teacher or exams officer. Find your speaking date, and plan backwards from it. Practise one speaking task a day, out loud, and write one piece a week. Cambridge publishes free papers and examiner reports, but papers from before 2022 follow an older 0 5 4 7 syllabus. Mei Lin won't mark your answers, but she'll talk with you in Mandarin and correct your tones. You can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's teacher, in a short spoken lesson at your level. Our three I G C S E workbooks are free with a SayMei account. The full guide, with every source, is on the page at saymei dot app.