Descriptive Writing — Paper 2 for IGCSE First Language English

A free guide to descriptive writing for Cambridge IGCSE First Language English (0500 / 0990), Paper 2 Section B, written for the 2027–2029 specification.

Your students will stop listing everything they can see and start building one clear, controlled atmosphere.

• 14guide slides
• 10workbook pages
• 3photo stimuli
• 1annotated model opening

What’s included?

• Guide slides (14 slides): how Section B works, the mark scheme in plain English, five rules for stronger description, an annotated model opening and three photo stimuli with planning prompts.
• Composition Starter Workbook (10 pages): plan, write and self-assess a full description of a tree in the fog, plus a Level 3 or Level 6 quick check.
• A planning grid you can use for any image.
• The five most common descriptive mistakes, and a self-assessment checklist.

What does the guide cover?

• What Section B asks for, and how the 40 marks are split
• What Levels 3 to 6 really look like, in plain English
• The Architect’s Constraints: five simple rules that sharpen any description
• Showing an emotion without ever naming it
• Level 3 vs Level 6: ‘Describe a Market’, side by side
• Building one controlling image and keeping it all the way through
• Three photo stimuli: a stormy sea, a tree in the fog and a station platform at night

What’s inside?

Guide slides, step by step:

Composition Starter Workbook that goes with the guide: